| Book Review | Western Historical Quarterly 32.2

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| Book Review | Western Historical Quarterly 32.2 | The History Cooperative

Book Review

Smelter Smoke in North America: The Politics of Transborder Pollution. By John D. Wirth. (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2000. xx + 264 pp. Illustrations, maps, tables, chart, notes, bibliography, index. $35.00.)

Environmental problems are rarely local events. This is the premise of John D. Wirth's impressive book, which rides the rising wave of transnational histories. His offering is not trendy, however. Wirth serves heavy shots of politics and business--straight, no chaser. As an environmental advisor to the North American Free Trade Agreement, he developed an intimate knowledge of the topic and this makes Smelter Smoke more than just another regulatory survey. 1

Wirth argues that mining operated in a continental commons where companies shared technology, resources, and political acumen. When smelter smoke started to cross national boundaries earlier this century, governments and afflicted residents tried to rein in the noxious plumes. In doing so, they had to adapt to this legacy of cosmopolitan corporatism. The institutional response to North American pollution was an historical endeavor that united corporate behavior with national policy and citizen action. . . .

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