000 04617cam a22004934a 4500
001 muse53135
003 MdBmJHUP
005 20161111135913.0
006 m o d
007 cr||||||||nn|n
008 160727t20172017cau o 00 0 eng d
010 _z 2016034784
020 _a9780520966161
020 _a0520966163
020 _z9780520292802 (cloth : alk. paper)
020 _z9780520292796 (pbk. : alk. paper)
035 _a(OCoLC)956502027
040 _aMdBmJHUP
_cMdBmJHUP
050 0 0 _aHT394.O25
_bS56 2017
082 0 0 _a307.1/2160979466
_223
100 1 _aSimon, Gregory,
_d1974-
_eauthor.
245 1 0 _aFlame and fortune in the American West
_h[electronic resource] :
_burban development, environmental change, and the great Oakland Hills fire /
_cGregory L. Simon.
260 _aOakland, California :
_bUniversity of California Press,
_c[2017]
_e(Baltimore, Md. :
_fProject MUSE,
_g2015)
300 _a1 online resource (pages cm.)
336 _atext
_btxt
_2rdacontent
337 _acomputer
_bc
_2rdamedia
338 _aonline resource
_bcr
_2rdacarrier
490 0 _aCritical environment: nature, science, and politics
504 _aIncludes bibliographical references and index.
505 0 _aThe 1991 Tunnel Fire : the case for an affluence-vulnerability interface -- The changing American West : from "flammable landscape" to the "incendiary" -- Trailblazing : producing landscapes, extracting profits, inserting risk -- Setting the stage for disaster : revenue maximization, wealth protection, and its discontents -- Who's vulnerable? the politics of identifying, experiencing, and reducing risk -- Smoke screen : when explaining wildfires conceals the incendiary -- Debates of distraction : our inability to see the incendiary for the spark -- Dispatches from the field : win-win outcomes and the limits of post-wildfire mitigation -- Out of the ashes : the rise of disaster capitalism and financial opportunism -- Conclusion : from excavating to treating the incendiary.
520 _a"Flame and Fortune in the American West investigates the ongoing politics, folly, and avarice shaping the production of increasingly widespread yet dangerous suburban and exurban landscapes. The 1991 Oakland Hills Tunnel Fire is used as a starting point to better understand these complex social-environmental processes. The Tunnel Fire is the most destructive fire--in terms of structures lost--in California history. Although this fire occurred in Oakland and Berkeley, others like it sear through landscapes in California and the American West that have experienced urban growth and development within areas historically prone to fire. Simon skillfully blends techniques from environmental history, political ecology, and science studies to closely examine the Tunnel Fire within a broader historical and spatial context of regional economic development and natural resource management, such as the widespread planting of eucalyptus trees as an exotic lure for homeowners, and the creation of hillside neighborhoods for tax revenue--decisions that produced communities with increased vulnerability to fire. Simon demonstrates how a drive for affluence led to a state of vulnerability for rich and poor alike in Oakland that has only been exacerbated by the rebuilding of neighborhoods after the fire. Despite these troubling trends, Flame and Fortune in the American West illustrates how many popular and scientific debates on fire limit the scope and efficacy of policy responses. These risky yet profitable developments (what the author refers to as the Incendiary), as well as proposed strategies for challenging them, are discussed in the context of urbanizing areas around the American West and hold broad applicability within hazard-prone areas globally"--Provided by publisher.
588 _aDescription based on print version record.
650 0 _aNatural resources
_zCalifornia
_zOakland
_xManagement.
650 0 _aWildfires
_zCalifornia
_zOakland.
650 0 _aCity planning
_zCalifornia
_zOakland.
650 0 _aWildland-urban interface
_zCalifornia
_zOakland.
655 7 _aElectronic books.
_2local
776 0 8 _iOnline version:
_aSimon, Gregory, 1974- author.
_tFlame and fortune in the American West
_dOakland, California : University of California Press, [2017]
_z9780520966161
_w(DLC) 2016036728
710 2 _aProject Muse.
830 0 _aUPCC book collections on Project MUSE.
856 4 0 _zFull text available:
_uhttps://muse.jhu.edu/book/48360/
945 _aProject MUSE - UPCC 2016 US Regional Studies, West
945 _aProject MUSE - UPCC 2016 Complete
999 _c2127
_d2127