I took a look at the reviews of this title - it appears that while this book makes a lot of assumptions and employs a religious tone that is off-putting to some readers, there is enough history and science that is true, or that feels true, that it hangs together to convince people that climate change is real. Book authors who attempt comprehensive overview of a subject must pick and choose how to tell the story, so there will always be critics who dislike the approach.
Max Oelschlaeger is an environmental philosopher (
The Idea of Wilderness,
Caring For Creation, and several others) wrote in
Caring for Creation that all of the major religions have an environmental component that sometimes needs to be revisited or revived in this modern age. A writer, whether scientist, religious leader, or generalist, needs to reach people where they live, as it were. Max made the case for reaching those who are religious through the teachings of their religious scholars who reveal ancient attitudes within the given church or temple. If Thom Hartmann's book strikes a tone that purists don't like but still manages to convince many people that environmental change is happening and that we can each make choices about how we live that will make a difference, then the book is effective. Clearly most of the reviewers like the book and how the author laid out his premise and drew his conclusions.
I studied environmental philosophy for a number of years and found that a stimulating conversation is being conducted in the world of environmental philosophers. Until that conversation leaves the ivory tower and Everyman has a chance to think about and participate, then the philosophers aren't really doing their job. If philosophic writings are general enough to influence Lisa Simpson, who in turn harangues Homer and Bart Simpson for their non-environmental activity, then the philosophers will have arrived. It has to be discussed everywhere, and there is no one perfect argument to make that happen.
I hope you will read more than one book on the subject of the environment and global warming, and that you'll continue to share your recommendations. There are some really excellent environmental writers, and there are also some excellent writers who happen to include subtle environmental components that are apparent if you look for them, going back decades. I don't draw a distinction between environmental writers who might touch on the land, the climate, or even the economy - it is all jumbled together. The environmental choices we make will cost us something, one way or another.
If you want to read a essayist who touches on many subjects, I suggest you take a look at
John McPhee. The environment, the economy, and the climate are commingled in McPhee's writings - he connects a lot of dots. You'll find him in
The New Yorker magazine several times a year also.