'Crossing' by Ben Goldfarb
Roadkill comes easily to mind when considering the environmental damage of highways, not to mention carbon emissions. But in Crossings, Ben Goldfarb examines problems few of us have considered. Ever think that truck tires carry an invasive fungus that attacks cedar trees? That’s only the beginning of it— and the trouble began long ago. The surface of Rome’s Via Cassia, built circa 100 BCE, shed sediment into an adjoining lake, distorting its ecosystem.
For those looking for simple solutions, Goldfarb reminds us that the lithium batteries powering those shiny e-cars have triggered an environmentally catastrophic mining boom. Looking for upsides to road building? Bridges make great nesting places for birds and bats. Butterflies devastated by the spread of cropland find sanctuary in the milkweed strips along highways. And Native American activists have devised a partial solution to some problems by creating “wildlife crossings” to be built below US 93, allowing safe passage for animals.
Written elegantly and convincingly, Crossings acknowledges that most of us can’t make do without automobiles but urges individual responsibility (“slow down at night, break for snakes”) as well as public works initiatives of global proportions. “A road is right when its planners have done everything within their power to avoid disrupting the biotic and human communities through which it passes.”
