Brodkin (emerita, anthropology, U. of California, Los Angeles) describes and analyzes the successful struggle of a Los Angeles grassroots environmental justice group to stop the construction of power plant at the height of the California energy crisis at the turn of the century. Part of her analysis is directed towards a comparison of the activities and priorities of the above type of group, which she argues represent a form of working class environmentalism, and the more professional and lobbying-based environmental groups. She also analyzes the dynamics of race and ethnicity as it played out in the struggle of the power plant, arguing that theses dynamics were seldom obvious or straightforward but that they were important factors in the lining up of pro- and anti-power plant forces. Annotation ©2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)