A renowned climate scientist shows how fossil-fuel companies have waged a thirty-year campaign to deflect blame and responsibility and to delay action on climate change, and offers a battle plan for how we can save the planet.
Recycle. Fly less. Eat less meat. These are some of the ways that we've been told can slow climate change. But the inordinate emphasis on behaviour is the result of a marketing campaign that has succeeded in placing the responsibility for fixing climate change squarely on the shoulders of individuals.
Fossil-fuel companies have followed the example of other industries deflecting blame (think 'Guns don't kill people, people kill people') or greenwashing. Meanwhile, they've blocked efforts to regulate or price carbon emissions, have run PR campaigns aimed at discrediting viable alternatives, and have abdicated their responsibility to fix the problem they've created. The result has been disastrous for our planet.
In The New Climate War, Mann argues that all is not lost. He draws the battle lines between the people and the polluters - fossil-fuel companies, right-wing plutocrats, and petro-states. And he outlines a plan for forcing our governments and corporations to wake up and make real change, including-
a common-sense, attainable approach to carbon pricing - and a revision of the well-intentioned but flawed currently proposed version of the Green New Deal;
allowing renewable energy to compete fairly against fossil fuels;
debunking the false narratives and arguments that have worked their way into the climate debate and driven a wedge between even those who support climate-change solutions; and
combatting climate doomism and despair-mongering.
With immensely powerful vested interests aligned in defence of the fossil-fuel status quo, the societal tipping point won't happen without the active participation of citizens everywhere aiding in the collective push forward. This book will reach, inform, and enable citizens everywhere to join this battle for our planet.
'Mann shows that corporations and lobbyists have been successful in convincing us that climate change will be fine, if we just recycle our bottles and turn out the lights. Instead, he says, global warming is a problem way too hot for any one person to handle. He's optimistic though, because he sees what we really can and will do. Read his book, and let's get to work.'
-Bill Nye, science educator, CEO of The Planetary Society
Praise for The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars- dispatches from the front lines-
'As one of the nation's leading climate researchers, no one has felt the brunt of the attacks from politicians and the fossil fuel industry more than Michael E. Mann. This is his personal account from the centre of the maelstrom, documenting the lies and distortions about his work and his heroic efforts to stand up for scientific truth.'
-Henry Waxman, Democratic member of the US House of Representatives, and former chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee
'A brilliant and courageous climatologist, Michael E. Mann knows what it's like to be viciously attacked by the well-funded deniers of scientific evidence and how critical it is to respond. In this gripping, personal, frontlines account of climate politics, he eloquently conveys the importance of both doing great science and communicating its societal implications to a wider public.'
-Paul R. Ehrlich, coauthor of The Dominant Animal- human evolution and the environment
Praise for The Tantrum That Saved The World-
' A piece of kid lit ... capable of both educating and inspiring the next generation ... The book breaks down complicated issues into small fragments, to make kids aware of what they can do without overwhelming them.'
-Aimee Lutkin, Green Matters
