The big fix : 7 practical steps to save our planet

The big fix 7 practical steps to save our planet

Hal Harvey

Book - 2022

"An engaging, accessible citizen's guide to the seven urgent changes that will really make a difference for our climate-and how we can hold our governments accountable for putting these plans into action. Dozens of kids in Montgomery County, Maryland, agitated until their school board committed to electric school buses. Mothers in Colorado turned up in front of an obscure state panel to fight for clean air. If you think the only thing you can do to combat climate change is to install a smart thermostat or cook plant-based burgers, you're thinking too small. That's where The Big Fix comes in, offering everyday citizens a guide to the seven essential changes our communities must enact to bring our greenhouse gas emissions ...down to zero-and sharing stories of people who are making those changes reality. Energy policy advisor Hal Harvey and longtime New York Times reporter Justin Gillis hone in on the seven areas where ambitious but eminently practical changes will have the greatest effect: electricity production, transportation, buildings, industry, urbanization, use of land, and investment in promising new green technologies. In a lively, jargon-free style, the pair illuminate how our political economy really works, revealing who decides everything from what kind of power plants to build to how efficient cars must be before they're allowed on the road to how much insulation a new house requires-and how we can insert ourselves into all these decisions to ensure that the most climate-conscious choices are being made. At once pragmatic and inspiring, The Big Fix is an indispensable action plan for citizens looking to drive our country's greenhouse gas emissions down to zero-and save our climate"--

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Subjects
Climate change mitigation > Citizen participation.
Environmental policy > Citizen participation.
Energy policy > Citizen participation.
Sustainable development > Citizen participation.
Published
New York : Simon & Schuster 2022.
Language
English
Main Author
Hal Harvey (author)
Other Authors
Justin Gillis (author), Mark Silberg, Amanda Myers
Edition
First Simon & Schuster hardcover edition
Physical Description
ix, 305 pages : charts ; 24 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 271-280) and index.
ISBN
9781982123987
  • Introduction
  • Chapter 1. The Learning Curve
  • Chapter 2. Power Switch
  • Chapter 3. Where We Live and Work
  • Chapter 4. Overa Barrel
  • Chapter 5. An Urban Planet
  • Chapter 6. People, Land, and Food
  • Chapter 7. The Stuff We Make
  • Chapter 8. Inventing Tomorrow
  • Chapter 9. Saying Yes
  • Acknowledgments
  • Notes
  • Selected Bibliography
  • Illustration Sources and Credits
  • Index
Review by Booklist Review

As the world's temperature climbs, many people want to make a difference but are stymied about where to start. Here, Harvey and Gillis' goal is to "lay out grassroots political action" in order to create green citizens more so than green consumers. The authors stress that pressure must be brought to bear on power structures to effect real change. They urge readers to talk to utility boards about wind and solar energy, impress on legislators that better emissions standards for cars and power plants cannot wait, and demand of urban planners that cities be made pleasant, livable places (and remind them that building more highways destroys downtowns and decimates poorer neighborhoods). Further, heavy reliance on fertilizers in farming poisons rivers and creates dead zones in oceans. Collective action on all this and more is the way to influence public policy, the authors assert. They also discuss the possibilities and drawbacks of both hydrogen and nuclear power, carbon capture and storage, and geothermal energy. More call-to-action than how-to and overall worth studying.

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

Harvey (Designing Climate Solutions), CEO of an environmental policy firm, and New York Times reporter Gillis make fighting climate change feel a bit less intimidating in this down-to-earth look at ways the average citizen can make a difference. While they encourage green consumer choices ("recycling diligently, installing smart thermostats, eating less meat"), the authors are realistic about the limited impact of such steps. Instead, they argue that individuals must become "green citizens" who focus "on a relatively small number of public policies that can, over time, bring about sweeping change." Such policies include designing urban spaces that discourage car use, incentivizing the implementation of climate-friendly technologies, and putting smart electrical grids in place. As for realizing such goals, the authors recommend attending public utility companies' planning hearings, calling representatives to advocate for clean energy, and organizing behind new transit taxes when they're on ballots. They cite numerous successes, including a push by Arizona students to have their school board buy electric buses, while still being mindful of political realities in the deeply partisan moment. This is a useful guide for budding activists. (Sept.)

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review

Energy Innovation CEO Harvey and award-winning New York Times reporter Gillis join forces to show how we can reduce greenhouse gas emissions to zero and save the earth, focusing on seven key areas where we-can-do-it change will have the biggest effect. Those areas include electricity production, transportation, buildings, industry, urbanization, use of land, and investment in promising new green technologies. With a 50,000-copy first printing.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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