6/27/2023 0 Comments Drawdown book review![]() No wonder that in Denmark, for instance, wind provides over 40 percent of the nation’s power. Drawdown quotes Bloomberg, and suggests that, by 2030, wind will be the cheapest of all electricity sources. The result: a staggering 84.6 gigatons of C02 are avoided because of reduced reliance on fossil fuels. The book models a plausible scenario in which onshore wind goes from providing about three percent of global electricity today to 21.6 percent in 2050. One of the most important – the second most effective overall – is expansion of wind turbines. Even if one cares nothing about climate, one can see the value, for example, of renewable energy’s contribution to employment. It has the potential to be much larger because he emphasizes the solutions’ ancillary benefits. If he spoke only about GHG-reduction his readership would be narrow. If the goal is movement-building, Hawken’s approach is smart. We know we can’t avoid the cataclysmic impacts of global warming by only focusing on achieving zero net carbon emissions we must also rapidly re-sequester carbon. The climate solutions generate good jobs, save trillions of dollars, empower women and create beauty. Hawken sees global warming “not as an inevitability but as an invitation to build, innovate, and effect change, a pathway that awakens creativity, compassion, and genius.” Mindful of the dangers, he nevertheless finds great opportunities for human advancement – moral and intellectual. Toward this end, the book outlines 100 climate solutions – 80 of which we can embark upon right away and 20 of which are “coming attractions” that will be available soon.ĭrawdown has a wonderful embedded optimism. ![]() ![]() Drawdown’s foreword states the thesis succinctly: “We know we can’t avoid the cataclysmic impacts of global warming by only focusing on achieving zero net carbon emissions we must also rapidly re-sequester carbon.” At this moment in history we also need to remove from the atmosphere – and safely store – carbon that already exists. Editor Paul Hawken, who made his name with such environmental classics as Natural Capitalism and The Ecology of Commerce, says reducing or even halting new greenhouse gas emissions is not enough. Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming is a book that addresses the climate crisis at its very roots.
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