I got this book from the library after listening to an interview with the author on one of my favourite podcasts (Wild, with Sarah Wilson).
The whole book is an argument for why electrifying everything is the biggest (albeit not the only) way to fight climate change while creating millions of new jobs, a healthy environment and cheaper electricity for all.
Although I’m in Australia and this book is about what the USA can do, I still learnt a lot and had many misconceptions challenged. The arguments are provoking, based in data, and put forward by a very clever person (actually a fellow Australian!) who is so smart he’s been awarded a Macarthur Fellowship. I have just learnt this is a so called ‘Genius Grant’ and he received it for inventions in the service of humanity (I urge you to look him up and read about all his achievements).
The charts and data did go over my head a little but I was certainly left convinced of the need to throw a war-like effort at battling climate change – we need to do this with urgency. We can do it in a way that creates jobs (someone has to design and build all the new technology we’ll need to harvest clean energy) and also in an equitable way that makes converting to electricity for all our energy needs affordable for everyone.
I really loved the appendices, especially ‘Yes, and…’ which wraps up the ideas neatly and provides talking points for questions that people will have; as well as ‘What can you do to make a difference’ which provides action ideas for all sorts of roles – citizen, voter, too young to vote, consumer, farmer, lawyer, etc., all the way up to president. My favourite one of all, which validates my current efforts, was ‘If you are a vegan cyclist, thank you. Live long and prosper.’
In writing this review I’ve just learnt that the author has released another book in the same vein but this time focusing on Australia. I can’t wait to read it and I hope many others will too!
