This damning account of the forces that have hijacked progress on
climate change shares a bold vision of what it will take, politically
and economically, to face the existential threat of global warming
head-on.
It has become
impossible to deny that the planet is warming, and that governments
must act. But a new denialism is taking root in the halls of power,
shaped by decades of neoliberal policies and centuries of
anti-democratic thinking. Since the 1980s, Democrats and Republicans
have each granted enormous concessions to industries hell bent on
maintaining business as usual. What’s worse, policymakers have
given oil and gas executives a seat at the table designing policies
that should euthanize their business model.
This approach,
journalist Kate Aronoff makes clear, will only drive the planet
further into emergency. Drawing on years of reporting, Aronoff lays
out an alternative vision, detailing how democratic majorities can
curb polluters’ power; create millions of well-paid, union jobs;
enact climate reparations; and transform the economy into a more
leisurely and sustainable one. Our future will require a radical
reimagining of politics—with the world at stake.
