Overview
In This Changes Everything, Naomi Klein explains the science behind climate change, the potential environmental catastrophes that will result from a changing climate, and how we can avert a planetary crisis by fundamentally changing our political and economic structure.
A quick overview of climate change: it is real, anthropogenic (human-caused), and it has wreaked havoc on the environment and will continue to worsen with time if we don’t act now. It’s not a hoax or a conspiracy theory. In fact, it’s been confirmed by about 97% of climate scientists.
Neoliberalism and Fossil Fuels
Klein takes issue with our neoliberal economic structure early on, claiming the three policy pillars of our era are: privatization of the public sphere, deregulation of the corporate sector, and lower corporate taxation, paid for with cuts to public spending.
Our neoliberal capitalism insists that environmentally conscious policies are bad for economic growth: extract the fossil fuels, frack the tar sands, burn that coal, and, sure, the planet and our health may suffer, but that’s supposedly just the price of economic progress.
Oh, and don’t think about trying to guarantee health insurance for everyone affected, or to regulate the companies to ensure safety for their workers, or to mandate cleanups in case something should go wrong. It might hurt the bottom line, after all.
Moreover, these fossil fuel giants are some of the richest companies on the planet, yet they receive between $775 billion and $1 trillion in annual global subsidies. But, they may need more – for the sake of “growth,” of course. That is, in essence, how our economic system works regarding fossil fuel companies. They pollute, we pay.
And our kids and grandkids will pay, too. When there are no more coral reefs, sea turtles are extinct, countries wage war over arable land, and when coastal cities and island nations are under water, will we look back and admire the gains shareholders made from fossil fuels? Probably not.
Changing the System
There’s no easy answer to address the threat of climate change. According to Klein, simple approaches like carbon trading markets and emissions caps won’t do.
It’ll take massive infrastructure investments in clean energy, local communities reclaiming their utilities, modified trade deals, improved public transit, high taxation of the fossil fuels industry (or an outright ban over time), global climate agreements, campaign finance and lobbying reforms, and more. Put simply: it means changing everything.
The results of Klein’s recommendation would be a more sustainable economy based on green energy, which is why she insists that climate change should be the rallying cry of the Left: by focusing on climate change, we could reduce inequality, make society more equitable, and prevent environmental disaster.
Recommendation
I highly recommend This Changes Everything. Klein’s writing is masterful, informative, passionate, and inspiring. She does an excellent job of covering all facets of climate change in our society, from the ecological impacts to why some people deride climate change as a hoax.
The book is easy to read and difficult to put down. I was captivated from start to finish, and I learned a lot. I recommend it because it made me think harder about how we should all be doing more to be good stewards of the earth to which we owe the duty of protecting and cherishing.
Imagine if all of us – even those that are skeptical about climate science – promoted green energy over fossil fuels for the sake of jobs and energy freedom, biked to work or took the bus, bought fresh food from a local farmer, and recycled more often. That kind of shift would indeed change everything too.
Notable mention: if you’re interested in environmental science, another great book to read is The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History, which won the Pulitzer Prize.
Get your copy of This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate
