Submitted by the Timberland Regional Library
Join Gar W. Lipow for a discussion of the ideas in his new book, “Solving the Climate Crisis through Social Change: Public Investment in Social Prosperity to Cool a Fevered Planet.” The event will be at the Olympia Timberland Library on Thursday, November 29 from 7:30 to 9 p.m.
The book argues that the massive waste that caused the climate crisis resulted not only from fundamental flaws in markets, but also from social inequality, lack of democracy, and a deeply flawed foreign policy. The book is structured as a survey of the causes of the climate crisis, accompanied by potential solutions. Appendixes offer in-depth and technical discussions.
Rather than imparting a doomsday perspective, Lipow offers an optimistic approach, highlighting necessary steps to save the planet and to improve the lives of Americans. He makes the case that strategies such as large-scale social investment will prove far more effective in reducing greenhouse gas emissions than cap-and-trade or other forms of free-market environmentalism.
Intriguing: Discussion of the United States’ role in climate change spans subjects as varied as the 17th-century forests of New England, the evolution of housework, the American addiction to the automobile, the lettuce fields of California in the 1970s, and the guano wars in 19th-century South America.
Lipow is an activist and independent journalist who has worked for the energy industry in both technical and financial areas. His other published works include writings on the political economy of climate change for the online magazine Grist. http://solvingtheclimatecrisis.com/.
The Olympia Timberland Library is at 313 8th Avenue SE. For more information, contact the library at (360) 352-0595 or visit www.TRL.org.
