Hi all,
We had a good meeting Wednesday, with a big thumbs up for The Ministry for the Future by Robinson. It’s a fictional visualization of the next 30 years or so, and how things might work out re: climate change. A wild ride with cataclysmic events, yet plenty of chapters are plausible expositions of solutions—from technical to economic. He has tackled the whole enchilada! And many of us appreciate his audacity and hard work in doing so. The general conclusion is hopeful, with some definite echoes of Doughnut Economics. If you haven’t read it, we'd recommend it!
We do have an extra week before the April meeting, because March has 5 Wednesdays. But we didn’t realize that at the meeting. It seemed like a good idea (and still does) to make April’s selection short and easily available. Hence, articles. Jason sent us several from The Economist, and Barb is going to send us some from Yes magazine. Take your pick or read them all. I can forward Jason’s articles to anyone who doesn’t have them (he can too). And Barb said she would send hers soon.
With something short for April, there should be time to acquire and start tackling something longer for May. The front-runner appears to be Bill Gates’ new book, How to Avoid a Climate Disaster. Others in the mix:
Learning to Die in the Anthropocene by Roy Scranton (by the way, he has a newer one, We’re Doomed, Now What? of 2018)
Half-Earth by E.O. Wilson
Our Final Warning: Six Degrees of Climate Emergency by Mark Lynas
The New Climate War by Michael Mann
More suggestions are welcome any time, of course.
Well I thought it would be easy for me to find the reading material from Jason and Barbara for tomorrow - but as I get ready to cram for tomorrow not finding them if you could either email them to me or post a link or whatever? thanks, John
From Linda:
My family hears about our book club and my longtime vegan daughter has sent a few recommendations:
Eat for the Planet: Saving the Planet One Bite at a Time-(2018) Gene Stone and Nil Zacharias Dead Zone: Where the Wild Things Were: Life, Death and Ecological Wreckage in a Land of Vanishing Predators- (2011) William Stolzenburg sounds cheery, no? Braiding Sweetgrass (I believe this one is already on our list, but just received a copy for my birthday!)
Here is the link to the articles from Yes magazine. Thanks Barb!
https://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/ecological-civilization/
Another good one for "the List"--Under a White Sky; the Nature of the Future by Elizabeth Kolbert 2021