EAARTH
Making a Life on a Tough New Planet by Bill McKibben
A Book Review by Barry Piacenza
Review posted June 1, 2010
Bill McKibben has authored eaarth - Making a Life on a Tough New Planet (published by Holt, 2010)
a startling and dynamic view of our future in light of climate change and its irrevocable changes
to our planet. Bill McKibben a scholar in residence at Middlebury College and author of such works
as End of Nature, Age of Missing Information, Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the
Durable Future, Hope, Human and Wild. He is the founder of 350.org
a global warming awareness campaign. McKibben presents us with a dynamic work illustrating the
damage humans have done to the only livable planet in our solar system, and to ourselves and every
other species that inhabits the planet. He provides a view of the future and also solutions. If you
are devout believer of a manifest destiny philosophy you will find this book disturbing, a paradigm
shifter. It calls for a new approach to living on a new planet a planet damaged by humans, an uphill
planet. One of the keys to the book is a quote –
“ Global warming, though, is a negotiation between human beings on the one hand and physics and chemistry
on the other. Which is a tough negotiation, because physics and chemistry don't compromise. They've already
laid out their non-negotiable bottom line: above 350 ppm the planet doesn't work. In this case, the good
and essential and the perfect and adequate are all about the same.” Page 81.
Do not misread my critique - the author leaves us with a sense of hope and a guidebook on how to live.
The book portrays the capability of a mankind no longer in the opulence of self gratification by materialistic
means, where money and materialism are reduced and no longer the goal. The goal is that of a Gene Roddenberry
to fulfill the best in ourselves and humanity.
The book is a must read for policymakers, and citizens of the 21st century and beyond who need to understand
the irrevocable damage of the 20th century to the only livable planet.
With intriguing quotes from Alan Greenspan- “the whole intellectual edifice collapsed in the summer
of last year because the data input into risk management models generally covered only the last two
decades, a period of euphoria”.
In this new society the author makes a point – “the size of our institutions and your government should be
determined by the size of your project; the second point is more subtle- The project we are now undertaking -
maintenance, graceful decline, hunkering down, holding on against the storm -- requires a different scale.
Instead of continents and vast nations, we need to think about states, about towns, about neighborhoods, about
blocks”. This recent altering of our paradigm leaves us with a concentration on quality; quality of people,
quality of towns; this concept for want of a better word- less defines a new more; A new time, when we will
be able to find more of ourselves and our world, and be less of the predator. This is a concentration on a
Jeffersonian future, a sustainable future. This could be a future where more people take care of each other
and not take advantage of each other.
One problem is how do the poor and or disabled in the United States and elsewhere pay for the cost of climate
change? They cannot pay for the solar cells on the roof or the windmill in the back yard. This may be true
for the $150,000 a year income crowd what about the $25,000 or less human being, is this not a question of
environmental justice for these people?
Barry
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