Climatenomics: Washington, Wall Street, and the Economic Battle to Save Our Planet, reviewed

We look at this well researched and urgently timely book about climate change, clean energy and the deeply politicised issues around it all in the United States. You can see more about Climatenomics: Washington, Wall Street, and the Economic Battle to Save Our Planet here.

Climatenomics: Washington, Wall Street, and the Economic Battle to Save Our Planet, reviewed

This was a tough book to read at times. It is very close to the present, which is normally good, except that, since it was written the US Supreme Court has made deeply negative rulings about the EPA’s ability to enforce climate change provisions. The deeply corrosive impacts of allowing the last president to have three Supreme Court nominations are still playing themselves out, in so many negative ways for equality, women’s rights and even the ability to take action to mitigate fossil fuel pollution and the wishes of the oil industry.

This book documents well the aims of Biden to reinvent, both himself, and the US as a clean and green energy advocate. There are many many jobs and economic benefits  from following this path, in contrast to Trump’s deeply contrarian and surely bizarre desire to support oil industry lobbyists goals. (Well his motives are not so hard to understand when you consider who he has received his monies from). As the authors of this book effectively explain, far more jobs are being created in the renewable energy sector, even Republicans can see this.

Their reasons for opposition to these initiatives is solely for partisan reasons, ie to not support anything the Democrats wish to advocate. Surely down this path lies increased global warming and more unstable climate change. It is a depressing position to be in.

There are good chapters on the actions of clean energy driven venture capitalists, aiming to fund and drive positive environmental changes. Again too, the second and third biggest states for renewable energy growth and job related booms are Republican leaning states, Texas and Florida. Therefore, you would hope, surely, that this initiatives can transcend partisan politics, we are going to destroy our only home otherwise?

This is a good book, well worth reading, it is just a little depressing to find ourselves in a position where our response is less than optimal due to old white guys who are not acting to help society. Their prevarication could negatively impact all of us long long after they themselves have departed this world. We are not in a good place, and things needed to have changed a long time ago to mitigate these problems. Read this book, and try to become better informed about why green and clean energy is a no-brainer.

More about the book

The economic impact of climate change is rattling the foundation of our economy at its very core

The good news about this economic earthquake is that it just might be the thing that saves our planet.

The battle against climate change is no longer just an environmental or social issue. As shareholders demand corporations protect assets against climate change and the economic impact of environmental disasters suck billions of dollars out of the economy, capitalism itself has become an ally. The economic impact of climate change is rattling the foundation of our economy at its very core.

It’s blowing up centuries-old industries from automobiles to oil and gas, creating new opportunities for investors and entrepreneurs. It’s costing Americans billions of dollars each and every year. And most importantly, it’s forcing politicians to pass long-overdue policies that will transform our businesses, our lives and our future like never before. The good news about this economic earthquake is that it just might be the thing that saves our planet.

This is the first book to lay out how climate change has become an economic issue above all and how that has changed everything from the business to politics to the outlook for the future. Bob Keefe, executive director of E2, a national, nonpartisan organization dedicated to providing business perspectives on environmental issues, shows readers how this new reality will impact their industries, businesses, jobs, and communities and transform our country’s economy. Climatenomics will be essential reading for anyone who cares about business, politics, or the future of our planet.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Bob Keefe has spent a lifetime at the intersection of business, the environment, policy and writing. He spent more than 20 years as a journalist, covering everything from business and technology to Congress and the White House. He currently is executive director of E2, a national, nonpartisan group of business leaders who advocate for policies that are good for the economy and good for the environment. Learn more about E2 and Bob at  www.e2.org.

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