Books and Resources

An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power, by Al Gore © 2017 Former Vice President Al Gore, who sparked much awareness of the growing threat to climate health with his documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, continues to spread his call to action. In this book he poses three questions, and then answers them with a positive YES: Must we change, can we change, and will we change? He draws lines of causality between the climate crisis and such diverse threats as the growing number and size of wildfires, newly spreading diseases such as the Zika virus, unprecedented heat waves and smog levels, and the decline of fish and marine life in the oceans. He argues vigorously that we must and can change, and offers his “action handbook” of personal actions people can take to help the change come about.

Being the Change: Live Well and Spark a Climate Revolution, by Peter Kalmus © 2017
Climate scientist Kalmus shares his personal journey including his deepening spiritual connection with the Earth. His many conversations with others convinced him that sharing the facts about climate change did not result in people changing their behavior or their reliance on fossil fuels. Instead he began to change his own life, bicycling more, growing his own food, and so on, and found greater joy in his life while substantially reducing his family’s contributions to global warming.

Clean, Green and Reliable, by Doug Plucknette and Chris Colson © 2011

A practical guide for industry, covering the 10 most common systems found in manufacturing, how to find and fix leaks, faulty alignment and other defects that lead to energy losses and higher climate footprint. Includes case studies for quantifying results.

The Climate Casino: Risk, Uncertainty, and Economics for a Warming World, by William Nordhaus
Nobel prize-winning economist William Nordhaus wrote this wide-ranging summary of the forces shaping our climate situation today - why its been easy for individuals and companies to take advantage of the environment, what kinds of responses governments have tried and failed to turn this around, why either carbon taxes or cap-and-trade programs are more likely to succeed, the difficulties in navigating climate politics. He is cautiously optimistic and you will probably be so too after reading his brilliant and articulate book. And you don’t need to be a Nobel prize winner to get a lot out of it!

Diet for a Hot Planet: The Climate Crisis at the End of Your Fork and What You Can Do about It, by Anna Lappe and Bill McKibben © 2010
Food lecturer Anna Lappe writes cogently about the greenhouse gas emissions of industrial agriculture and food processors, and how buying and eating more organic and less processed foods can reduce these impacts. Adopting sustainable farming practices, supporting local farms, and making use of her 7 principals of a climate-friendly diet are actions any individual can adopt.

Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming, by Paul Hawken © 2017
A compendium of technologies which aim to reverse global warming. Hawken, a long-time environmental visionary, polled 70 scientists from 22 countries and 120 leaders from the worlds of business, politics, finance, economics and social activism to collect and analyze potential solutions. After modeling each candidate’s estimated cost and potential benefits (in dollar and in CO2 savings), they reviewed and chose those with the best benefit/cost ratios. Of the hundreds of technologies considered, he presents the top 100, many of which are already proven technologies, ripe for implementation on a wider scale.

Food Rules: An Eater's Manual, by Michael Pollan (2009)
While not strictly about the climate, reporter Michael Pollan has written several great books on food, food industries and agriculture. This book gives a variety of easy to understand rules-of-thumb for more healthful eating which generally also have the good side effects of protecting climate and soil health.

The Overstory: A Novel, by Richard Powers © 2018
A powerful novel intertwining nine characters who all have something to do with trees. You will be pulled in by each of these characters’ lives and find yourself gradually coming to appreciate the importance of trees in maintaining natural environments, the enduring place trees have in our hearts and personal histories, and the uncanny Rube Goldbergesque ways that nature intertwines the well-being of trees, animals, microbes and humans. You don’t need any particular science background to enjoy this novel, but you will probably surprise yourself with how much you pick up, even if science is not your thing.

• Winner of the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction

• Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize

• New York Times Bestseller

• A New York Times Notable Book and a Washington Post, Time, Oprah

• Magazine, Newsweek, Chicago Tribune, and Kirkus Reviews Best Book of 2018

We Are The Weather: Saving the Planet Begins at Breakfast, by Jonathan Safran Foer © 2019
Acclaimed novelist and essayist Jonathan Safran Foer struggles to bridge the gap between what most of us have accepted – that climate change needs immediate behavior change, yet most people as well as organizations continue to make the same comfortable choices. What can we each do, why is it hard to change our habits, why it is easier than we think if we take seriously some of our stated values – these topics and more are covered in easily digestible fashion.

The Lorax, Dr Seuss, © 1971. Good for ages 3 - 103

Written many years ago but still highly relevant, this picture book for ages 4-9 gives a highly understandable story of how human industry leads to environmental destruction. One mournful character introduces himself, “I am the Lorax, I speak for the trees,” and with that simple sentence your heart and imagination are engaged. Seuss’ whimsical language and pictures can convey a serious message like no one else can.

Many: The Diversity of Life on Earth, Nicola Davies, © 2017. Good for ages 4-8

This beautifully picture book illustrates the vast richness of species in the natural world, yet ends with a message that some of this diversity is getting lost due to the thoughtless behavior of one particular species. Also by Nicola Davies, and of interest to children with an interest in science, is the delightful Tiny Creatures: The World of Microbes.