Climate Courage: How Tackling Climate Change Can Build Community, Transform the Economy, and Bridge the Political Divide in America

(Paperback)

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A hopeful approach to climate change that offers us practical tools to band together across the political spectrum and create the green energy-powered sustainable world that's in our grasp There's a new way of approaching climate change that no one is talking about. It's empowering citizens, uplifting communities, and it's changing the fate of our planet. Moreover, it's helping us live happier, healthier, more fulfilled lives. Most importantly, it's working. The new approach to climate change recognizes that people, not politics, are the agents of change that can create a sustainable world. And that in order to engage people in climate solutions, we need a new way of framing the problem. The problem is not that climate change is an insurmountable challenge--it's that it can seem like it is. Instead of focusing on governmental gridlock and apocalyptic visions, Climate Courage emphasizes the rate of job creation in the green economy, introduces the reader to the growing number of conservatives and people of faith already engaged in climate solutions, and tells the stories of the many communities that have come together to brainstorm clean energy solutions and put them into place. And in coming together to solve the climate crisis, we just may rediscover community, gratitude, and service--values which help us live more fulfilling, less consumption-oriented lives. This book brings a hopeful message that we don't often hear about--we're actually already on our way to solving the climate crisis and with more people involved in both big and small ways we will have a chance at preserving our environment.

Reviews

A convincing argument for persuading conservatives to fight climate change.
Kirkus Reviews

In the wake of the pandemic, nothing could help bring us out of this crisis in a more constructive way than working together to prevent the next one. Climate Courage offers a path towards getting back to something much better, and more united, than our old normal.
Bill McKibben, cofounder of 350.org and author of Falter: Has the Human Game Begun to Play Itself Out

The clean energy revolution is well underway and Karelas, an innovator in the space, accurately captures the moment were in. There has never been a greater time to work for and invest in a more sustainable and equitable world and Climate Courage spells out the opportunity clearly.
Jigar Shah, founder of SunEdison, president and cofounder of Generate Capital

This inspiring book shows how people from different political and social backgrounds have been galvanizing around a common goal to solve climate change. I highly recommend it.
Mark Z. Jacobson, professor of civil and environmental engineering, Stanford University

Climate Courage reframes the narrative on climate change from doom and gloom to opportunity, with a breadth of practical solutions that can appeal to Americans across the political spectrum. This is an excellent summary of how the politics on climate change have evolved and the incredible progress were making, highlighting coalitions and initiatives that can inspire others. You cant read this and not come away with some optimism!
Terry Tamminen, former secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency and president of 7th Generation Advisors

We have many of the technical solutions we need to address climate change. Andreas takes on a different question: how do we as a society get to the point where we decide to use them This book, born of hard experience by a longtime clean energy leader, is an excellent guide to finding our way forward on one of the most important questions we face.
Adam Browning, founder and executive director of Vote Solar

Karelas provides an uplifting and thoroughly researched study on the magnitude of efforts being made to confront the climate crisis. Climate Courage shows that it takes a village to save the planet, and here are so many different examples for how we can do it.
Sarah Shanley Hope, founding executive director of the Solutions Project

Climate Courage is a gem of a book. I have been teaching about climate change for close to three decades. No other book comes close to explaining the challenges we face and, more importantly, the profound opportunities we are being offered in building a clean energy future. Read this book and give it to everyone you know.
Paul Wapner, professor of global environmental politics, American University; and author of Is Wildness Over

Looking for a journey of optimism among todays doom-and-gloom headlines about climate change This book is your tour guide. Thoughtful, well-researched, and thoroughly engaging, Climate Courage offers a real-world road map of hope and inspiration about the future of our planet and ourselves.
Clint Wilder, coauthor of The Clean Tech Revolution and Clean Tech Nation

This inspiring look at how and why solar can and should become a leading source of energyand the diverse leaders on the frontline of changeis a must read. Karelas is both ethical and practical, and his deep love for people and the planet suffuses every page.
Rev. Sally G. Bingham, founder and president emeritus of Interfaith Power and Light and canon for the environment for the Diocese of California

The 2020s are supposed to be the decisive decade on climate, but until were rolling up our sleeves, doing what Andreas describes in vivid detail, were all just talking. Heres a book on how to summon up the courage to do, not tell. Read it and you will get the gumption that you need to bridge the divides in America and do the work we need to save ourselves from our own worst impulses. Shine on!
Danny Kennedy, cofounder of Sungevity and CEO of New Energy Nexus

Author Bio

Andreas Karelas is the founder and executive director of RE-volv and a dedicated renewable energy advocate with over 15 years of environmental and renewable energy experience. Prior to founding RE-volv, Karelas worked with a number of leading organizations, including the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE), the National Audubon Society, blueEnergy, and the Center for Resource Solutions. He is a 2013 Audubon Toyota TogetherGreen Conservation Leadership Fellow and a 2016 OpenIDEO Climate Innovator Fellow. Connect with him at re-volv.org and on Twitter at @AndreasKarelas.