Stephen Harper, Fort McMurray, Athabasca tar sands, … Are We Screwed? By Geoff Dembicki is a Canadian book about climate change and millennials. While the book centers on Canadian politics and pipelines, it also includes chapters on climate change, Bernie Sanders, Silicon Valley, and Washington lobbyists. The sole optimistic message is that millennials might save the planet.
Since I am not a Canadian, I found much of the book eye-opening. (According to the author:) I had no idea Stephen Harper (the PM prior to the current Justin Trudeau) was so like Donald Trump. However, I now understand the US Democratic strategy in 2016. Trudeau defeated Stephen Harper in a negative campaign. The Democrats used the same approach in 2016. It did not work in 2016.
The author takes a chapter to skewer the sharing economy (Uber, Lyft, AirBnB, Facebook) to point out that these are not organizations to share and help people help each other. Rather they are unregulated capitalist organizations only interested in making money for the companies and investors.
Overall, a very discouraging book.
Interestingly, after an entire book dedicated to changing a system that is rigged for the fossil fuel industry, the book ends with a call to action to use public transit and reusable bags…actions (diversions?) that do not change the system that has been shown to be destroying the planet.
If you understand the threat of climate change, this book will terrify you by showing how the system is rigged in favor of short-term profits for the fossil fuel industry. It also offers some hope that the millennials might make a difference, but the possibly too late for much of the world.
Check out https://amazon.com/shop/influencer-20171115075 for book recommendations.
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