Foreword
by Van Jones
This book rests an optimistic message on a pessimistic premise.The sobering underlying thesis is that human civilization is already in big trouble—both ecologically and economically. And things are set to get muchworse. The hopeul underlying message is that we still have the capacity topull good outcomes rom even the most rightening scenarios.The paradox is this: Only by recognizing how much worse things canget can we muster the energy and creativity to win a better uture. In thatregard, the book you hold in your hands is not just an action guide; it is asurvival guide.
The Bad News Is Very Bad
At this late date, there is no point in mincing words about the impending series o calamities. The global production o oil will soon peak, ending orever the era o cheap crude. The resulting price spikes and uel shortagescould throw all o industrial society into an ugly death spiral. Worse still: Wehave seen only the earliest examples o the kind o biblical disasters—thesuper-storms, wildres, foods, and droughts—that climate experts predictare in the pipeline, even i we cease all carbon emissions immediately.The polar ice caps haven’t melted yet; i they do, they will send temperaturesand sea levels soaring, orcing us to redraw every coastal map in the world.Even under the riendliest scenarios, we will likely see ood systems disrupted,lie-sustaining uels priced beyond reach or many, and our health challengedas tropical super-bugs invade ormerly temperate climes. On a hotter planet,we could ace the choice between water rationing and water riots. As stressulas the present moment is, worse times are possible—and even likely.
viii |
Power from the People
At the same time, the majority o the world’s people now live in cities. Andthough cities cover only 2 percent o Earth’s surace, they already consume 75percent o the planet’s natural resources. As more people continue crowding into cities, that gure will climb even higher, which means urban areas have become the main driver in the ecological crisis. Many cities are sinkholeso human suering, especially or a marginalized population o low-incomeearners and people o color. And in the United States, the word
urban
has becomesynonymous with the word
problem
. Many urban neighborhoods are plagued by economic desperation, violence, pollution, and crumbling inrastructure.Climate change and the economic and equity crises o our communitiesmay appear to have little in common, but they share a key determining actor—namely, our near-complete dependence on coal, oil, and natural gas.The carbon dioxide produced by driving our vehicles, heating (and cooling)our homes, and lighting our cities with ossil uels is the main culprit behindclimate change. Meanwhile, that same dependence on ossil uels sucks billions o dollars every year out o communities across America, with thepoorest households oten hit hardest.But what i we ound ways to power our homes, businesses, actories, andvehicles that
didn’t
warm the planet, that kept local dollars circulating inlocal economies, and that even created local jobs? What i we spread thoseclimate-riendly, local-economy-boosting, job-creating ideas to every city andtown across the country?
Hope for the Best, Prepare for the Worst
It is too late or us to avert all o the negative consequences o 150 yearso ecological olly and resource wasteulness. Our challenge is to beginimplementing real changes, rapidly and rom the bottom up. Certain billsare coming due, and certain chickens are coming home to roost, no matterwhat we do. But there are steps we can take to cushion the blow.We must prepare ourselves (and our communities) or the worst possibleoutcomes. In considering the most pessimistic scenarios, we must talk lessabout economic growth and more about economic resilience; less aboutabundance and more about suciency; less about sustainability and more
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Power from the People - Foreword by Van Jones
More than ninety percent of the electricity we use to light our communities, and nearly all the energy we use to run our cars, heat our homes, and power our factories comes from large, centralized, highly…
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