Cheaper, Faster, Better by Tom Steyer (Nonfiction Climate Change Book, 2024).
Steyer is a fascinating guy and a passionate, eloquent voice in the battle to overcome the myriad problems climate change pose today and the worse we (and our children) will face tomorrow, if we don’t work together to eliminate the sources of carbon pollution. He pulls no punches about the shortsightedness and outright dishonesty of the oil and gas industry. Nor does he soft-pedal the real tragedies already occurring and how bad it can get if we fail to act strongly and thoroughly enough.
But he refuses to be morbid.
In fact, he recounts many improvements that have been made to date and expresses confidence that humanity not just can but in fact will save itself and the planet from the worst disasters a worsening climate situation can clearly cause.
He also debunks the notion that successfully overcoming the climate emergency means a poorer quality of life. The exact opposite is in fact true, the cynical propaganda of the oil/gas industry and its enablers notwithstanding. He points out that, for instance, solar-produced electricity is already less expensive than gas-based (despite the massive corporate welfare handouts the carbon polluters continue to receive).
There is, in fact, a lot of good news in this book and the author presents it both well and in some detail. He also alternates chapters explaining the nature of the climate problem and how we all can be part of a solution that leads to a better, cleaner, safer and–YES!–a less expensive life for ourselves, our descendants and the world as a whole.
Interspersed between these chapters, Steyer offers brief bio essays about many of his favorite climate solution workers in a wide, wide range of specialties and business areas.
Steyer shows himself an expert storyteller and a thoughtful, determined optimist–while never losing sight of the struggles ahead or the terrible price a failure to push forward will exact.
This is a book rich in compelling ideas and levelheaded heart, well-earned confidence and joyful humanity. I very very highly recommend reading it–and then taking it further by joining the battle in any number of ways. We can make things better for ourselves and others, and he offers up plenty of suggestions as to how each of us can be a positive part of the solutions.
To say this volume has me, as a person, fired up is true–but if anything understates its impact. It reminds me that a better world is not just possible–but if anything, that it is a choice between that and a slide into misery that makes all our present problems seem tiny by comparison.
jimleeauthor 