Bill Gates’ book: “How to Avoid a Climate Disaster”

– Easy-to-understand book that offers solutions to climate change.
– 11 other books worth reading related to Bill’s book.
– Some of the book’s critics argue that the solution lies not in technology, but instead in a swift and radical societal transformation.

Here’s a note from BlackRock CEO Larry Fink about Bill Gates new book on climate change (here’s a short video with the two of them):

I just finished Bill Gates’ book, “How to Avoid a Climate Disaster.” It’s one of the most insightful non-technical overviews of climate change that I’ve read. I highly recommend it for anyone who wants to better understand the technologies, financial investment and policies required to stop it. Bill doesn’t just focus on the problem; he points to the solutions and innovations we need to achieve a net zero world.

I thought it was so good, we’re giving a copy to every BlackRock employee who wants one, with the option for hardcover, audio or digital copies (and will offset the carbon emissions associated with this gift). Understanding climate change and how we can address its physical and economic impacts is essential if we hope to tackle this monumentally difficult and complex task.

And here is a note that Bill has wrote about the book – and an excerpt from the book itself:

I knew that greenhouse gases were making the temperature rise, but I had assumed that there were cyclical variations or other fac­tors that would naturally prevent a true climate disaster. And it was hard to accept that as long as humans kept emitting any amount of greenhouse gases, temperatures would keep going up.

I went back to the group several times with follow-up questions. Eventually it sank in. The world needs to provide more energy so the poorest can thrive, but we need to provide that energy without releasing any more greenhouse gases.

Now the problem seemed even harder. It wasn’t enough to deliver cheap, reliable energy for the poor. It also had to be clean.

Within a few years, I had become convinced of three things:

1. To avoid a climate disaster, we have to get to zero greenhouse gas emissions.
2. We need to deploy the tools we already have, like solar and wind, faster and smarter.
3. And we need to create and roll out breakthrough technologies that can take us the rest of the way.

The case for zero was, and is, rock solid. Setting a goal to only reduce our emissions—but not eliminate them—won’t do it. The only sensible goal is zero.

Some have criticized the book. This op-ed from Verner Viisainen argue that the solution lies not in technology, but instead in a swift and radical societal transformation.

And then here is a list of 11 other books worth reading from Dave Witzel…