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exterm's review against another edition
4.0
This quote from the book says it best:
That's what the book is about. It is very good at that. Gates introduces the idea of "green premiums", the difference in price between the current way of doing a thing and the "clean" way of doing that thing. He uses that to quantify the gap from where we are to where we need to get, and to compare alternatives.
A large part of the book is exactly that: Comparing the status quo with a possible zero-carbon future. The rest of the book lays out what needs to happen for that future to arrive.
My main gripe with the book is that it goes into a lot of detail on things that I have no influence over. Lots of things need to happen in government agencies, for example.
He does give a few ideas for how individuals can indirectly influence companies, governments and agencies to do the right thing, as well as what individuals can do to directly affect change (in a very small way). However I really did not need all of the detail around how the government can do certain things.
An aspect that stuck out positively for me was his wholistic perspective. He highlights that we can't just "do less", because large swaths of the planet's population just don't have that option. Not everybody can just stop eating meat and dairy, for example. But even if they could, that would be a very hard sell. Rather, we can use economics to our advantage to make something that people will want to buy, produce or use, and will be able to afford. If it's obviously better, it will get wide adoption automatically, and companies will be interested in distributing it.
Overall, it is a great summary of where we're at and how we can possibly still avoid the worst of the looming disaster.
When we have a fact-based view of climate change, we can see that we have some of the things we need to avoid a climate disaster, but not all of them. We can see what stands in the way of deploying the solutions we have and developing the breakthroughs we need. And we can see all the work we must do to overcome these hurdles.
That's what the book is about. It is very good at that. Gates introduces the idea of "green premiums", the difference in price between the current way of doing a thing and the "clean" way of doing that thing. He uses that to quantify the gap from where we are to where we need to get, and to compare alternatives.
A large part of the book is exactly that: Comparing the status quo with a possible zero-carbon future. The rest of the book lays out what needs to happen for that future to arrive.
My main gripe with the book is that it goes into a lot of detail on things that I have no influence over. Lots of things need to happen in government agencies, for example.
He does give a few ideas for how individuals can indirectly influence companies, governments and agencies to do the right thing, as well as what individuals can do to directly affect change (in a very small way). However I really did not need all of the detail around how the government can do certain things.
An aspect that stuck out positively for me was his wholistic perspective. He highlights that we can't just "do less", because large swaths of the planet's population just don't have that option. Not everybody can just stop eating meat and dairy, for example. But even if they could, that would be a very hard sell. Rather, we can use economics to our advantage to make something that people will want to buy, produce or use, and will be able to afford. If it's obviously better, it will get wide adoption automatically, and companies will be interested in distributing it.
Overall, it is a great summary of where we're at and how we can possibly still avoid the worst of the looming disaster.
emmaemmaemmaemma's review against another edition
5.0
What I loved most about this book was how quickly it turned anxiety into action. Usually, I pick up a new book on climate change when I’m feeling anxious about how helpless everything feels. Usually, I proceed to feel both inspired, and worse about the situation than I did when I began the book.
This one is different though. What begins as the standard array of ways we have, and continue to kill the planet, quickly morphs into what feels like a game plan.
This book gave me hope. Which is something that I can’t say about very many books. My notes from it are…extensive, but I’m actually excited to return to them because I feel like maybe this isn’t all destined to spiral out of control infinitely. Maybe there’s a long, slow way back, but still a way back. I’m choosing to stick to that optimism and not overthink it.
Yes. Bill Gates is filthy rich white man which automatically makes me skeptical of his writing, but the truth is, I think he does a good enough job of addressing the filthy rich elephant in the room, and an even better job of clarifying consistently how climate change can’t be solved at the detriment of people living in poverty. Human rights and the protection of the planet have to go hand in hand, or not at all.
The title isn’t just bait, he backs it up to an extent that I didn’t expect. This is in fact, how to avoid a climate disaster, in the most comprehensive way that it can be laid out, while still being easy to understand. I’d recommend this one without hesitation.
This one is different though. What begins as the standard array of ways we have, and continue to kill the planet, quickly morphs into what feels like a game plan.
This book gave me hope. Which is something that I can’t say about very many books. My notes from it are…extensive, but I’m actually excited to return to them because I feel like maybe this isn’t all destined to spiral out of control infinitely. Maybe there’s a long, slow way back, but still a way back. I’m choosing to stick to that optimism and not overthink it.
Yes. Bill Gates is filthy rich white man which automatically makes me skeptical of his writing, but the truth is, I think he does a good enough job of addressing the filthy rich elephant in the room, and an even better job of clarifying consistently how climate change can’t be solved at the detriment of people living in poverty. Human rights and the protection of the planet have to go hand in hand, or not at all.
The title isn’t just bait, he backs it up to an extent that I didn’t expect. This is in fact, how to avoid a climate disaster, in the most comprehensive way that it can be laid out, while still being easy to understand. I’d recommend this one without hesitation.
javojavojavojavo's review against another edition
4.0
Curious to know specifically where pollution comes from (globally)? Very interesting part for me. Hint: the world going vegan, or owning electrical cars, or only using solar and wind energy won't be enough to stop disaster.
Curious to know what clean-energy technologies we have and which ones we need to develop the most? Also very interesting to me because I'm kind of a scientist. This book introduced to me a lot of interesting new technologies.
Curious to know what kind of policies, investments and other political/economical stuff is needed for the transition (to clean energy)? This part was a little boring to me and kind of overwhelming.
Curious to know what clean-energy technologies we have and which ones we need to develop the most? Also very interesting to me because I'm kind of a scientist. This book introduced to me a lot of interesting new technologies.
Curious to know what kind of policies, investments and other political/economical stuff is needed for the transition (to clean energy)? This part was a little boring to me and kind of overwhelming.
szethsonsonvallano's review against another edition
5.0
"How to avoid a climate disaster" is a kind of book that has everything we need to know about a particular subject. This book broadens our mind and gives a complete overview of what is causing the climate change and what should we do to stop it and why should we even care… It starts off by saying why we should stop our emissions ASAP in chapter 1. Chapter 2 gives an overview of why it'll be hard. Till Chapter 8 the books contains chapters on different essentials of a human like food, electricity, travels and since those will be the biggest emittors of greenhouse gases… it gives us some information like advantages and disadvantages of using the alternatives that are being developed that does not produce greenhouse gases. Chapter 9 is about adapting to the new warm world. Chapter 10 is about the role that government must take and how it impacts us. Chapter 11 is summary of the plan for getting to 0 emission by 2050. Chapter 12 gives us an idea of the things that we can do to reduce emissions.
If you are looking for a good book on climate change then I totally recommend this book!
If you are looking for a good book on climate change then I totally recommend this book!
blairmahoney's review against another edition
4.0
I'm not sure I would have read this if my son hadn't bought it for me, knowing that I was reading a lot about climate change this year, but it was an interesting perspective: methodical and technocratic. It's the kind of thing that I would like to push on conservative politicians, as it should be the kind of thing that would be more likely to persuade them to take action more than something from environmental activists.
arthurbr's review against another edition
4.0
This book was very good at doing what Bill Gates wanted, which was to give a descriptive introduction to the importance of working towards a GHG neutral world and the major culprits contributing to climate change. The book was easy to understand and Gates was very good at contextualizing and setting numbers on things.
I wish it would have gone much more in depth, especially around the science of direct air capture, cultivated meat and other things, but I understand that was not the goal. While Bill Gates is not a perfect person, nor climate advocate, he is undoubtedly doing a lot to benefit the world. Many people tend to say that the rich aren't going to save us, which is true, but people like Bill Gates show that not all rich people are inherently trying to destroy the world.
I wish it would have gone much more in depth, especially around the science of direct air capture, cultivated meat and other things, but I understand that was not the goal. While Bill Gates is not a perfect person, nor climate advocate, he is undoubtedly doing a lot to benefit the world. Many people tend to say that the rich aren't going to save us, which is true, but people like Bill Gates show that not all rich people are inherently trying to destroy the world.