A Climate Reading List

Oct 30, 2017

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The Climate Reading List

… by 350 Local group leader across the country…

Blog Post #2 is a reading list for climate action, especially for those new to it.  The concept for this was originated by 350 Bay Area Legislative Committee member Katy Gurin.  350 group leaders across the country put in their suggestions. The below list of over 80 entries is the result.  This is also posted to a Google Drive Sheet, where you can leave comments and suggestions.

Notes: The Category column is a loose grouping, as the line between Climate Advocacy and Climate Science is hard to draw. We have included the broader aspect of social transformation under the Category of “Change”.  The Featured * indicates entries highlighted for their notoriety and/or oomph, per the editor. DISCLAIMER: These suggestions were crowdsourced and not vetted or sanctioned by any individual or group. Their utility and resonance will vary by user. We are sure you will find many resources that you can use!

Thanks to the leaders contributing to the list, who include: Jack Lucero Fleck, Christine Gauvreau, Pam Dehmer, Rosemary Dreger Carey, Mimi Bluestone, Molly Ornati, Rich Grant, Sandy Spears, Rosemary Dreger Carey, Chris Tandy, Judy Pope, Mark Schaeffer, S.K. “Sunny” Sun-Downer, David Camp, Patrick Mazza, Elizabeth K Williams, Mary-Alice Shemo, Ginger Storey-Welch, Alec Connon, and Rand Wrobel.

CategoryTypeFeaturedItem Comment
Climate AdvocacyArticleIn 2014, Americans Feared Walking Alone at Night. Now They’re Worried about Government CorruptionTHIS Poll Is VERY Telling… Especially re; “Climate Change=Nuclear War Fear %” ETC..!
Climate AdvocacyArticles*Mark Hertsgaard at The NationA lot of climate and progressive political articles
Climate AdvocacyBook*Naomi Klein, This Changes Everything.
Climate AdvocacyBook*Anything by or edited by Bill McKibben
Climate AdvocacyBookIan Angus, Too Many People?: Population, Immigration, and the Environmental Crisis
Climate AdvocacyBookIan Angus, Facing the Anthropocene
Climate AdvocacyBookAnything by John Bellamy Foster
Climate AdvocacyBook*No is not enough  by Naomi Klein
Climate AdvocacyBookClimate of Hope  by Bloomberg and Pope
Climate AdvocacyBookNew Slow City  by William Powers
Climate AdvocacyBookThe Rights of Nature  by David Boyd
Climate AdvocacyBookHope in the Dark  by Rebecca Solnik
Climate AdvocacyBookRichard Louv’s Last Child in the WoodsFor parents & educators:
Climate AdvocacyBookFlight Behavior by Barbara KingsolverFiction
Climate AdvocacyBookWhat We’re Fighting for Now is Eachother — Wen Stephenson
Climate AdvocacyBookDon’t Even Think About It — George Marshall
Climate AdvocacyBookThe Winning of the Carbon War by Jeremy Leggettcan be downloaded for free at http://www.jeremyleggett.net/latestbook/.
Climate AdvocacyBookOrganizing Cools the Planet by Hilary Moore and Joshua Kahn RussellBooklet PDF on Organizer tools and methods by climate organizer vets
Climate AdvocacyFilm*Merchants of Doubt  DVD
Climate AdvocacyFilm*An Inconvenient Truth
Climate AdvocacyFilm*An Inconvenient Sequel
Climate AdvocacyFilmBefore the Flood
Climate AdvocacyWeb*Hell and High Water. Joseph Romm
Climate AdvocacyWebhttps://sites.hampshire.edu/popdev/Any of the White Papers or “Different Takes” found on the website of the feminist climate think tank at Hampshire College
Climate AdvocacyWebhttp://unionsforenergydemocracy.org/Any white papers or videos by Trade Unionists for Energy Democracy: 
Climate AdvocacyYouth BookBoy Who harnessed the Wind by Wm. Kakambuaan excellent read for middle school & up.
Climate AdvocacyYouth Book Ms Frizzle & Co, The Magic Schoolbus and the Climate Challenge.For younger kids (but actually great for any age) check out
Climate NewsWebJoseph Romm’s blog, Climate Progress, Now ThinkProgressPolitics and Climate
Climate NewsWebhttp://www.vox.com/energy-and-environmentEsp. any article by David Roberts at Vox
Climate NewsWeb*Grist.orgA nonprofit news org for people who want a planet that doesn’t burn and a future that doesn’t suck.
Climate NewsWeb*http://www.dailyclimate.org/1. For a climate news round-up —
Climate NewsWeb*http://www.carbonbrief.org/ and  For climate science-focused news –
Climate NewsWeb*http://www.climatecentral.org/ For climate science-focused news –
Climate NewsWeb*http://insideclimatenews.org/ For investigative reporting –
Climate NewsWeb*https://www.desmogblog.com/For investigative reporting –
Climate NewsWebFor business/economics-focused news – https://www.bloomberg.com/climate-changed
Climate ScienceBook*Hansen, James, Storms of my Grandchildren, Bloomsbury, NY, 2009,A good book on climate science:
Climate ScienceBook*The Sixth Extinction — Elizabeth Kolbert
Climate ScienceBook*Six Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet (Lynas)
Climate ScienceBook*Climate Shock: The Economic Consequences of a Hotter Plant (Wagner & Weitzman)
Climate ScienceBook*Merchants of Doubt (Oreskes & Conway)
Climate ScienceBookEarth in Human Hands by David Grinspoon. Highly readable, full of fascinating info. Written by an astrobiologist, so you know he takes the long view as well. Pondering probable evolution of intelligent life in our galaxy ( billions of planets) he turns his eye on the predicament we find ourself in, the fundamental interconnectedness of Earth’s biosphere and geologic evemts.  Wonderful book.
Climate ScienceBookDeep Future by Dr. Curt Stager, Paul Smiths College. He is a paleo-climatologist who looks backwards at past epics to make predictions about what’s ahead.  He says we are changing the earth profoundly at a geological level..
Climate ScienceBook* Hot: Living Through the Next Fifty Years on Earth. By Mark Hertsgaard
Climate ScienceFilmChasing Coral  on netflix
Climate ScienceFilm*Chasing Ice
Climate ScienceFilm*Merchants of Doubt
Climate ScienceFilm*Years of Living Dangerously (Nat Geo Channel series)
Climate ScienceFilmWhat’s Up With the Weather? (PBS NOVA & Frontline show)
Climate ScienceFilmChasing Coral
Climate ScienceWebThe Debunker’s Handbookwhich is a free download, only six pages of text, specifically targeting climate myths.  An excellent summary is here: http://getenergysmartnow.com/2011/11/29/debunk-me-lean-mean-and-easy-to-read/
Climate ScienceWeb*https://climate.nasa.gov/
Climate ScienceWebwww.climatecentral.org/
Climate ScienceWebhttps://www.c2es.org
Climate ScienceWeb*http://www.ipcc.ch
Climate ScienceWebhttps://www.carbontracker.org/
Climate ScienceWeb*http://www.skepticalscience.comOver 100 climate myths debunked
Climate ScienceWebhttp://www.realclimate.org
Climate ScienceWebhttps://robertscribbler.comand politics
Fossil ResistanceBookFrackopoly  by Wenonah Hauter
Fossil ResistanceBookA Field Philosophers Guide to Fracking” by Adam Briggle.It’s the non-fiction story of how a relatively small town (Denton, TX) stood up to the fossil fuel industry. It’s funny enough to stay interesting, provides a lot of useful tips, and lays out the ethical case for why it’s worth doing. I’ve given several copies of the book away to friends, and also an elected official or two.
PoliticsBookRichard Smith, Green Capitalism: The God that Failed
PoliticsBookPaul Burkett,  Toward a Red and Green Political Economy
PoliticsBookFred Magdoff and Chris Williams: Creating an Ecological Society: Toward a Revolutionary Transformation
PoliticsWebFor tracking Executive and Congressional branch activities – http://www.politico.com/morningenergy/
PoliticsWebDailykos.com for progressive politics and climate. Anything by Meteor Blades or RL Miller, and these groups: Climate Action Hub, Climate Change SOS, Climate Hawks, DK GreenRoots, EcoJustice
SolutionsArticleshttp://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2015/09/sunniest-climate-change-story-ever-read.htmlIf one article, the 9/7/2015 New York Magazine’s “This is the year humans finally got serious about saving themselves from themselves” by Jonathan Chait.
SolutionsArticles*Anything by Mark Z Jacobson, PhDStanford Professor:Jacobson has also developed roadmaps to transition the world as a whole,all 50 U.S. states, and 139 countriesto 100% clean, renewable wind, water, and solar (WWS) energy for all energy purposes.
SolutionsBook** Drawdown (ed. Paul Hawken, 2017).If one book, read tbis. What with the pace of climate change as well as the quantity of climate actions and attempts to stop or delay them, books are becoming out-of-date more quickly.
SolutionsWebFor energy efficiency — http://aceee.org/blog
SolutionsWebFor EV news – http://insideevs.com/
SolutionsWebFor grid news — http://www.greentechmedia.com/
SolutionsWebhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/1083994271692891/ renewable energy, energy efficiency, and electric vehicles
SolutionsWebhttps://twitter.com/RE_EE_EVnewrenewable energy, energy efficiency, and electric vehicles
ChangeBookThis is An Uprising by Mark and Paul Engler (if you only go for one from this list, I would go for this.)
ChangeBookStrategy and Soul by Daniel Hunter
ChangeBookRules for Radicals by Saul Alinsky
ChangeBookRules for Revolutionaries by Becky Boyd
ChangeBookBlueprint for Revolution by Srdja Popovic
ChangeBookDoing Democracy by Bill Moyer
ChangeBookanything by Gene Sharp and Francis Fox Pivenare important for understanding how power works.
ChangeBookRe-inventing Organizationsmaybe not for newbie volunteers but for those of y’all figuring out your organizational structures — is a really great read..
ChangeYouth BookThe Lorax  – Dr. SeussThe list wouldn’t be complete without Dre. Seuss.  is the source of the so-apropos quote: “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, Nothing is going to get better, it’s not”.