A NEWER WORLD

Reviewed 8/30/2013

A Newer World, by William F. Hewitt

Access to this book courtesy of the

A NEWER WORLD Politics, Money, Technology and What's Really Being Done to Solve the Climate Crisis William F. Hewitt William K. Reilly (Fwd.) Durham: University of New Hampshire Press, December 2012				Rating: 4.5 High
ISBN-13 978-1-58465-963-1
ISBN 1-58465-963-7	321pp.	HC/GSI	$27.95

Detailed Table of Contents

	Foreword by William K. Reilly	xi
	Introduction: Turning the Corner on the Climate Crisis	xv

1	Science, Media, and the Public: The Message of Climate Change	1
	"Climategate"	1
	Science: The Foundation	3
	The History of the Science	5
	International Action	9
	The Media	10
	Public Opinion, Activism, and the World Wide Web	12
	Disinformation	15
	Antidotes to Denialism	17
	Public Education	19
	Common Sense	20
	The Avatar of Climate Change	22
2	Green Power: Renewable Energy Comes into Its Own	24
	World on Fire	24
	Coal: A Global Public Enemy	25
	Brave New World	28
	The Sky's the Limit: Renewable Energy Potential	29
	Wind	31
	Here Comes the Sun	34
	Geothermal Energy	38
	More Renewable Dreams	40
	Marine Energy	41
	Hydropower	43
	Biomass	44
3	Bringing It All Back Home: Clean Tech in Action	49
	The Decentralization of Energy	53
	Solar at Home	55
	Aeolus on the Roof: Microwind	57
	Ground Source Heat Pumps: Getting the Most from the Earth beneath Us	58
	Hydrogen and Fuel Cells	59
	EVs: Plug In, Juice Up, and Go	61
	"Demand-Side Management" and Storage: Managing Clean Energy	65
	Smart Grid	67
	Micropower: Energy Self-Sufficiency	69
	Green Building	71
	Green IT	75
	The Future of Clean Tech	75
4	Breakthroughs: From Rio to Cancún, and Beyond	76
	Nopenhagen?	76
	The Climate Continuum	78
	The Earth Summit	80
	The Framework Convention	82
	Kyoto	83
	Moving On	84
	Environmental Regimes	85
	Other Greenhouse Gases	87
	How the Kyoto Protocol Works	88
	The Flexible Mechanisms	89
	Europe's Leading Role	90
	Beyond Europe: Pricing Carbon Down Under	91
	How U.S. Politics Come into Play	92
	The Obama Effect	94
	Green Stimulus	95
	The American Auto Industry	96
	Big-Ticket Federal Government Initiatives	97
	American Global Policy	99
	Bilateral and Multilateral Climate and Energy Innovation	101
	Copenhagen to Cancún to Durban	102
5	Follow the Money: Environmental Finance and Green Business	106
	The Rise of Waxman-Markey	106
	A Price on Carbon	108
	Cap and Trade: Death in the Senate	111
	Finance Takes an Interest	116
	American Players	117
	The International Scene: Beyond Europe and the United States	118
	Prognosis	122
	The Clean Development Mechanism	123
	Joint Implementation	125
	The Voluntary Markets	126
	Economic Consequences of Climate Change	127
	Investors and Businesses See the Risks	128
	The Insurance Industry and the Banks	130
	Reducing Risk	132
	Creating Opportunities	134
	Green Growth	136
	Reading the Tea Leaves	137
	Pushing the Edge of the Envelope	139
	What's in it for Us?	141
	"Pollution Prevention Pays"	143
	Green Is the New Gold	144
	"I Have Seen the Future and it Works"	146
6	Planet Green: The Policy, Politics, and Practice Revolution	148
	Fossil Fuels: Will the Rapidly Developing Economies Swamp the Ship?	148
	Smoother Sailing on the Horizon?	152
	The Greening of China	152
	India's Renewable Energy Path	156
	Big Economies: Big Progress and Plans	159
	Green Tigers: East Asia	159
	Europe	161
	Does the Bell Toll for Coal?	163
	Endangerment	164
	Other Drivers of the Downward Trend for Big Coal	167
	The Activist Factor	169
	Global Activism	170
	Beyond the United States: Tightening the Noose on Coal	172
	Nukes	174
	Where the Action Is	176
	The Golden State	177
	The Empire State and the Big Apple	180
	Congestion Pricing	181
	Asian Cities	182
	South of the Border: Latin American Cities	183
	A Big Ticket: Bus Rapid Transit	184
	European Cities	184
	Networks and Compacts	185
	New Perspectives	187
7	A Lighter Footprint: Climate Change and Sustainable Development	190
	The War on the Forests	190
	The Beetles	192
	The Tar Sands	193
	Mountaintop-Removal Coal Mining	195
	Making Peace with the Forests	195
	REDD	197
	REDD+ and Beyond	198
	MRV	200
	The Palm Oil Factor	201
	Pushing to Sustainability and Brazil's Progress	205
	The Sky' the Limit	207
	The Magic of Certification	209
	Many Ways to Skin a Cat	210
	Food and Fiber's Impact	214
	Biosequestration: Agriculture as Carbon Sink	216
	Farming for the Earth — and its People	218
	Low Tech	221
	Distributed Agriculture	222
	You Are What You Eat	225
8	A Resilient Future: Adaptation, Education, Law, and Lifestyle	227
	Impacts	227
	Glaciers	228
	Sea-Level Rise and Storms	231
	The Insurance Industry's Response	233
	The Need to Adapt — and the Money with Which to Do It	235
	How to Adapt: Holding Back the Sea	237
	Water for People, Farms, and Ecosystems	238
	Cities Taking the Lead	239
	The Public Health	241
	Adaptation Planning: a Critical Task	242
	Expanding and Sharing the Adaptation "Knowledge Base"	243
	Bangladesh and Resilience	244
	Getting Smarter about Sustainability	245
	National Programs	247
	Reaching the Public: Museums and Continuing Ed	248
	Focus on Schools	249
	The Growing Body of Law	251
	Being Aware	253
	Faith Communities	254
	The Consumption Divide	256
	How We Choose to Live	258
	AC	258
	Moderating Energy Consumption	259
	Sustainable Tourism	260
	Voluntary Offsets: Expanding the Possibilities for "Carbon Neutrality"	261
	Basics: Transport and Food	262
	The Pace of Change	263

	Acknowledgements	265
	Notes	267
	Index	313