What If We Get It Right?

Starred review from July 22, 2024
There are countless means by which a sustainable future is possible, if only society has the political will to enact them, according to this galvanizing survey. Marine biologist Johnson (All We Can Save) draws on in-depth interviews with experts in earth science, tech, design, and agriculture, as well as activists and journalists, to showcase the vast array of potential solutions and to help readers envision what the future could look like (Johnson writes that her motivation for writing the book was her own difficulty imagining a post-fossil fuel world). The interviews are remarkably insightful. Some add depth to familiar topics (journalist Bill McKibben gives a robust explanation of how entrenched the banking system is in the fossil fuel industry; activists Xiye Bastida and Ayisha Siddiqa recount the recent history of the youth climate movement, incisively reflecting on the benefits and limitations of the mass protests favored in the movement’s early years and outlining today’s more multifaceted strategy), while others will likely surprise readers (environmental historian Brian Donahue suggests that land-rich towns and suburbs that have recently gotten into community gardening should try forestry next). Johnson’s account is buoyed throughout by her adamant belief that sweeping change is possible, with a little push (“Moving forward requires that we propel each other.... We need to leap”). This is a much-needed antidote to “climate grief.”