Andreas Karelas - Climate Courage: How Tackling Climate Change Can Build Community, Transform the Economy, and Bridge the Political Divide in America

Climate Courage reframes the narrative on climate change from doom and gloom to opportunity, with a breadth of practical solutions that can appeal to Americans across the political spectrum. This is an excellent summary of how the politics on climate change have evolved and the incredible progress were making, highlighting coalitions and initiatives that can inspire others. You cant read this and not come away with some optimism!

TERRY TAMMINEN ,
former secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency and president of 7th Generation Advisors

We have many of the technical solutions we need to address climate change. Andreas takes on a different question: how do we as a society get to the point where we decide to use them? This book, born of hard experience by a longtime clean energy leader, is an excellent guide to finding our way forward on one of the most important questions we face.

ADAM BROWNING ,
founder and executive director of Vote Solar

Karelas provides an uplifting and thoroughly researched study on the magnitude of efforts being made to confront the climate crisis. Climate Courage shows that it takes a village to save the planet, and here are so many different examples for how we can do it.

SARAH SHANLEY HOPE ,
founding executive director of the Solutions Project

Climate Courage is a gem of a book. I have been teaching about climate change for close to three decades. No other book comes close to explaining the challenges we face and, more importantly, the profound opportunities we are being offered in building a clean energy future. Read this book and give it to everyone you know.

PAUL WAPNER ,
professor of global environmental politics, American University, and author of Is Wildness Over?

This inspiring look at how and why solar can and should become a leading source of energyand the diverse leaders on the frontline of changeis a must-read. Karelas is both ethical and practical, and his deep love for people and the planet suffuses every page.

REV . SALLY G . BINGHAM ,
founder and president emeritus of Interfaith Power and Light and canon for the environment for the Diocese of California

Looking for a journey of optimism among todays doom-and-gloom headlines about climate change? This book is your tour guide. Thoughtful, well-researched, and thoroughly engaging, Climate Courage offers a real-world road map of hope and inspiration about the future of our planet and ourselves.

CLINT WILDER ,
coauthor of The Clean Tech Revolution and Clean Tech Nation

The 2020s are supposed to be the decisive decade on climate, but until were rolling up our sleeves, doing what Andreas describes in vivid detail, were all just talking. Heres a book on how to summon up the courage to do, not tell. Read it and you will get the gumption that you need to bridge the divides in America and do the work we need to save ourselves from our own worst impulses. Shine on!

DANNY KENNEDY ,
cofounder of Sungevity and CEO of New Energy Nexus

We now have the ability to harness clean energy technologies as tools for social justice. This book details how the community-based climate movement is making the clean energy transition a reality and tells the stories of the incredible people and organizations that show up for environmental, social, and economic justice every day.

ERICA MACKIE ,
cofounder and CEO of GRID Alternatives

To fight climate change, we need to broaden the conversation and include groups that have been consistently left out, especially those that will be worst affected, including communities of color and low-income communities. Climate Courage tells the stories of those of us working to make climate an inclusive movement.

THE REV . DR . AMBROSE CARROLL ,
founder and CEO, Green the Church

In Climate Courage, Karelas highlights the human side of the fight against climate changetaking this big, intimidating issue and connecting it to individuals and communities. Tackling the climate crisis is about more than measuring greenhouse gas emissions and creating new technology solutions. Ultimately, its about people and how they choose to act. Climate Courage reminds us that the planet doesnt have a political affiliation; there is just one Earth for us all to protect and enjoy.

JULIA PYPER ,
host and producer of the Political Climate podcast, contributing editor at Greentech Media

I dedicate this book to my mom, dad, and brothermy dear family who taught me the importance of community, faith, service, caring for the Earth, and sharing love unconditionally.

Climate change. Whats the first thing you think of when you hear these words?

For a long time, the archetype of global warming was a polar bear on a piece of melting ice, maybe holding a scrawled sign reading Halp us Al Gor! But these days, the first thing that might come to mind is a super-sized hurricane barreling toward the coast of Florida, a record-breaking wildfire scorching thousands of acresand koalasin Australia, or a killer heat wave wilting crops across Africa.

Increasingly, climate change is amplifying our extreme weather events in ways that we can see and experience personally. Its making many events bigger, stronger, and a lot more dangerous than they would have been fifty or a hundred years ago. You dont have to go to the Arctic any more to see the evidence of climate change with your own eyes. Its impacts are present wherever we live today.

The changes were seeing are scary too. As far back as we can goand using paleoclimate records, were able to look back millions of yearsweve never had this much carbon going into the atmosphere this quickly. The truth is, we are conducting an unprecedented experiment with our planet, the only home we have.

Heres the thing, though. When we survey people across North America, the vast majority agree that climate is changing. The majority even agrees that humans are responsible. And the number of people who are concerned or alarmed about climate change is growing every year. If thats really the case, we have to wonder, then, Why arent we seeing the meaningful policies and actions we need to solve climate change being implemented everywhere today?

To figure out the answer, consider the polling response to a very different question: Will global warming harm you personally? Regardless of the growing numbers who acknowledge that the problem is real, the answer to this question is still largely no. The vast majority of useven many who are solidly on board with the science and who are enraged by how often its being neglected by decision makers and politiciansdont think it matters to us personally. Instead, we view climate change as a distant issue: one that matters to polar bears, or to future generations, or to those who live far away from us, or to people who have different values than we do, prizing trees and baby seals over the safety of their families or the health of the economy.

That misperception, which we call psychological distance, is only half of the problem. The other half is solution aversion. We are told, regularly, that most of the solutions to climate change are harmful to us. Solving climate change, were told, is too expensive or requires giving up our way of life, or destroying the economy, or an even bigger government than we already have.