George Monbiot challenges us to face reality in his powerful work Heat. Monbiot pulls no punches in describing the dangers we are in if we do not act quickly and decisively. He exposes the politically comfortable lies being fed us by a media that is either woefully ignorant or complicit in a shadow world of misinformation and deceit. Connections are drawn from the ‘scientists’ who reject the evidence of global warming or minimize its impact back to the major energy corporations that created and sponsor their so-called research institutes. Environmentalists are not let off the hook either as Monbiot challenges many of their pet projects.
The book begins by laying out the situation as it is, blasting the myth of Kyoto by clearly showing that a 6% cut in emissions is mere tokenism. Monbiot argues that if we are to divert disaster we must reduce carbon emissions by approximately 90% by 2030. If we do not, he effectively argues that we will pass the point of no return where we will no longer be able to intercede to save the planet. The consequences, if we do not intercede in a timely fashion, are inevitably fatal to our species. Unfortunately we will take a large number of innocent species with us. We may have the right to bring on our own doom but not that of other life forms.
But this is not a science fiction horror. This is a book about hope. After scaring the ‘bejeezus’ out of us, Monbiot goes on to explain that the necessary cuts are not only do-able but can be done with minimal shifts in our current lifestyles. Step by step through production of energy, our homes, transportation systems and industry he shows how we can, within the limits of existing technologies, achieve his 90% cut.
Global warming is a critical issue. Any attempt to deal with the problem is going to require mass support from all sectors of our society. First, though, must come understanding. Monbiot succeeds and fails here. He does certainly give direct expression to the problem without the usual political hedging. He condemns the mixed messages and genuine disinformation foisted upon an suspecting public by the governments elected to protect them, even from themselves. And although he speaks in the final chapter about the necessity of spreading the word his writing is inaccessible to many. His argument did not require much of the technical math in the text. He does relegate formulas to the footnotes but he could well have regulated more of the precise measurements as well. I found myself reading some parts twice as his transitions back to main points from asides were often not well handled. In some places, at first glance, he seems to be contradicting himself. Further inspection of the text cleared this up, most of the time. But I don’t expect to have to read passages twice to tease meaning from them. It is interesting that the section on cement which he jokes about trying to make interesting as he begins it and jokes about failing to do so at the end, I found more readable than many other parts of the text and more interesting for that matter. I also know a lot of other people who would find it fascinating. The problem here is one that pops up throughout the book and that is a sense of Monbiot’s elitism. The paragraphs where he ridicules people who have written him with their ideas on environmental issues are unnecessary and another example of an author taken with himself. I wonder what the point of that juvenile tirade was but I blame his editors as much as he. They should have deleted it before publication.
All in all though this book is important for the information it provides. It is the most concise direct approach to the problem of global warming that I have read.
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