Low Impact

In Australia, George Monbiot isn’t exactly a household name. In fact, I’ve yet to run into any of my colleagues who even recognise the name. Until I picked up a copy of “Heat” at my local bookstore, I’d never heard of him either so I really wasn’t sure what to expect from this densely packed book.

The theme behind the book is simple – Monbiot, a regular writer for The Guardian newspaper in the UK, contends that the science is clear that we need to cut our emissions by 90% by 2030 to prevent dangerous climate change, and he proceeds to analyse the different areas of our lives to determine if such a cut is feasible. Areas such as power generation, transport and house design all come up for close scrutiny in terms of their shortcomings today, and ways in which we could improve them.

The new Australian Government has a target to cut emissions by 60% by 2050. When that announcement was made, it seemed like a bold target. But this book argues that such a cut is insufficient – that we need to drastically reorganise the way we do things in order to achieve a much larger reduction in our greenhouse gas emissions. And without wanting to ruin the ending , it shows that a 90% cut by 2030 is feasible and achievable.

One of the things I like about this book is the feeling of rigour it possesses. You quickly notice a plethora of footnotes – you’re hard pushed to find a single page without one. This is because practically every fact mentioned in the book is referenced with its source. Disagree with a premise to Monbiot’s argument? Feel free, and he conveniently provides you with the original basis for that premise for you to make up your own mind.

This is not a book with lavish photographs of rainforest, or polar bears. Its a book packed full of facts and tables, some of them surprising. Did you know, for instance, that original Model T Ford automobile produced in 1908 was more fuel efficient than the average car in America today?! Perhaps one fault with this book is that it is so densely packed with information that it can be hard to absorb it all – by the end your head is whirling with the advantages and disadvantages of a multitude of emission-reducing strategies. I don’t actually see this as a big problem – it means that “Heat” will reward re-reading. I’ve found myself using it as a reference when looking into the environmental impacts of different areas of my life.

If you’ve been convinced by the science of climate change but left with a feeling that surely something more is required than just replacing your light globes with CFLs, this book is what you’re looking for. I put this book down feeling energised (renewably of course! ) – it shows there are solutions out there today that can drastically cut our emissions without sending us back to a stone-age lifestyle.

Categories: book, environment, green

Tags: book review, emissions, monbiot, reduce