Publisher Description
A plan to save the earth and bring the good life to all
In this thrilling and capacious book, Troy Vettese and Drew Pendergrass challenge the inertia of capitalism and the left alike and propose a radical plan to address climate disaster and guarantee the good life for all. Consumption in the global North can’t continue unabated, and we must give up the idea that humans can fully control the Earth through technological “fixes” that only wreak further havoc.
Rather than allow the forces of the free market to destroy the planet, we must strive for a post-capitalist society able to guarantee the good life for the entire planet. This plan, which they call Half-Earth Socialism, means we must:
• Rewild half the Earth to absorb carbon emissions and restore biodiversity,
• Pursue a rapid transition to renewable energy, paired with drastic cuts in consumption by the world’s wealthiest populations,
• Enact global veganism to cut down on energy and land use,
• Inaugurate worldwide socialist planning to efficiently and equitably manage production, and
• Welcome the participation of everyone—even you!
Accompanied by a climate-modelling website inviting readers to design their own “half earth,” Vettese and Pendergrass offer us a visionary way forward—and our only hope for a future.
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“Refreshing….Vettese and Pendergrass’s is a humble utopia. There is solidarity, fulfilment, full bellies, and plenty of leisure time. Crucially, there is a climate in repair, which is more than enough to win me over in my darkest hours.”
—
Resurgence & Ecologist
About the Authors
After producing, directing, and engineering spoken word recordings for over twenty years, Paul Heitsch began narrating audiobooks in 2011, and has recorded many bestselling titles as both himself and under a pseudonym. A classically trained pianist, Paul is also a composer and sound designer, and is currently the director of music for the James Madison University School of Theatre and Dance, and an adjunct instructor for the JMU School of Music. He and his family live in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley region of Virginia (although Chicago will always be his hometown).
Troy Vettese is an environmental historian and a Max Weber fellow at the European University Institute, where he is affiliated with the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies. He studies the history of environmental economics, energy, and animal life under capitalism. His writing has appeared in Bookforum, New Left Review, the London Guardian, n+1, and many more publications.
Drew Pendergrass is a PhD student in environmental engineering at Harvard University. His research uses satellite, aircraft, and surface observations of the environment to correct supercomputer models of the atmosphere. His environmental writing has been published in Harper’s, the London Guardian, Jacobin, and Current Affairs.
About Paul Heitsch
After producing, directing, and engineering spoken word recordings for over twenty years, Paul Heitsch began narrating audiobooks in 2011, and has recorded many bestselling titles as both himself and under a pseudonym. A classically trained pianist, Paul is also a composer and sound designer, and is currently the director of music for the James Madison University School of Theatre and Dance, and an adjunct instructor for the JMU School of Music. He and his family live in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley region of Virginia (although Chicago will always be his hometown).