What´s the worst that could happen?
"What's the Worst That Could Happen? A Rational Response to the Climate Change Debate?" by Greg Craven. Penguin, 2009. Click here to order.
"If Craven could get everybody who has weighed in on this debate to go through the exercises in the book, Al Gore should share his Nobel peace prize."
-Chris Mooney, best-selling author of "The Republican War on Science"
"...a brilliant and unique work on global warming.... innovative and intelligent.... superbly crafted.... A must read."
-Gen. Anthony Zinni (Ret.), former Commander in Chief of U.S. Central Command
My book is designed to be a game-changer in the global warming debate by breaking through to the great unengaged majority. Which is, after all, where the war will be won or lost. The reachable but unreached. They have developed an immunity to cries of doomsday (after all, they're still here, right?), and the book is designed to cut through that by being determinedly non-advocacy, by identifying with their needs, explicitly valuing their experiences and values, and above all avoiding triggering any red flags about "Greenie" this or "Enviro-" that.
It may or may not work, but it at least has the virtue of never having been tried. And it seems to have great potential.
After all, 7.5 million views for a ten-minute whiteboard lecture on climate change is a pretty good indication that this simple little grid has hit a nerve. My take-away lesson from the viral success of "The Most Terrifying Video" is two-fold:
1) there's a great unmet thirst out there for something like this ("Finally! Relief from the shouting match!")
2) the tremendous power of the viral "pass it on" dynamic.
The tireless work by so many others on this issue has indeed been invaluable. But we can all agree that, having worked at the ordinary rate of social and political change, it hasn't gotten us where we need to be. This late in the game, we need nothing less than a wholesale shift in the popular culture about climate change, so that policy makers can implement actions on the scale necessary to eliminate the possibility of abrupt and catastrophic climate change in the coming decades.
This book is my attempt at breaking the logjam by trying an approach that hasn't been tried yet. It is unique in the genre.
So, what, exactly, is in the book? It is addressed to the soccer moms and NASCAR dads, slightly skeptical, but too busy and too overwhelmed by the shouting match to delve very far. It details a simple and straightforward method for making their own conclusion about the debate, without having to decide which side to believe.
It avoids taking sides (in fact, the final chapter is titled "Reader's Conclusion: Some Assembly Required"), and even includes the cheesy but sincere device of blank templates for the reader to fill in with their own values, experiences, and information sources.
For those who end up deciding that Column A is the better bet, the Appendix suggests individual actions that are not only stunningly simple, but surprisingly effective. Not just another "change your lightbulbs" book, "What's the Worst That Could Happen" proposes a viral approach to social and political change which led Bill McKibben--longtime environmental activist, founder of 350.org, and author of the very first book on climate change for a general audience--to write:
"This book trumps most of our accounts of the global warming crisis, partly for its good humor and straightforward logic, and partly because the author has actually figured out what actions make sense."
If you're intrigued and want a taste of the book's visual appeal and style, download a free preview here. [download preview]
If you're already convinced that it's worth owning (or that you want to buy a stack as Christmas gifts--at ten bucks a pop, it's a deal!), you can buy it through the links in the right hand column. [buy now]
Want a special gift? Buy the Special Edition Signed Copy of the book and the DVD of all the videos together. [buy Special Edition now]
In addition, please sign up for the newsletter [see right column]. The book is not the endpoint. The ideas have been evolving over the two-year back-and-forth with the Internet community, and that evolution continues even today. I'll let you know of new developments, improved approaches, and additional thinking tools. In addition, I'll toss in fun little "gimmees" as I produce them, from a deal on the upcoming eBook (containing the material that didn't make it into the book), to the secrets of the explosions and puzzles in the "How It All Ends" videos [view now], to updates on where the book and the videos (or even me, Greg Craven) are getting featured. Rest assured, I won't share your email address with anyone, and it will be easy to unsubscribe if you ever become discontented with my infrequent mailings.
And finally, (as if I haven't already asked you for enough), please consider donating a small amount [find out more]. Really, even a buck goes a long way, because if every visitor of this site did this, we could move this project much further. Your financial support not only helps me to pay off some of the Red Bull bills I racked up over the last two years, but also to finance an initiative to build a community web site. The goal of this community web site is to use crowd-sourcing to get as many people as possible engaged in the issue of global warming.
In order for us to seriously change something, we need to gather the greatest community on this planet and allow them to collaborate. Building a web site for this is no easy task and requires several components in place. Having some funding will speed up the development, so your help is greatly appreciated, even if it is just a dollar or two. [see Donate button in the right column]
Thank you so much for your time and support. Now, go spread the word.
Sincerely,
Greg Craven
Corvallis, Oregon, USA
