A remarkable book

Hey all, I just finished Elizabeth Kolbert’s “Under a White Sky,” which was published a little over a year ago. I know you all know about this book and additionally aren’t necessarily reading books for the study group. However I’d strongly recommend reading this one, if not as a group, at least individually.

In a nutshell, she describes a number of environmental crises created by the Anthropocene (humans) and our technological solutions to control or “fix“ them. Throughout the book she explores how solving one problem with a technological fix can lead to further problems while also acknowledging the important role those technologies play.

She hits directly on our technological attempts to fix climate change via carbon capture and sequestration and solar geoengineering (the white sky…). She looks at these attempts with an open mind, clearly laying out the arguments both for and against.

The New York Times review focused on how the book explores the ambiguities of our current environmental crisis. The Rolling Stone's Jeff Goodell praised Kolbert by saying, "To be a well-informed citizen of Planet Earth, you need to read Elizabeth Kolbert..."

My conclusion is, if we wish to survive as a species along with our fellow species, we need to immediately employ as many tech fixes as possible as well as stop using fossil fuels. Net zero is a milestone, not an endgame. We must go negative asap.