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How to Avoid a Climate Disaster

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How to Avoid a Climate Disaster: The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need
First edition cover
AuthorBill Gates
Audio read byBill Gates
Wil Wheaton
LanguageEnglish
SubjectClimate change
PublisherAlfred A. Knopf
Publication date
February 16, 2021
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePrint (hardcover and paperback), e-book, audio
Pages272
ISBN978-0-385-54613-3 (hardcover)
OCLC1122802121
363.738/747
LC ClassQC903 .G378 2020

How to Avoid a Climate Disaster: The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need is a 2021 book by Bill Gates. In it, Gates presents what he learned in over a decade of studying climate change and investing in innovations to address global warming and recommends strategies to tackle it.[1]

Summary

Gates argues that both governments and businesses have a role to play in fighting global warming. While he acknowledges that there is a tension between economic development and sustainability, he posits that accelerated green technology would resolve it. He calls on governments to increase investment in climate research, but at the same time to incentivize firms to invest in green energy and decarbonization. Gates also proposes a carbon pricing regime that would account for all externalities involved in producing and using carbon-emitting energy.

Gates thinks that decarbonizing electricity should be a priority, because it would not only reduce emissions from coal and gas used to produce electricity, but also allow an accelerated shift to zero emission transportation like electric cars. He advocates increased innovation and investment in nuclear energy, and warns against overly focusing on wind and solar generation, due to their intermittent nature.

Publication

How to Avoid a Climate Disaster was published in hardcover by Alfred A. Knopf on February 16, 2021. An audiobook narrated by Gates and Wil Wheaton was released the same day. A large-print paperback edition was published on February 23, 2021.[2]

The book debuted at number one on The New York Times non-fiction best-seller list for the week ending February 20, 2021.[3]

Reception

In its starred review, Kirkus Reviews called it a "supremely authoritative and accessible plan for how we can avoid a climate catastrophe."[4] Publishers Weekly agreed, calling it a "cogent" and "accessible" guide to countering climate change. However, the publication wrote that "not all of his ideas strike as politically feasible."[5]. British newspaper The Economist praised Gates for the book's "cold-eyed realism and number-crunched optimism."[6]

Climate activist Leah Stokes described the book as largely "Technology solutionism" when compared to other books published at a similar time such as Under a White Sky by Elizabeth Kolbert.[7]

References

  1. ^ Cooper, Anderson (February 15, 2021). "Bill Gates: How the world can avoid a climate disaster". 60 Minutes. CBS News. Retrieved February 26, 2021.
  2. ^ "How to Avoid a Climate Disaster by Bill Gates". Penguin Random House. Retrieved February 26, 2021.
  3. ^ "Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction - Best Sellers - Books". The New York Times. Retrieved February 27, 2021.
  4. ^ "How to Avoid a Climate Disaster: The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need by Bill Gates". Kirkus Reviews. December 15, 2020. Retrieved February 26, 2021.
  5. ^ "Nonfiction Book Review: How to Avoid a Climate Disaster: The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need by Bill Gates". Publishers Weekly. November 23, 2020. Retrieved February 26, 2021.
  6. ^ "Bill Gates has a plan to save the world". www.economist.com. The Economist. February 20, 2021. Retrieved March 1, 2021. The most refreshing aspect of this book is its bracing mix of cold-eyed realism and number-crunched optimism.
  7. ^ "Reviewed: "How to Avoid a Climate Disaster" by Bill Gates, "The Ministry for the Future" by Kim Stanley Robinson, and "Under a White Sky" by Elizabeth Kolbert". MIT Technology Review. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
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