Palmer took a break from writing his column to finish compiling his thoughts ‒ and research ‒ for a new book, which he started three years ago. Mission accomplished, Palmer’s ‘Solving the Climate Crisis’ was released on Aug 18.
In reviewing his book, Demetria Head wrote for Barnes and Noble: “In Solving the Climate Crisis, Palmer Owyoung deconstructs climate change to understand how we got here and looks at how we can create a better future by building a nature-based economy in which we live in balance with our environment. Not only will this save us from the worst effects of climate change, but it will also save millions of lives, save trillions of dollars, create jobs, lower health care costs, reduce pollution, lower energy costs, and create a more stable economy.”
Kari Klaus in her review on Amazon wrote: “5.0 out of 5 stars - A necessary resource and measured optimism to combating climate change.”
“‘Solving the Climate Crisis’ by Palmer Owyoung is a compelling and indispensable guide that tackles the complexity of climate change with clarity and purpose,” she noted.
“This environmental ecology book is a tour de force, combining powerful statistics, insightful charts, and accessible writing to present a comprehensive overview of the climate crisis and, more importantly, actionable solutions that readers can implement within their communities.”
Here, Palmer explains what his new book features, and why it is a compelling must-read.
What inspired you to write your book?
I started writing Solving the Climate Crisis at the end of 2020, and the world was looking kind of bleak. COVID had taken over the media and fewer people were paying attention to climate change, but they are both part of the same puzzle.
I had just finished reading Bill Gates’s book, Avoiding a Climate Disaster, but his solutions involved expensive fixes like investing in nuclear energy and other technology that the average person can’t take part in. He also ignored a lot of the social and economic issues surrounding climate change.
So, I wanted to write a book that shows normal people how they can help solve climate change without having to radically change their lives.
Why do you believe this is needed?
Academics write a lot of climate change books and the language is opaque, difficult to understand, and they focus on their area of specialty. Solving climate change requires a multi-faceted approach that addresses socio-economic issues, the abuse of power by corporations, the high carbon-emitting lifestyles of the wealthy, the inefficiency of our food and energy systems, and how little regard we have for nature.
Also, most climate change books just talk about carbon emissions. We also need to address biodiversity loss, which is at least as important as curbing emissions, because if we fix one problem and not the other, the consequences will still be catastrophic.
Biodiversity is the variety of plants, animals, insects and microbes that exist in an ecosystem. They are responsible for clean air, clean water, trees, plants, healthy soil and our food. They also protect us against pandemics like COVID-19 by limiting the spread of disease. Without biodiversity, our world collapses.
How does your book hope to achieve these goals?
I wrote my book for the layperson and it approaches solving climate change holistically. I deconstruct the problem and the socio-economic and political system that brought us to this point.
I look at how Big Oil manipulated the truth about how damaging burning fossil fuel is by funding think tanks that produced pseudo-science that made the public distrustful of legitimate science. I examine how they funneled ‘Dark Money’ to politicians favourable to them and used lobbyists to protect their financial interests even as they continued to poison the planet with their product.
I then look at potential solutions. One of the best that I came across was from a Stanford professor of engineering named Mark Jacobson. He talks about his plan in his book No Miracles Needed and says that we can transition to 85% renewable energy with existing technologies like solar, wind and hydroelectric by 2030 and 100% by 2050. This would also save 5.3 million lives per year from air pollution, create 28 million new jobs and save trillions of dollars in future damage. Although the plan would cost US$2.21 trillion per year over the next three decades, it could pay for itself in just 1.5 years through lower healthcare and electricity costs.
Denialists like to push the falsehood that fighting climate change will damage the economy, but this is simply not true. In the long run, it will stabilise the economy and save us money by preventing damage to infrastructure and supply chain cuts, and by giving us predictable energy costs that are not subject to market fluctuations the way oil is.
I also look at ways we can fix our natural carbon sinks like the forests, the ocean and the soil, which is something that is often overlooked.
I include two chapters on reasons to be hopeful about the future. Some of these include the exponential growth in renewable energy, next-generation wind, solar and battery technologies, and recent legislative changes like the Inflation Reduction Act, the Global Diversity Framework and the High Seas Treaty.
Are there any specific examples from the book that you would like to
highlight?
Most people think that overpopulation is the biggest problem with climate change, but it’s not. It is connected, but the biggest problem is that a tiny part of the population uses an extremely large number of resources.
For example, the top 10% of the wealthy emit close to half of the world’s greenhouse gases. The top 1% emit 15% of emissions, more than twice the amount of the bottom 50%. That means that the top 80 million people emit more than twice that of the bottom 4 billion. Another way to look at is that one person in the top 1% emits as much as 100 in the bottom half.
The wealthiest 1% generates roughly half the world’s aviation emissions. A study from the United Nations says that if we are going to stay below 1.5°C of warming, the top 1% needs to cut their emissions by 97%.
The next thing is that we are told to fight climate change by lowering our individual carbon footprints and voting. Although these things are important to do, they are not enough to save us. What I found was one of the most effective ways to amplify your reach is by donating to non-profits that are lobbying to change climate policies.
GivingGreen.Earth is a website that applies a method called effective altruism, which fuses charitable giving with econometrics and answers the question of where donating a dollar does the most good. So, it’s evidence-based giving.
The conclusion is that giving to organisations that affect climate policy is about 10 to 20 times more effective than giving to organisations that are trying to remove CO2 from the atmosphere. GivingGreen.Earth lists the top five non-profits to donate to and breaks down why they are effective.
For example, one charity, the Clean Air Task Force, can eliminate approximately 1 metric tonne of CO2 for between 12 cents and $1. By comparison, most organisations can’t avert a metric tonne for less than $2.
Is there a single message people should learn from your book?
Climate change is a solvable problem and since society changes through social networks, what we choose to do as individuals (or not do) matters. In the book I talk about ‘three degrees of influence’, which says that if you change a behaviour, then people in your social circle are likely to change as well up to ‘three degrees’. So, we influence each other unconsciously.
Then there is the 25% rule which says that it takes 25% of a population to turn a social movement into a social norm. This is powerful because it means that a committed minority can change society. We are seeing tipping points in plant-based diets, renewable energy and electric vehicles that show that we can change things.
Turning our individual actions into collective action, and amplifying our impact by voting and donating to the right non-profits could make enough of a difference to keep us below 1.5°C warming, which is what we need to avoid the worst effects of climate change.
What are you looking to achieve next?
I am looking forward to going back to writing fiction where I don’t have to fact-check everything. I have an outline for a science fiction thriller called ‘Generation AI’, about the existential threat posed by artificial intelligence.
I am also planning on starting a plant-based food startup. Over the course of my research, I found that our food system causes $12 trillion worth of damage a year in air water and soil pollution, biodiversity loss, obesity, and disease. So, fixing our food system is one of the most important things we can do.
Palmer’s book ‘Solving the Climate Crisis’ is available through Barnes & Noble and Amazon. You can find more about Palmer on his website www.PalmerOwyoung.me. He also has a YouTube channel simply under the name ‘Palmer Owyoung’ (click here).