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158 reviews for:
Not Too Late: Changing the Climate Story from Despair to Possibility
Rebecca Solnit, Thelma Young Lutunatabua
4.11 AVERAGE
158 reviews for:
Not Too Late: Changing the Climate Story from Despair to Possibility
Rebecca Solnit, Thelma Young Lutunatabua
4.11 AVERAGE
SUCH an amazing read. I enjoyed the audiobook so much that now I need to get a physical copy so that I can refer back to some of these essays when I need them. So many stories of success and hope that get me excited to take action, to connect, and to love deeply. Positive visions of the future are possible and it is not too late!
challenging
hopeful
informative
slow-paced
I found this to be a really refreshing book of essays; I especially appreciated the focus on hope as a practice, and the recognition that individual behavior change is important but insufficient given the transformational, systemic change that is essential to meaningfully addressing the climate crisis.
there were a few good, hopeful essays worth reading, but the rest were a bit meh
A book about the climate crisis that felt relevant and important, but didn't leave me feeling terrible.
hopeful
informative
reflective
fast-paced
The essays in this book I found most impactful were those by indigenous people, especially Pacific Islanders, that were grounded in concrete strategies for protecting their communities from the worst of climate change. A lot of the others just felt like fluff to me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, Classism
Moderate: Death, Grief
Minor: Genocide, Miscarriage, Racism, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Pregnancy, War, Pandemic/Epidemic
emotional
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
‘Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.’
- [a:James Baldwin|10427|James Baldwin|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1343346341p2/10427.jpg]
It is distressing to hear the constant warnings of scientists speaking on the imminent danger of climate crisis, like a red alert going off in a spaceship, loud and flashing as the crew scrambles for evasive maneuvers. Except often it feels like that crew is sitting there helping the danger instead of pulling off some heroic Han Solo moves to save the ship. That ship is our Earth, and for decades if feels like the crew, us, have been sitting there like the ‘this is fine’ meme of the dog drinking coffee in a burning house while fossil fuel and securities companies have thrown colossal amounts of money into organizations doing everything from distractionary tactics to put the blame on individuals (BP invented the “carbon footprint” for instance) in order to avoid systemic changes, to outright denying the issue exists. Not Too Late, edited by [a:Rebecca Solnit|15811|Rebecca Solnit|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1535567225p2/15811.jpg] and [a:Thelma Young Lutunatabua|22981342|Thelma Young Lutunatabua|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] offer a different perspective: while there is much work to be done, while the danger is not only coming but already here, climate activists have made positive progress and if we still have hope we can accomplish more. Because we have to or we face a very different future where many will not survive. Collecting essays and interviews from climate activists around the world, this is an empowering and passionate plea for organizing and holding fast to hope while also being a very educational book on the subject of the climate crisis. Dr Jacquelyn Gill asks us to consider ‘What could we accomplish if we stood together and faced the danger?’ and Mary Annaïse Heglar reminds us that this requires people working together when she asks ‘what if your power in this fight lies not in what you can do as an individual but in your ability to be part of a collective?’ This is a wonderful collection that provides hope in the darkness and is accessible to newcomers to the struggle—as gathering more people to climate activism is essential to its success—while being thought provoking, insightful and educational even to those already invested in the crisis.
‘What gives me hope is that human history is full of examples of people across the ages who have risen to face the great challenges of their time and have succeeded. Victory is not the arrival in some promised land; it is the series of imperfect victories along the way that edge us closer to building the critical mass that eventually shifts the status quo.’
- Dr Joëlle Gergis
I’ve always quite enjoyed Rebecca Solnit for approaching rather uncomfortable and dark—but necessary and often urgent—topics in a way that is inspiring and hopeful. She often passes your through the dread but points to a light at the end of the tunnel and reminds you getting there is hopefully possible. Even her discussions on what ‘hope’ means is rather lovely:
But we can’t just get caught up in hope, either, as every person in this book reminds us that this is a lot of work, but work that it is imperative we accomplish. ‘This is a message of catastrophe, but it does demand we think transformationally’ Edward R. Carr insists, giving hope that ‘a climate-resilient future is still possible.’ Lutunatabua agrees, adding ‘ The question shouldn't be Will my actions be enough? but Will our actions be enough? This is a communal quest in which everyone can bring their talents…’ Throughout this collection, the theme of community and organizing to work together rings out the loudest. We can’t do this alone, they insist, but offer hope when we work together.
Not Too Late collects organizers from all over the world to present their perspectives, such as the Pacific Climate Warriors who remind us to approach the situation with sensitivity to race and culture as well. ‘We were recipients of a white savior narrative that really painted us as folks who really couldn’t tap into our own agency or…inventiveness,’ Fenton Lutunatabua says in an interview with Thelma. It is a reminder how quickly intentions to help can come across in ‘a very condescending way.’ For the 2020 US election I worked as the campaign finance officer for a US House of Representatives campaign (we did not win) and was only one of two staffers for the beginning when we were basically at the drawing board for our platform along with a group we hired that had worked on several West Michigan campaigns. Our candidate was very versed in climate crisis issues and we were frustrated when advised against making that a major platform, showing us data that while climate issues had been on the rise as an “important” issue for voters, the previous election showed a sudden decline and former candidates saying that platform issue hurt them. The theory was that between 2016 and 2018, climate issues were often discussed by a wonderfully inclusive group with many people of color, women and younger people being the forefront and in rural West Michigan, white voters (particularly men) suddenly grew disinterested or distrustful over the issues (we still ran with climate issues on the platform, but still lost). This is a classic example of misogynoir at work. Though don’t be discouraged, as Solnit cites a study showing that while in the US people estimate only 37-43% of people ‘support major climate change mitigation policies,’ actually a 66-80% of people do. PEW Research center also tracks that this is increasing, though there are party line issues:
While the aforementioned issue showed how racism, misogyny and agesim can be an issue involved in climate activism it also demonstrates how, as several chapters here mention, fighting against climate crisis is so intertwined with other liberation or equity movements. As author [a:Adrienne Maree Brown|1536532|Adrienne Maree Brown|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1605653512p2/1536532.jpg] in an interview, the growth in learning and fighting for climate issues in the US and UK has appeared to be adjacent to the #MeToo movement, prison abolition, BLM as people are seeing how structural and systemic oppressions are linked. Also that these systems uphold the same powerful people who perpetrate the various crises. It makes some people dismiss climate activism as just something ‘radical leftists’ support. In her book [b:This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate|21913812|This Changes Everything Capitalism vs. The Climate|Naomi Klein|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1418103804l/21913812._SY75_.jpg|41247321], journalist [a:Naomi Klein|419|Naomi Klein|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1494619590p2/419.jpg] discusses how many fear climate activism as ‘a trojan horse for socialism’ (a huge issues also discussed in essays on the New Green Deal in her essay collection [b:On Fire: The Case for the Green New Deal|43821569|On Fire The Case for the Green New Deal|Naomi Klein|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1568551116l/43821569._SX50_.jpg|68193240]) and, as you may have guessed from the title, admits that without major change in economic policies there is no hope for a livable future on Earth. She details how oil or securities companies have help fund the climate-denier movements (weapons manufacturers, she argues, stand to gain in a world where chaos ensues as mass migrations and other disasters occur due to climate disasters) and how this has also created a political divide hindering progress. This is a concern shared by Dr Leah Cardamore Stokes in her chapter:
This is furthered by Professor Farhana Sultana who states that ‘Colonialism haunts the past, present, and future through climate,’ arguing that climate activism must also focus on global equity and be sensitive to cultural and racial issues towards ‘reparative climate equity.’ The idea that climate activism also means creating a better world overall on a variety of issues is rather reassuring.
‘ The question shouldn't be Will my actions be enough? but Will our actions be enough? This is a communal quest in which everyone can bring their talents…’
Despite a lot of hard truths and discouragement, this book is endlessly optimistic and rather hopeful to read. There is a chapter detailing the chronology of successes in climate movements, such as the Paris Climate Treaty or the stoppage of oil pipelines by water defenders. This book also reminds you that you are not alone in your worries, that there are many opportunities to help (it gives a great resource list for further reading or joining the fight) and reminds us that the future is still uncertain. Sure, it is very likely that there will be more climate disasters and things will in fact get bad, but we also have the opportunity to mitigate disaster and fight against total destruction. For those looking to learn more, to find a way to move forward or simply need some hope in the darkness, Not Too Late is a lovely collection with a lot of brilliant minds.
4/5
‘Change happens gradually, then suddenly. It’s never too late to be part of the social movement that will help heal our world.’
- [a:James Baldwin|10427|James Baldwin|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1343346341p2/10427.jpg]
It is distressing to hear the constant warnings of scientists speaking on the imminent danger of climate crisis, like a red alert going off in a spaceship, loud and flashing as the crew scrambles for evasive maneuvers. Except often it feels like that crew is sitting there helping the danger instead of pulling off some heroic Han Solo moves to save the ship. That ship is our Earth, and for decades if feels like the crew, us, have been sitting there like the ‘this is fine’ meme of the dog drinking coffee in a burning house while fossil fuel and securities companies have thrown colossal amounts of money into organizations doing everything from distractionary tactics to put the blame on individuals (BP invented the “carbon footprint” for instance) in order to avoid systemic changes, to outright denying the issue exists. Not Too Late, edited by [a:Rebecca Solnit|15811|Rebecca Solnit|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1535567225p2/15811.jpg] and [a:Thelma Young Lutunatabua|22981342|Thelma Young Lutunatabua|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] offer a different perspective: while there is much work to be done, while the danger is not only coming but already here, climate activists have made positive progress and if we still have hope we can accomplish more. Because we have to or we face a very different future where many will not survive. Collecting essays and interviews from climate activists around the world, this is an empowering and passionate plea for organizing and holding fast to hope while also being a very educational book on the subject of the climate crisis. Dr Jacquelyn Gill asks us to consider ‘What could we accomplish if we stood together and faced the danger?’ and Mary Annaïse Heglar reminds us that this requires people working together when she asks ‘what if your power in this fight lies not in what you can do as an individual but in your ability to be part of a collective?’ This is a wonderful collection that provides hope in the darkness and is accessible to newcomers to the struggle—as gathering more people to climate activism is essential to its success—while being thought provoking, insightful and educational even to those already invested in the crisis.
‘What gives me hope is that human history is full of examples of people across the ages who have risen to face the great challenges of their time and have succeeded. Victory is not the arrival in some promised land; it is the series of imperfect victories along the way that edge us closer to building the critical mass that eventually shifts the status quo.’
- Dr Joëlle Gergis
I’ve always quite enjoyed Rebecca Solnit for approaching rather uncomfortable and dark—but necessary and often urgent—topics in a way that is inspiring and hopeful. She often passes your through the dread but points to a light at the end of the tunnel and reminds you getting there is hopefully possible. Even her discussions on what ‘hope’ means is rather lovely:
’ To hope is to accept despair as an emotion but not as an analysis. To recognize that what is unlikely is possible, just as what is likely is not inevitable. To understand that difficult is not the same as impossible. To plan and to accept that the unexpected often disrupts plans--for the better and for the worse. To know the powerful have their weaknesses, and we who are supposed to be weak have great power together, power to change the world, have done so before and will again. To know that the future will be what we make of it in the present. To know that joy can appear in the midst of crisis, and that a crisis is a crossroads.’
But we can’t just get caught up in hope, either, as every person in this book reminds us that this is a lot of work, but work that it is imperative we accomplish. ‘This is a message of catastrophe, but it does demand we think transformationally’ Edward R. Carr insists, giving hope that ‘a climate-resilient future is still possible.’ Lutunatabua agrees, adding ‘ The question shouldn't be Will my actions be enough? but Will our actions be enough? This is a communal quest in which everyone can bring their talents…’ Throughout this collection, the theme of community and organizing to work together rings out the loudest. We can’t do this alone, they insist, but offer hope when we work together.
Not Too Late collects organizers from all over the world to present their perspectives, such as the Pacific Climate Warriors who remind us to approach the situation with sensitivity to race and culture as well. ‘We were recipients of a white savior narrative that really painted us as folks who really couldn’t tap into our own agency or…inventiveness,’ Fenton Lutunatabua says in an interview with Thelma. It is a reminder how quickly intentions to help can come across in ‘a very condescending way.’ For the 2020 US election I worked as the campaign finance officer for a US House of Representatives campaign (we did not win) and was only one of two staffers for the beginning when we were basically at the drawing board for our platform along with a group we hired that had worked on several West Michigan campaigns. Our candidate was very versed in climate crisis issues and we were frustrated when advised against making that a major platform, showing us data that while climate issues had been on the rise as an “important” issue for voters, the previous election showed a sudden decline and former candidates saying that platform issue hurt them. The theory was that between 2016 and 2018, climate issues were often discussed by a wonderfully inclusive group with many people of color, women and younger people being the forefront and in rural West Michigan, white voters (particularly men) suddenly grew disinterested or distrustful over the issues (we still ran with climate issues on the platform, but still lost). This is a classic example of misogynoir at work. Though don’t be discouraged, as Solnit cites a study showing that while in the US people estimate only 37-43% of people ‘support major climate change mitigation policies,’ actually a 66-80% of people do. PEW Research center also tracks that this is increasing, though there are party line issues:
While the aforementioned issue showed how racism, misogyny and agesim can be an issue involved in climate activism it also demonstrates how, as several chapters here mention, fighting against climate crisis is so intertwined with other liberation or equity movements. As author [a:Adrienne Maree Brown|1536532|Adrienne Maree Brown|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1605653512p2/1536532.jpg] in an interview, the growth in learning and fighting for climate issues in the US and UK has appeared to be adjacent to the #MeToo movement, prison abolition, BLM as people are seeing how structural and systemic oppressions are linked. Also that these systems uphold the same powerful people who perpetrate the various crises. It makes some people dismiss climate activism as just something ‘radical leftists’ support. In her book [b:This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate|21913812|This Changes Everything Capitalism vs. The Climate|Naomi Klein|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1418103804l/21913812._SY75_.jpg|41247321], journalist [a:Naomi Klein|419|Naomi Klein|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1494619590p2/419.jpg] discusses how many fear climate activism as ‘a trojan horse for socialism’ (a huge issues also discussed in essays on the New Green Deal in her essay collection [b:On Fire: The Case for the Green New Deal|43821569|On Fire The Case for the Green New Deal|Naomi Klein|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1568551116l/43821569._SX50_.jpg|68193240]) and, as you may have guessed from the title, admits that without major change in economic policies there is no hope for a livable future on Earth. She details how oil or securities companies have help fund the climate-denier movements (weapons manufacturers, she argues, stand to gain in a world where chaos ensues as mass migrations and other disasters occur due to climate disasters) and how this has also created a political divide hindering progress. This is a concern shared by Dr Leah Cardamore Stokes in her chapter:
‘When denial became indefensible, the fossil fuel industry started singing a new song: the crisis can’t be solved. Delay paid them in cash. When we hear stories about the harms posed by clean energy technologies, we should take a beat and ask: who profits from telling this story? Too often, the fossil fuel industry is seeding propaganda to make us feel hopeless and defeated. If we delay, they profit.’
This is furthered by Professor Farhana Sultana who states that ‘Colonialism haunts the past, present, and future through climate,’ arguing that climate activism must also focus on global equity and be sensitive to cultural and racial issues towards ‘reparative climate equity.’ The idea that climate activism also means creating a better world overall on a variety of issues is rather reassuring.
‘ The question shouldn't be Will my actions be enough? but Will our actions be enough? This is a communal quest in which everyone can bring their talents…’
Despite a lot of hard truths and discouragement, this book is endlessly optimistic and rather hopeful to read. There is a chapter detailing the chronology of successes in climate movements, such as the Paris Climate Treaty or the stoppage of oil pipelines by water defenders. This book also reminds you that you are not alone in your worries, that there are many opportunities to help (it gives a great resource list for further reading or joining the fight) and reminds us that the future is still uncertain. Sure, it is very likely that there will be more climate disasters and things will in fact get bad, but we also have the opportunity to mitigate disaster and fight against total destruction. For those looking to learn more, to find a way to move forward or simply need some hope in the darkness, Not Too Late is a lovely collection with a lot of brilliant minds.
4/5
‘Change happens gradually, then suddenly. It’s never too late to be part of the social movement that will help heal our world.’
challenging
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism
Moderate: Miscarriage, Racism, Blood, Grief, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Cancer, Gun violence, Hate crime, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Police brutality, Murder, Colonisation, War, Pandemic/Epidemic
hopeful
informative
medium-paced