Original Proposal - Bill Gates - How To Avoid A Climate Disaster

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Dennis Cecchini
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Original Proposal - Bill Gates - How To Avoid A Climate Disaster

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Originally Posted by Dennis Cecchini » Fri Mar 12, 2021 9:25 am – 216 views in Section 3 before being transplanted here.


I propose that we read “How To Avoid A Climate Disaster: The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need” by Bill Gates (Knopf 2/16/2021 – 230 pages sans notes & index - $16.17 + shipping or $13.99 Kindle from Amazon.com).


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Book Description per Amazon.com

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER

In this urgent, authoritative book, Bill Gates sets out a wide-ranging, practical—and accessible—plan for how the world can get to zero greenhouse gas emissions in time to avoid a climate catastrophe.

Bill Gates has spent a decade investigating the causes and effects of climate change. With the help of experts in the fields of physics, chemistry, biology, engineering, political science, and finance, he has focused on what must be done in order to stop the planet's slide to certain environmental disaster. In this book, he not only explains why we need to work toward net-zero emissions of greenhouse gases, but also details what we need to do to achieve this profoundly important goal.

He gives us a clear-eyed description of the challenges we face. Drawing on his understanding of innovation and what it takes to get new ideas into the market, he describes the areas in which technology is already helping to reduce emissions, where and how the current technology can be made to function more effectively, where breakthrough technologies are needed, and who is working on these essential innovations. Finally, he lays out a concrete, practical plan for achieving the goal of zero emissions—suggesting not only policies that governments should adopt, but what we as individuals can do to keep our government, our employers, and ourselves accountable in this crucial enterprise.

As Bill Gates makes clear, achieving zero emissions will not be simple or easy to do, but if we follow the plan he sets out here, it is a goal firmly within our reach.


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Author Bio

William Henry Gates III was the co-founder in 1975 of Microsoft - and was its Chairman/CEO and largest individual shareholder until 2014 when he stepped down to the new post of Technology Adviser in support of the new CEO Satya Nadella.

Bill Gates and his wife, Melinda Gates, founded in 2000 and currently co-chair the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation – the largest private foundation in the world with $46.8 billion in assets.

In 2006, Warren Buffett famously announced there was no point in forming his own foundation when such an outstanding one already existed and donated/pledged much of his wealth to it.

The Mission of the Foundation is to (1) ensure more children and young people survive and thrive – with the path out of poverty beginning with the next generation accessing quality healthcare and a great education; (2) empower the poorest, especially women and girls, to transform their lives – giving them the tools to lead healthy, productive lives; (3) combat infectious diseases that particularly affect the poorest – delivering science and technology to those with the greatest needs; and (4) inspire people to take action to change the world – our resources alone are not enough, so changing public policies, attitudes and behaviors is also necessary.

In 2015, Bill Gates founded Breakthrough Energy – the umbrella name for several organizations aimed at accelerating innovation in sustainable energy and in other technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.


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Editorial Reviews Excerpts per Amazon.com

“The most comprehensible explanation for what’s driving our warming planet; how to measure the impact of the myriad contributions to this staggering and seemingly incalculable problem; and ultimately how to go about finding more effective approaches to each of them. It’s the closest thing I’ve seen to a how-to guide for addressing the climate crisis.”
—Clinton Leaf, Fortune

“How to Avoid a Climate Disaster presents ideas with the methodical approach of a college textbook . . . Remarkably, given the state of the world, it is an optimistic, can-do sort of book, chock-full of solutions.”
—Christina Binkley, The Wall Street Journal Magazine

“The most refreshing aspect of this book is its bracing mix of cold-eyed realism and number-crunched optimism . . . Ultimately his book is a primer on how to reorganise the global economy so that innovation focuses on the world’s gravest problems. It is a powerful reminder that if mankind is to get serious about tackling them, it must do more to harness the one natural resource available in infinite quantity—human ingenuity.”
—The Economist

“The author’s enthusiasm and curiosity about the way things work is infectious. He walks us through not just the basic science of global warming, but all the ways that our modern lives contribute to it . . . Gates seems energized by the sheer size and complexity of the challenge. That’s one of the best things about the book—the can-do optimism and conviction that science in partnership with industry are up to the task.”
—Richard Schiffman, The Christian Science Monitor

“With the help of experts in fields such as physics, engineering, chemistry, finance and politics, the technologist and philanthropist offers a practical and accessible plan for getting the world to zero greenhouse gas emissions and averting climate catastrophe.”
—Barbara VanDenburgh, USA Today

“How to Avoid a Climate Disaster is clear, concise on a colossal subject, and intelligently holistic in its approach to the problem. Gates may not be the perfect messenger, but he has written a fine primer on how to get ourselves out of this mess.”
—Adama Vaughan, New Scientist

“Bill Gates has a plan to save the world . . . While acknowledging that the challenge is daunting, and how we make things, grow things, move around, keep cool and stay warm will all need to fundamentally change, Gates argues that wholesale transformation is possible while maintaining lifestyles in high income countries and continuing to lift billions out of poverty.”
—Greg Williams, Wired

“His expertise . . . is apparent in the book’s lucid explanations of the scientific aspects of climate change. The solutions he outlines are pragmatic and grounded in forward-thinking economic reasoning. Although he does not avoid the hard truths we must face as our climate changes, Gates remains optimistic and believes that we have the ability to avoid a total climate disaster.”
—Miriam R. Aczel, Science

“Concise, straightforward . . . Gates has crafted a calm, reasoned, well-sourced explanation of the greatest challenge of our time and what we must change to avoid cooking our planet.”
—Jeff Rowe, Associated Press

“A persuasive, optimistic strategy for reducing greenhouse emissions to zero by midcentury . . . Though Gates doesn’t shy away from acknowledging the daunting challenges ahead, his narrative contains enough confidence—and hard science and economics—to convince many readers that his blueprint is one of the most viable yet . . . supremely authoritative and accessible.”
––Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Those looking for an accessible review of how global warming can be countered will find this a handy—and maybe even hope-inspiring—guide.”
––Publishers Weekly

“Gates has put his considerable wealth behind global health, educational, and economic initiatives and now turns his laser-like attention to this most existential of issues . . . He provides illuminating contexts for [his] perspectives and offers a treatise that is imperative, approachable, and useful.”
––Booklist

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