“Meeting our world’s growing energy demands will require contributions from science, business, and government. As Climate of Hope shows, Michael Bloomberg has a unique understanding of the importance of this collaborative approach. Michael’s leadership and optimism remind us that by working together, we can develop breakthrough innovations to reduce the cost and increase the reliability of clean energy technology.” —Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
“Upbeat, pragmatic, eloquent, and supremely well-informed, Bloomberg and Pope present striking statistics, cogently describe diverse examples of energy reforms and innovations across the U.S. and around the world, and make clear on both personal and social levels why a low-carbon future is possible, necessary, and of great benefit to everyone.”—Booklist, Starred Review
“…a hopeful book of strategies for delivering the planet from our worst environmental depredations.…a thoughtful, eminently reasonable set of proposals”—Kirkus
Given the news out of Washington, D.C., and the rate at which the earth’s temperature is rising, it’s easy for people to become despondent about climate change. But Michael Bloomberg and Carl Pope are optimistic. They believe that we are now in a better position to stop climate change than ever before. In the years ahead, cities, businesses, and communities—not Washington or other national governments—can lead and win the battle against global warming. In CLIMATE OF HOPE: How Cities, Businesses, and Citizens Can Save the Planet (St. Martin’s Press; April 2017), Bloomberg, a renowned entrepreneur, philanthropist and former mayor of the nation’s largest city, and Pope, the former executive director of the Sierra Club, approach climate change from different perspectives yet arrive at similar conclusions. Together, they create a new type of conversation about climate change—one that moves the issue from partisanship to empowerment; from top-down to bottom-up; and from fear to hope.
“Cooler heads can produce a cooler world,” write Bloomberg and Pope, who lower the temperature of the debate by showing that the changing climate is a series of discrete, manageable problems each with a solution that can make our society healthier and stronger. National governments, they argue, are not the best places to create these solutions. Rather, it is the mayors, CEOs, entrepreneurs, activists, concerned citizens, and other local actors who truly have the power to win the battle against climate change in ways that will also generate economic growth and improve public health—and many, in fact, are already making substantial progress.
Readers will discover how mayors in cities around the U.S., in red and blue states, are leading this work, and the crucial roles that business leaders and citizens are playing. And readers will come away with a clear sense of what they can do, in their own hometowns, to contribute to the progress.
Writing in alternating chapters from their own experiences, sharing illustrative moments from their distinguished careers in public service and activism, Michael Bloomberg and Carl Pope provide a practical road map for tackling the most complicated challenge the world has ever faced. Rather than using the apocalyptic alarmism that often characterizes discussion of this issue, CLIMATE OF HOPE inspires action by offering practical solutions and showing how they can produce immediate and concrete benefits.
For more information, please visit: climateofhope.com
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Michael Bloomberg is the founder of Bloomberg LP, a global media and financial information company. He served as Mayor of New York City from 2002-2013. In 2014, the U.N. Secretary-General appointed him Special Envoy for Cities and Climate Change. He is one of the world’s most prominent philanthropists, and the environment is one of the five main focus areas of his foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies.
Carl Pope currently serves as the principal advisor at Inside Straight Strategies, looking for the underlying economics that link sustainability and economic development. Former executive director and chairman of the Sierra Club, he has served on the Boards of the California League of Conservation Voters, Public Voice, and National Clean Air Coalition among many others. He is the author of three books. He writes regularly for Bloomberg View and Huffington Post.