Climate of Hope: How Cities, Businesses, and Citizens Can Save the Planet by Michael Bloomberg and Carl Pope

The subtitle encapsulates the message of this hopeful book by the former mayor of New York City and the long-time executive director of the Sierra Club. They like the Paris agreement that our president has just pulled our country out of. They see it as a good thing but not essential, because nations are not the primary agents in combating global warming: cities, corporations, and ordinary people are. Contributing alternate chapters, Bloomberg and Pope provide a sweeping and detailed survey of what has been done to combat global warming and of opportunities for further action.

One striking example comes from Bloomberg. He tells about the energy retro­ fitting of the Empire State Building, at a cost of $20 million. But the energy savings amounted to $4 million in the first year; in five years the retro-fit was paid for, and the owners began to reap a significant profit, doing well as a result of doing good. The lesson is that combating climate change can-indeed, must­ be economically viable. Carl Pope writes about a very different opportunity. He notes that the Indian government was spending enough in three years on kerosene subsidies-to provide lighting via kerosene lanterns in the myriad poor villages of India-to give solar power to all of the 75 million Indian households without electricity, while improving the health of Indian villagers and reducing fire hazard!

Coal, they point out, is now more expensive than natural gas, solar power, and wind power. Economically it's on its way out. Today's "wind and solar electrons are the cheapest electrons the world has ever known."

So I have taken hope. This book is something like a treasure trove of ideas for winning the battle of climate change. And both Bloomberg and Pope write well, with clarity and style. Be prepared, however, for a slight policy wonkishness