Break Through
“[Break Through] is unremittingly interesting, sharp, and wide-ranging, and it provides a great deal of thoughtful comment for anyone trying to figure out how to rally public support behind action on climate change, or indeed behind any progressive change.”
New York Review of Books
Environmental insiders Michael Shellenberger and Ted Nordhaus triggered a firestorm of debate with their self-published essay, “The Death of Environmentalism.” In this eagerly anticipated follow-up, the authors expand upon their argument that the paradigms driving the environmental movement and much of liberal politics are outdated and ineffective. A politics centered on restricting human growth and development does not resonate with the primary concerns of either the developing world or insecure modern Americans—nor can it solve a problem as large and complex as global warming. What is needed instead, they argue, is a new kind of development that integrates ecological, social, and economic change, motivated by an optimistic new vision of the future. By shifting from a politics of fear and limits to one of expansive possibility, we can galvanize American creativity and enterprise to tackle our most pressing challenges.
Praise