Fight Global Warming Now: The Handbook for Taking Action in Your Community

by Bill McKibben

Bestselling author Bill McKibben turns activist in the first hands-on guidebook to stopping climate change, the world's greatest threat

Hurricane Katrina. A rapidly disappearing Arctic. The warmest winter on the East Coast in recorded history. The leading scientist at NASA warns that we have only ten years to reverse climate change; the British government's report on global warming estimates that the financial impact will be greater than the Great Depression and both world wars―combined. Bill McKibben, the author of the first major book on global warming, The End of Nature , warns that it's no longer time to debate global warming, it's time to fight it.

Drawing on the experience of Step It Up, a national day of rallies held on April 14, McKibben and the Step It Up team of organizers provide the facts of what must change to save the climate and show how to build the fight in your community, church, or college. They describe how to launch online grassroots campaigns, generate persuasive political pressure, plan high-profile events that will draw media attention, and other effective actions. Fight Global Warming Now offers an essential blueprint for a mighty new movement against the most urgent challenge facing us today.

Genres: Environment, Nonfiction, How To

224 pages, Paperback

First published October 16, 2007

About the author

Bill McKibben is the author of Eaarth, The End of Nature, Deep Economy, Enough, Fight Global Warming Now, The Bill McKibben Reader, and numerous other books. He is the founder of the environmental organizations Step It Up and 350.org, and was among the first to warn of the dangers of global warming. In 2010 The Boston Globe called him "probably the nation's leading environmentalist," and Time magazine has called him "the world's best green journalist." He studied at Harvard, and started his writing career as a staff writer at The New Yorker. The End of Nature, his first book, was published in 1989 and was regarded as the first book on climate change for a general audience. He is a frequent contributor to magazines and newspapers including The New York Times, The Atlantic Monthly, Harper's, Orion Magazine, Mother Jones, The New York Review of Books, Granta, Rolling Stone, and Outside. He has been awarded Guggenheim Fellowship and won the Lannan Prize for nonfiction writing in 2000. He is a scholar in residence at Middlebury College and lives in Vermont with his wife, the writer Sue Halpern, and their daughter.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/billmc...

Reviews

[Amy Layton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fight Global Warming Now offers an undeniably fresh and easy-to-read look at how to organize a grassroots community committed to fighting (but not limited to fighting) climate change.  He offers countless different ideas and proofs that such ideas have worked: McKibben and his team provide photographs, emails, citations, and anecdotes on how grassroots organizing need not be as daunting as it's made out to be.  Not only that, but he provides proof on how he and his team have gotten congressfolk to care more openly about climate change!  That's certainly a success in my book.

Overall, I really think that this book is necessary for realizing just how simple organizing can be.  Take McKibben's recommendations, for example: forge friendships, ask the community, share resources, be an email guru, say yes to things!  Certainly much has changed since the publication of this book (over 10 years ago!), so many of the principles can still be applied to today.  

Review cross-listed here!

[reilly · Rating 3 out of 5]

a little outdated, but still helpful :)

[Fadillah · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are newbie in activism, then this book is suitable for you. The reason i picked this book is i believe i have not done much for earth especially participating in any efforts that aim to slow down the global warming rate. As most corporations continue to resist the tasks of reducing the impact of Global Warming, people started to notice that climate change is real and it no longer could be ignored. This book as real as it can be and straight to the point- there is no beating around the bush. "If you want to join us and protect what's left of earth for our future generation, this is the steps you have to take" is what the author try to comprise in this book.

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first half is really solid - a nice, inspiring account of different actions taken in 2007 and how regular folks pulled it together. Really nice outline of how to make (semi) modern activism work.

The latter half drifts into more dated stuff, like recommending "email programs". Don't close the book at that point, though - it does pick up again!

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book will provide activists fighting for any cause with a good frame of reference for how to be creative in their actions.

[Brett · Rating 2 out of 5]

Continuing down my path of Bill McKibben completism, I came to Fight Global Warming Now. This is less a book about climate change per se than it is about activism in general, as it consists mostly of tricks and tips gleaned from an effort to put together a nationwide climate event back in 2008 that consisted of interrelated climate walks in different cities around the country.

It's fine as far as it goes but I get the sense that bulk of this book was written by the students who participated in these actions. McKibben's gift for writing lovely prose is largely absent, as is his deep knowledge about climate change and insight into how it is changing our relationship with nature. It's a how-to manual about setting up an event, working with others to organize it, marketing it to the media, setting up online hubs of activity, etc.

None of it felt particularly revelatory to me and it certainly has to go at or near the bottom of McKibben's books in terms of anything that I'd recommend to others.

[Thomasin Propson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some good advice in how to begin your movement (based on their own experience as Step It Up fighting global warming). It wasn't a long read, but I'd have been okay shortening it to just the chapter titles:
1. Make it Creditible
2. Make it Snappy
3. Make it Collaborative
4. Make it Meaningful
5. Make it Creative (and Fun!)
6. Make it Wired
7. Make it Seductive (to the Media)
Afterward: Make it Last

[Bertha · Rating 3 out of 5]

unfortunately for environmentalist books that are about different ways to fight climate change can be outdated, a lot of the parts of this book is indeed that. but it still explains how to take action within a community. it also mainly speaks about the Step It Up campaign and what they do to protest for the government to take action

[Ime'... Imelda · Rating 2 out of 5]

The day when I opened the book, I was quite excited, thought that I could really learn about climate change. What I meant by learning climate change, I really meant learning. But it turned out that this book is actually more dedicated to the campaign actions about climate change.

This book presents the way we could encourage people to do something to postpone the effect of global warming. They present methods, medium and how to really work on it.

I wasn’t really interested in it anymore about quarter way. I was thinking to put it back into our office’s shelf, but in fact I didn’t. I was hoping that I would see something more interesting than what I already seen at the first page.

It turns out this book is not really ‘me’. I like some messages in there, but I don’t really like the way that book is written. Then again, I’ve finished it.

It’s good for those who are really campaigners for this kind of issues. But yes, I do agree about how we ought to use all the facilities we have. Take an example of blogging or networking using Facebook, Friendster and stuffs. Those are some examples to really mainstreaming climate change.

It’s a good reference for those campaigners; but if you’re not really interested in the campaigning about climate change, then, just leaves it as your library’s shelf.

[Leigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

A practical guide to community organizing to fight global warming. Gives practical examples of how to get the word out and get people to participate. Written by the grassroots organizers of Step It Up, a nationwide day of rallies that was organized in less than a year. This book will make you want to get up and get everyone you know to do something.

[Green4u · Rating 4 out of 5]

A practical guide to community organizing to fight global warming. Gives practical examples of how to get the word out and get people to participate. Written by the grassroots organizers of Step It Up, a nationwide day of rallies that was organized in less than a year. This book will make you want to get up and get everyone you know to do something.

[lynna · Rating 4 out of 5]

a great guide to organizing around global warming issues. it's nice not to have to reinvent the wheel, but rather borrow other peoples' wheel. i wish i could have finished it, but i couldn't because one of my irresponsible interns stole it from me :[

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a good book to get people started with organizing against global warming. It provides great resources some which I've used for a while now.

[Caroline · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book; very well put together; super easy to read; super powerful! Thanks to Will for leaving it behind with us as we start to take action and mobilize our community -- India! ;)

[Andy]

just on the first few chapters of the book. very interesting... found some ideas already... the big question is how to put them into actions...

[Christøpher Es · Rating 3 out of 5]

Idk, required reading for the dumbest science class ever.