Publishers Weekly - Audio
07/31/2017
Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York City, and Pope, his senior climate advisor and a former executive director of the Sierra Club, team up to discuss how cities from Mumbai to Miami can and should drive climate change innovations through collaborations with municipalities, NGOs, and businesses. The authors share their own conservation strategies and projects in alternating chapters. Bloomberg reads the preface, and some listeners, especially the New Yorkers, will immediately recognize his voice with its characteristic New York accent and slight lisp. Then news anchor Pellet, who is a reporter for Bloomberg Radio, steps in for the former mayor, reading chapters written by Bloomberg in a clear voice that avoids mimicry. Pope reads his own chapters; although he communicates his enthusiasm for the subject, his sections are more technical, and as a result harder to keep up with. He also doesn’t have radio experience like Pellet. The combination of narrators doesn’t feel like a match, as it would if both were authors or professional narrators. A St. Martin’s hardcover. (Apr.)
From the Publisher
"In their new book, Climate of Hope, Michael Bloomberg and Carl Pope provide readers with a wonderful, in-depth analysis of how municipalities, businesses and private citizens are proving to be a bold force in solving the greatest challenge of our time—the climate crisis. This book gives readers the opportunity to benefit from the wisdom of two highly successful individuals who have taken distinct paths to ensuring that their own communities and organizations have a tangible impact in securing our sustainable future. Climate of Hope is an inspiring must-read for anyone who wants to know how their local actions can have positive and significant impacts on the world." —Former Vice President Al Gore, Chairman of The Climate Reality Project
"If Trump is looking for a blueprint, he could not do better than to read a smart new book, Climate of Hope." —Thomas Friedman in The New York Times
“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
“Climate change threatens to reshape the future of our world's population centers. Bloomberg and Pope have been leaders on fortifying our cities against this threat, and their book proves that victory is possible—and imperative.” —Leonardo DiCaprio
"A book that glows with the optimism of levelheaded reason. Keenly attuned to political realities, Climate of Hope bypasses the fraught debates over long-term climate change, focusing instead on the immediate consequences of pollution." —New York Magazine
“A hopeful book of strategies for delivering the planet from our worst environmental depredations. …a thoughtful, eminently reasonable set of proposals.” —Kirkus
“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)
“[Bloomberg & Pope’s] divergent insights offer a three-dimensional examination of the crisis as well as accessible solutions, innovative suggestions and a plethora of benefits. Most importantly, their positive, forward-looking attitude is inspiring and attainable. Bloomberg and Pope's collaborative work epitomizes the unity needed to solve climate change, and they set an example to follow.” —Shelf Awareness
“Thanks in no small part to Michael Bloomberg, mayors around the world are proving day after day that cities can tackle climate change. There are three things we need to do: act, act and act again. This is the first book that explains how.” —Anne Hidalgo, mayor of Paris
“Michael Bloomberg and Carl Pope show that cities demonstrate how a bottom-up approach to climate action is not only possible, but also necessary—and how all of us have a role to play.” —Carol Browner, former EPA Administrator & White House Climate Advisor
“Climate of Hope couldn’t be more timely—or more necessary. Its optimistic and can-do spirit is exactly what made a global agreement possible. Now, Bloomberg and Pope provide a roadmap for making it a success.” —Christiana Figueres, Former Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC
Library Journal
04/15/2017
Bloomberg, former New York City mayor, and Pope, former chairman of the Sierra Club, offer a pragmatic take on climate change focused not on landscapes or endangered species but on the economy. They aim to take the campaign for environmental change out of Washington and put it in the hands of businesses, consumers, and local governments. Through their own experiences, such as Bloomberg's closing areas of Times Square to cars and Pope's work shutting down inefficient coal plants, the authors demonstrate how cities and individual organizations can make an impact. An analysis of agriculture, manufacturing, energy, construction, and transportation illustrates that resource-efficient practices benefit individual companies, related industries, and the larger economy. Singular efforts, such as replanting mangrove forests, reap multiple benefits in reducing carbon in the atmosphere, protecting valuable coastal property from hurricanes and erosion, and increasing the catch for local fishermen. Bloomberg and Pope enthusiastically share their own successes making innovative change and celebrate projects around the globe. Their optimistic premise—that people don't have to choose between the environment and the economy—will appeal to a wide audience. VERDICT A valuable book on a hot topic that should circulate well; for most public, high school, and academic libraries.—Catherine Lantz, Univ. of Illinois at Chicago Lib.
JULY 2017 - AudioFile
Former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg and former head of the Sierra Club Carl Pope discuss their collaboration to improve NYC’s environment while also sharing their insights on how local individuals and entities can lead the charge on saving the planet. Bloomberg reads the introduction, Pope narrates his chapters, and Charles Pellett narrates Bloomberg’s chapters. Pellett’s solid narration keeps the listener engaged and avoids trying to imitate Bloomberg. However, Pope should have opted for a professional narrator for his sections of the audiobook. He can read clearly enough, though his timing is sometimes off. But he has a slight rasp to his voice that, coupled with his elevated tone, is distracting. L.E. © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
2017-02-20
Just in time for Earth Day, yes, a hopeful book of strategies for delivering the planet from our worst environmental depredations."Cities and nations thrive when leaders anticipate the future—and dream big," writes former New York mayor and media magnate Bloomberg, who partners with former Sierra Club chairman Pope in alternating chapters. In a time when national leadership seems bent on denying the facts of climate change and failing to plan for the likely consequences of it, the authors propose that smaller-scale efforts are more likely to produce the desired results, efforts that "empower cities, regions, businesses, and citizens to accelerate the progress they are already making on their own." For instance, Pope—who seems, on the whole, wonkier than Bloomberg—looks at ways in which electrical utilities can lead the way in shifting to renewable sources of power as opposed to being forced into it, one measurable result of which has been bad blood in coal country as a result of the Obama administration's headlong plunge into cleaning up the coal industry without making necessary provisions for the workers who would be left jobless. Which isn't to say that Bloomberg isn't without his techno-nerdy side: he writes assuredly of the many ways in which cities such as New York have re-envisioned the role of the automobile, though with a political slogan or two tucked inside his prose for good measure: "more city leaders are recognizing that when the interests of cars and people diverge, people should come first." Elsewhere, Bloomberg looks into the role of buildings in climate change—they are, as he notes, responsible for some 70 percent of greenhouse gas emissions—while Pope notes that the future of climate change is not yet written, though sticking to a reasonable and salutary regime of energy consumption will "take decades to be felt." Whether this is an exercise in thinking globally and acting locally or vice versa, a thoughtful, eminently reasonable set of proposals for saving New York—and therefore the world.
