Climate: A New Story

by Charles Eisenstein

Overview

A stirring case for a wholesale reimagining of the framing, tactics, and goals we employ in our journey to heal from ecological destruction
 
With research and insight, Charles Eisenstein details how the quantification of the natural world leads to a lack of integration and our “fight” mentality. With an entire chapter unpacking the climate change denier’s point of view, he advocates for expanding our exclusive focus on carbon emissions to see the broader picture beyond our short-sighted and incomplete approach. The rivers, forests, and creatures of the natural and material world are sacred and valuable in their own right—not simply for carbon credits or preventing the extinction of one species versus another. After all, when you ask someone why they first became an environmentalist, they’re likely to point to the river they played in, the ocean they visited, the wild animals they observed, or the trees they climbed when they were a kid. This refocusing away from impending catastrophe and our inevitable doom cultivates meaningful emotional and psychological connections and provides real, actionable steps to caring for the earth. Freeing ourselves from a war mentality and seeing the bigger picture of how everything from prison reform to saving the whales can contribute to our planetary ecological health, we resist reflexive postures of solution and blame and reach toward the deep place where commitment lives.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781623172480
Publisher:	North Atlantic Books
Publication date:	09/18/2018
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	664,197
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Charles Eisenstein is a teacher, speaker, and writer focusing on themes of civilization, consciousness, money, and human cultural evolution. His writings on the web magazine Reality Sandwich have generated a vast online following; he speaks frequently at conferences and other events, and gives numerous interviews on radio and podcasts. Eisenstein graduated from Yale University in 1989 with a degree in Mathematics and Philosophy, and spent the next ten years as a Chinese-English translator. The author of Sacred Economics (EVOLVER EDITIONS, 2011), he currently lives in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Table of Contents

Prologue: Lost in a Maze 1

1 A Crisis of Being 5

A Lost Truth 5

The Identity of "They" 11

The Fight 17

2 Beyond Climate Fundamentalism 25

Does Nothing Else Matter? 25

The Perverse Consequences of Carbon Reductionism 29

The Social Climate 36

The Rush to a Cause 40

The Mother of All Causes 43

The Place Where Commitment Lives 49

3 The Climate Spectrum and Beyond 53

Which Side Am I On? 53

A Visit to the World of Skepticism 60

The End of the World 70

The Institution of Science 74

The Wrong Debate 79

4 The Water Paradigm 83

A Different Lens 83

The Forests and the Trees 85

The Organs of Gaia 92

Five Thousand Years of Climate Change 101

5 Carbon: The Ecosystems View 105

Carbon, Soil, and Life 105

The Emissions Obsession 112

The Geoengineering Delusion 117

The Cult of Quantity 123

6 A Bargain with the Devil 131

Hazards of the Global Warming Narrative 131

The Causes of Passivity 135

Why Should I Love My Son? 142

Nature Trafficking 145

Rights of Nature 150

7 The Revolution is Love 155

In a Rhino, Everything 155

The Concrete World 160

The Conditions of Our Choice 168

8 Regeneration 175

Healing the Soil 175

Why Is Regenerative Agriculture Marginal? 180

Feeding a Hungry Planet 183

Healing the Water 189

The Mutual Need of People and Planet 193

Tending the Wild 194

9 Energy, Population, and Development 201

The Paradigm of Force 201

The Meaning of Development 205

Transition to Abundance 211

Population 214

10 Money and Debt 221

A Game of Musical Chairs 221

The Growth Imperative 226

Development and Debt 230

Hypocrisy 234

Elements of an Ecological Economy 236

11 An Affair of the Heart 245

In Science We Trust 245

If We Knew She Could Feel 253

The Powers of the Land 260

Reanimating Reality 266

12 Bridge to a Living World 271

Bibliography 279

Index 291

About the Author 305

Editorial Reviews

What a blast of sanity! Eisenstein's corrective is a bracing piece of work, dazzlingly thought through and eloquent in its articulation. He writes from within an uncannily woke worldview, enacting a full-bodied way of thinking that discerns and feels into the complex entanglement of our lives with every facet of this breathing biosphere. This book is visionary and prophetic, achingly grounded and useful to the max.”
—David Abram, cultural ecologist, geophilosopher, and author of Becoming Animaland The Spell of the Sensuous

“There is nothing ‘safe’ in these writings; almost every chapter courts controversy. We as readers are the beneficiaries of this bravery. This is a message that must be heard loud and clear as we chart a path toward social and ecological renewal.”
—Helena Norberg-Hodge, author and filmmaker of Ancient Futures and The Economics of Happiness
 
“This is a groundbreaking book. Eisenstein makes an inspiring, positive, and convincing case for a full and proper understanding of the present human predicament—a radical shift from a utilitarian worldview to an integral world view rooted in a sense of the sacred which recognizes the intrinsic value of nature and life.”
—Satish Kumar, founder of Schumacher College and editor emeritus of Resurgence & Ecologist
 
“This book is brave enough, vulnerable enough, insightful enough to activate a truth buried deep within all of our hearts: that the planetary crisis we face today can only be transformed by a revolution of love. It calls each of us to break with our patterns of war thinking and realize our interconnectedness with all life on Earth.”
—Jodie Evans, cofounder of Code Pink
 
“A clarion call to reconnect through love with our living Earth. Eisenstein offers a deeply analyzed and compelling case to collectively move past divisive reductionism, betwixt false Prophets of doom and false Profits of denial, towards a revitalization of reverential relations.”
—Brock Dolman, Occidental Arts and Ecology Center, permaculture program, and WATER Institute director

From the Publisher