Were All Climate Hypocrites Now - How Embracing Our Limitations Can Unlock the Power of a Movement

Changing your behavior matters. Transforming the system matters more.

A useful ¿ and sprightly! ¿ effort to get at the choice between individual and systemic action on the greatest problem we've ever faced.

¿ Bill McKibben, author, The End of Nature

Grover's smart, funny take on our own relationship ¿ warts and all ¿ to the environmental crisis is a thought-provoking read for all of us.

¿ Dr. Kumarini Silva, UNC-Chapel Hill, author, Brown Threat

FROM diet to transport, our culture tells us that the climate crisis is caused by the choices we make. Yet whether it's socioeconomics or the place we call home, our decisions are governed by the systems in which we live.

Taking a tongue-in-cheek approach, self-confessed eco-hypocrite Sami Grover says we absolutely should do what we can, but a clean break is simply not possible for most. Instead, we need to target our efforts to create systemic change. Coverage includes:

• How environmentalism lost its groove


• Why big polluters love to talk about your carbon footprint


• The psychology of shaming


• How businesses can find their activist voice


• The true power of individuals to spark widespread change.

By identifying our greatest leverage, we can prioritize our actions, put pressure on the powerful, and build common ground with millions of other imperfect individuals to actually change the system.

Part eco-therapy, part climate strategy, and a fantastic antidote to the overwhelm that comes with living in a global ecological crisis.

¿ Danna Smith, executive director, Dogwood Alliance

I could not put it down. It's a tour de force for hope. And kindness.

¿ Alison Phipps, University of Glasgow

Sami Grover tries to live a low-carbon lifestyle and has written about everything from composting to e-bikes. Currently serving as Brand Manager for The Redwoods Group, his previous clients include Burt's Bees and Jada Pinkett Smith. Sami lives in Durham, NC.

List of contents

Acknowledgments: An Incomplete Catalog of Gushing Praise and Profuse Thanks

Preface: The Night I Went Drinking and the World Fell Apart

A Gradual Social Reckoning

Action Is Contagious Too

Getting to the Point

1. We're All Climate Hypocrites Now

What Does 'Hypocrite' Even Mean?

Rational Choice Is No Choice At All

Undermining the Messenger

A Convenient Mistruth

Eco-Moralism Runs Deep

Nothing's Ever Easy

The Limits of Personal Responsibility

Why Individual Action Still Matters

2. Wants and Needs

Voting and Shopping Are Not the Same Thing

The Irrational Consumer

Behavior Is About Design

The Roles We Play

Abstinence Is Still Individualism

Finding a Bigger Political Canvas

3. How "Green" Lost Its Groove

Dilution of a Movement

A Missed Opportunity

The Rise of Eco-Individualism

The Real Value of Lifestyle Activism

Exposing the Challenges

4. Enough Already

The Emergence of a Movement

Identifying the Culprits

The Rebels Are Angry

Who Is Holding Us Back?

The Personal Is Political (As Long As You Make It So)

A Latent Force

5. Guilt Trip

Eating Our Own

Undermining a Hero

The Power of Shaming

Shaping Cultural Norms

Preserving a Formidable Tool

The New Pariahs

Peer Pressure for the Win

Guilt Is Good?

Values Are a Moving Target

6. Big Oil Wants to Talk About Your Carbon Footprint

Some Are More Responsible Than Others

The Tobacco Playbook

They've Never Been the Good Guys

Deflating the Carbon Bubble

Can Big Oil "Go Green"?

A Missed Opportunity

Balancing on the High Wire

Coal as the Canary

A Tenacious Grip on Power

7. Corporate "Citizenship" Reimagined

"Responsible" Versus "Sustainable"

Corporate Citizenship ¿ For Real

A Different Kind of Insurance

Beyond Corporate Responsibility

A Different Type of Shareholder Primacy?

Benefit Corporations Step Up

The Power of Corporate Activism

Beware the Benign Benefactor

Capitalists Against Unbridled Capitalism?

8. Swimming Upstream

"You Are Definitely Going to Die"

Meeting People Where They Are

Changing the Direction of the Current

Modeling What's Possible

Subsidizing the Incumbents

The Destructive as the Default

Writing a Different Story

A More Interesting Conversation

9. Focus, Goddammit

An Effective Exercise in Distraction

Attention Is a Limited Resource

First Things First

The Beginning of the End of Coal

Being "Better"

Meat Eaters and Vegetarians Unite

The System Responds

The Cheapest Way to Fry

The Growth of Flygskam

An Inclusive Conversation?

10. What Difference Does It Make?

Organized Resistance

Historical Serendipity

The Real Power of the Individual

A Reckoning on Race

It's Not About Me (Or You)

The Lure of Agency

How Change Actually Happens

What's My Duty?

Shifting Our Collective Values

11. Climate Hypocrites Unite!

A False Dawn

The Power of Imperfection

Finding Our Place

Coda: The Journey Down, Together

What Next? Resources, Organizations, and Actions

Knowledge Is Power

Get Organized

Rethink Your Mobility

Eat Smarter

Good Energy

Money Matters

Notes

Index

About the Author

About New Society Publishers

About the author

Sami Grover has spent half his life trying to live a low-carbon lifestyle. He's written about everything from composting to e-bikes, yet he's seen only marginal success in reducing his own impact. Active in the sphere of good-for-the-world business, he has developed branding projects for clients including Burt's Bees, Dogwood Alliance, and Jada Pinkett Smith. Sami lives in Durham, NC.

Summary

We're All Climate Hypocrites Now reimagines what it means to be a "good environmentalist." Moving past carbon footprints, self-confessed eco-hypocrite Sami Grover takes a tongue-in-cheek approach, skewering those pointing fingers, celebrating those trying, and offering practical pathways to actually make a difference.

Foreword

• Co-op available
• Galleys available to sales reps, trade publications, and long-lead media
• Digital galleys on Edelweiss
• National advertising
  • Google, Facebook, Amazon
• National radio and podcast campaign
  • NPR, Hot Take podcast
• National print campaign
  • Sierra, Green America, Yes!, Mother Jones, Grist, Treehugger, Medium, The New Yorker, Green Lifestyle
• Online/social media campaign
  • A+ page on Amazon
  • Livestream event and giveaway with author
  • Promotion via author's networks including Twitter, Medium, Treehugger, MNN
  • Outreach to organizations and groups like Greenpeace USA, Resilience.org, Dogwood Alliance
  • Promotion on New Society Publishers social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, our blog, Pinterest, Instagram, in-house newsletter, and YouTube
• General eBook marketing plans
  • eBook will be available at the same time as print publication to maximize sales.
  • eBook ISBN will be included on all press materials, author and publisher websites, and whenever print ISBN is listed.
  • Publisher and author will be promoting both e and p through social media.
• Excerpts in
  • Yes!, Sierra, Green America, Treehugger, Medium, Mother Nature Network

Product details

• Authors: Sami Grover
• Publisher: New society publishing
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 21.09.2021
• EAN: 9780865719606
• ISBN: 978-0-86571-960-6
• No. of pages: 192
• Subjects: Natural sciences, medicine, IT, technology > Biology > Ecology; Social sciences, law, business > Political science > Political science and political education; SCIENCE / Global Warming & Climate Change, SELF-HELP / Green Lifestyle, Nature / Environmental Conservation & Protection, Climate Change, Conservation of the environment, Green lifestyle & self-sufficiency, Self-sufficiency & ‘green’ lifestyle