The science was clear, but the solutions were just dramatically not.Īnd then when Bill ’s piece came out in 2012, “ Global Warming’s Terrifying New Math,” which is based on Mark Campanale’s work at Carbon Tracker, I had friends saying, “game over.”Īnd so I finally decided to do Drawdown: name the goal and then map, measure, and model, see if it’s achievable. It could happen now, but at that time it was not viable. The second is that 11 of the 15 could only be done by big corporations - primarily energy utility and car companies - but they were so deeply underwater financially that it was not going to happen. They couldn’t be done by you and me, except drive less, maybe put a solar panel on our roof. I looked at those and said “whoa, whoa, whoa.” Two things are lacking. I hadn’t thought about solutions much until I saw the wedges, in 2001. How did the book get started? Paul Hawken Educating girls: 60 gigatons of potential. It’s extremely important that we, but to put all of it on energy. There’s an assumption that if you get 100 percent renewable, you basically have a hall pass to the 22nd century. So all these models we see in the popular press, the ones that hit, for example, 80 percent carbon reductions by 2050 - none of those actually reach drawdown? Paul HawkenĪnd not only that, they’re about energy - they’re all energy models. David Robertsįor the record, explain the term “drawdown.” Paul Hawkenĭrawdown is the point in time when greenhouse gas concentrations peak in the atmosphere and begin to go down on a year-to-year basis. An edited transcript of our conversation follows, with occasional editorial comments in. He told me the book is already in its third printing, confirming our mutual sense that the public is hungry for this kind of practical wisdom. I spoke with Hawken over a beer when he passed through Seattle on his book tour in 2017. All the solutions, data, and references are available at .) ![]() All scenarios use only existing, commercialized technologies, so they should be considered conservative. In the “optimum” scenario, onshore wind rises to crush all competitors, reducing 139 GT. There are also more ambitious scenarios, in which each solution is pushed to its full potential. ![]() (Important note: The above comparisons are true in Drawdown’s central, “probable” scenario. (Don’t hear much about that, do you? Here’s a great Brad Plumer piece on it.)īoth reduced food waste and plant-rich diets, on their own, beat solar farms and rooftop solar combined. Amanda Northrup/VoxĪlso sitting atop the list, with an impact that dwarfs any single energy source: refrigerant management. The number one solution, in terms of potential impact? A combination of educating girls and family planning, which together could reduce 120 gigatons of CO2-equivalent by 2050 - more than on- and offshore wind power combined (99 GT). Alternatives range from farmland irrigation to heat pumps to ride-sharing. It is fascinating, a powerful reminder of how narrow a set of solutions dominates the public’s attention. A set of scenarios show the cumulative potential. In fact, with the exception of a few thoughtful essays scattered throughout, it’s basically a reference book: a list of solutions, ranked by potential carbon impact, each with cost estimates and a short description. ![]() Unlike most popular books on climate change, it is not a polemic or a collection of anecdotes and exhortations. The result, released in April 2016, is called Drawdown: T he M ost C omprehensive P lan E ver P roposed to R everse G lobal W arming. With the help of a little funding, he and a team of several dozen research fellows set out to “map, measure, and model” the 100 most substantive solutions to climate change, using only peer-reviewed research. Since the early 1980s, he has been starting green businesses, writing books on ecological commerce (President Bill Clinton called Hawken’s Natural Capitalism one of the five most important books in the world), consulting with businesses and governments, speaking to civic groups, and collecting honorary doctorates (six so far).Ī few years ago, he set out to pull together the careful coverage of solutions that had so long been lacking. Hawken is a legend in environmental circles.
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