What If We Get It Right?: Visions of Climate FuturesNEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “With a thoughtfully curated series of essays, poetry, and conversations, the brilliant scientist and climate expert Ayana Elizabeth Johnson has assembled a group of dynamic people who are willing to imagine what seems impossible, and articulate those visions with enthusiastic clarity.”—Roxane Gay Our climate future is not yet written. What if we act as if we love the future? A SMITHSONIAN BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR Sometimes the bravest thing we can do while facing an existential crisis is imagine life on the other side. This provocative and joyous book maps an inspiring landscape of possible climate futures. Through clear-eyed essays and vibrant conversations, infused with data, poetry, and art, Ayana Elizabeth Johnson guides us through solutions and possibilities at the nexus of science, policy, culture, and justice. Visionary farmers and financiers, architects and advocates, help us conjure a flourishing future, one worth the effort it will take—from every one of us, with whatever we have to offer—to create. If you haven’t yet been able to picture a transformed and replenished world—or to see yourself, your loved ones, and your community in it—this book is for you. If you haven’t yet found your role in shaping this new world or you’re not sure how we can actually get there, this book is for you. With grace, humor, and humanity, Johnson invites readers to ask and answer this ultimate question together: What if we get it right? On possibility and transformation with: Paola Antonelli • Xiye Bastida • Jade Begay • Wendell Berry • Régine Clément • Steve Connell • Erica Deeman • Abigail Dillen • Brian Donahue • Jean Flemma • Kelly Sims Gallagher • Rhiana Gunn-Wright • Olalekan Jeyifous • Corley Kenna • Bryan C. Lee Jr. • Franklin Leonard • Adam McKay • Bill McKibben • Kate Marvel • Samantha Montano • Kate Orff • Leah Penniman • Marge Piercy • Colette Pichon Battle • Kendra Pierre-Louis • Judith D. Schwartz • Jigar Shah • Ayisha Siddiqa • Bren Smith • Oana Stănescu • Mustafa Suleyman • Jacqueline Woodson |
Contents
Introduction | 3 |
Reality Check | 11 |
On Another Panel About Climate They Ask Me to Sell | 31 |
First Nature | 37 |
A Vision | 48 |
Give Us Back Our Bones | 64 |
Neighborhoods and Landscapes | 91 |
A Note from | 103 |
There Is Nothing Naive About Moral Clarity | 256 |
Negotiating and Leapfrogging | 263 |
A Green New Deal | 283 |
A Blue New Deal | 303 |
See You in Court | 324 |
Community Foremost | 342 |
Diasporas and Home | 364 |
This Living Earth | 380 |
The AI Deluge | 119 |
Follow the Money | 136 |
Corporations Do Better | 160 |
Since Billionaires Exist | 169 |
Your Tax Dollars at Work | 180 |
Culture Is the Context | 198 |
The Planet Is the Headline | 219 |
Dear Future Ones | 237 |
ProtoFarm Communities | 393 |
An Ocean of Answers | 400 |
To Be of | 420 |
Away from the Brink | 428 |
Behind the Scenes | 436 |
Credits | 446 |
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