Solar

My chosen Cli-Fi book is called Solar, written by Ian McEwan. So far, I have been really engaged in the story and the situations of the main character, Michael Beard, who is an overweight, balding, aged Nobel prize winning physicist. The book is broken into three sections, and each section jumps ahead a few years in time. Part one is set in 2000, part two in 2005, and part three in 2009. Beard is the head of a research center in England for investigating possible technological advancements in solar and wind installations, and his most accomplished days are behind him. The author seems to joke frequently about how his coworkers at the institution all look the same with their haircuts and clothing choices. However, Michael Beard seems to have his mind on other issues besides alternative energy, and he leads the project halfheartedly.

When trying to connect this book to the ideas of climate change. I have some difficulty. Even though the title itself , Solar, suggests that this issue may be at the forefront of the novel, the truth is that it really is not. Perhaps the dilemmas and decisions that Michael Beard takes help reveal humanity's attitude toward a heating Earth. There are themes there for sure, but the impending dangers of the issue are certainly not the focus, and the book is extremely grounded. Without spoiling anything, the ending does not have a very tight connection to climate change, but the novel thoroughly entertained me from start to finish.


I love the tone of the novel. There is a lot of humor sprinkled in, especially when the author decides to delve into Michael Beard's personal life and how it is in shambles. Yet, the humor contradicts with the heaviness of the background topic, which is climate change and the efforts being put forward to slow its process. The first entire scene covers how terrible Beard is at forming meaningful relationships with any woman that he marries, as he has divorced four times, and his fifth wife has started an affair with another guy. Of course, they are still together, and something about this story-line seems sort of satirical to me. Sure enough, after doing some research on McEwan and the novel, this novel certainly lies in the satire genre, and a lot of the descriptions in general are meant to amuse the readers. However, my description of the introduction does not seem to have much to do with global warming, does it? McEwan certainly takes his time with fleshing out the aspect of Beard's life regarding his impressive physicist background and his motives with global warming. As the story progresses, Beard finds himself in some amusing situations, and he also makes some shady decisions that will have you questioning his morality more and more. As I've stated before, maybe Michael Beard simply represents the decisions that humans have been taking thus far in response to this issue. In a way, we have been similar to Beard in terms of our willingness to commit to such a shift in energy. We are changing fairly slowly and without much urgency.

I thoroughly enjoyed what I read, and the story seems to be relatively simple, because Michael Beard is only trying to pursue some sort of solution to the climate change issue while also dealing with his dysfunctional personal life. For anyone, who is interested, I would highly recommend checking the book out. Click here for one review of Solar.

The Pioneers

My nature book of choice was The Pioneers by James Fenimore Cooper. Published in 1823, the story revolves around Nathaniel "Natty" Bumppo, a more elderly and seemingly heroic type of character than anyone else in the novel. At the beginning of the story, he is hunting a particular buck that happens to be same one that another man is also after, Judge Marmaduke. The two men have a conversation over who fired off the killing shot, due to the spread of Natty's buckshot, and who earns the right to the animal. The setting of the novel is in the frontier of New York, and it seems that Cooper was trying to display a lot of the conflict happening between human civilization and nature, and it is evident in his descriptions of the landscapes compared to the small towns that dot it. Particularly in the beginning chapter, Cooper describes the peaceful nature of the woods at great length, and by the time he introduces the human influence, it feels as though the humans have interrupted a little.

Apparently, this novel is the first in a series called the Leatherstocking Tales. The Pioneers is about 450 pages long, so I still have some more reading to do, but the basic messages of the book are already becoming clear to me. It becomes apparent that Cooper is speaking on the conflicts going on between humans and nature, though it is in a different way than how we might typically view the conflict nowadays. Most of the state of New York was snow ridden frontier land, but at this point in history, America was beginning its movement westward as part of Manifest Destiny; not all of it was glorious, and it depends on perspective. The Native Americans were certainly ones who seemed to embrace nature more than the approaching immigrants, who would seek to expand their influence on their newly discovered land. While the migration was great for America, it meant that much of the untapped wilderness had to pay a price.

From what I have read, the book has moved along at a fairly slow pace, and it mostly begins with the backstories of a few characters. Natty certainly receives the best treatment in terms of his development and dialogue. However, I have enjoyed it thus far, and I've always liked reading literature from long ago, even if the writing may not be all that familiar to me.

Fossil Free

My documentary is called Fossil Free. It focuses on a growing group of people who have lost their trust in politicians to tackle the challenge of climate change and are giving incentives to businesses to stop investing in fossil fuels. All of their goals are financial-oriented because they describe that as the heart of the stubbornness. All of these divestment organizations get their support from 350.org, which is at the forefront of much of the climate change activism. Pension funds, churches, and universities are all being asked to withdraw their investments in fossil fuels, and the movement is growing like wildfire. A few dozen countries are now running in the campaign, many of them being European.

One portion of the documentary that I thought was worth noting was the mayor of Berlin being convinced to divest public money in fossil fuel companies. He was not able to make it to a conference in which activists confronted the politicians on the issue. Instead, they asked someone else of higher authority what was being done to prevent these investments or if coal and nuclear power plants were being shut down. He gave an answer that implied that Berlin was not interested in the movement. Every politician in the mayor's place said that Germany is an industrial country and jobs depend on the affordability of energy. I understand this sentiment to an extent, but it would also help if they at least made some steps toward preparing for a warmer Earth.

I really enjoyed listening to some people in the investment business talk about why they would like funding for unsustainable fuels to stop. To keep climate change under control, carbon dioxide emissions cannot exceed 225 Gigatons. This would approximately equal the 2 degree limit that we face, and it also means that about 2/3 of found fossil fuel reserves must remain untouched. Assets are being put at risk as reserves are found and the price of oil drops. Stock prices for US coal companies have already started to drop significantly as investors realize that these are stranded assets. If a cap on carbon emissions happens, we will be left with a surplus of fossil fuels, because we cannot use them. People want to get to the cheap oil now, not later. Standing on a large reserve, you would not want to wait to use it; it would make more sense for you, economically, to use it now.

Companies seem to have an immoral compass; if there is money to be made, that is where their needle will point. If the demand for greener energy is apparent, then I think you would certainly see more of a push for its abundance. But since their is still oil, there doesn't seem to be much incentive, which is a shame for those currently suffering from global warming's effects. Luckily, these groups provide some beacons of light for those not fortunate enough to do anything about the changes.

The Great Transition

Due to my fascination with conserving energy and using renewable resources, I decided to read The Great Transition: Shifting From Fossil Fuels to Solar and Wind Energy, written by Lester R. Brown with Janet Larsen, J. Matthew Roney, and Emily E. Adams. It is extremely refreshing to be reading a more positive and hopeful side of our response to climate change, and the first portion of this book gives much promise to steps already being taken in regards to solar and wind energy. I love the idea of getting power from natural resources that are incredibly easy to obtain when the right installations are made in the right locations.

It seems as though oil and coal use is on the decline. According to Brown, "coal use dropped 18 percent from 2007 to 2013 as scores of coal-fired power plants closed" (7). A large portion of recently added (since 2010) coal plants are out of operation, about 35 percent. The United States in particular has also started to increase its reliance on natural gas, due to some recent significant discoveries that are contributing to the decline of coal use. Oil is becoming more difficult to obtain, as many reserves are having to look deeper for those rich deposits. As the book puts it, the "low-hanging fruit in the oil sector has already been picked," leaving a more problematic future for oil companies (11). Chevron, Exxon Mobil, and Shell have been putting forth billions of dollars trying to increase production, such as investing in oil resources in Alaska; despite these efforts, they are still projecting large drops in profits over the next few decades. They may have to reduce their scale and try to avoid growth from their already massive size. It looks like nuclear power plants may not be a great solution, either. "Electricity from new nuclear power plants can cost twice as much as solar- and wind-generated electricity" (13).

On the other hand, wind and solar investments are becoming easier and easier. Many European countries get a significant portion of their electricity from these methods. While France uses much of its nuclear power, it is also in the process of installing 25000 megawatts worth of electricity-generating wind turbines. China is working to have about 90000 (15). Wind farms are quick to install (about 1 year) and simple solar panels on rooftops can be in place in a few days. Nuclear power plants take about a decade to install. Even China, which is now the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions, is currently adopting sustainable ways to produce energy for its people, and that is encouraging to me. As the green technology continues to decline in price, it will begin to take over. The rate of use is increasing fairly slow but steadily. What excites me is the fact that wind and solar energy is not going to die off (perhaps unless the sun dies, which won't be for a while). Hopefully, people can learn to save some energy in simple ways that aren't going to change their lifestyles.