Bi-Weekly Discussion - Is There a Case for (Cautious) Climate Optimism?

About this event

This is going to be an online meetup using Zoom. If you've never used Zoom before, don't worry — it's easy to use and free to join. Click on the link above at the scheduled date/time to log in... \*\*\* *** IS THERE A CASE FOR (CAUTIOUS) CLIMATE OPTIMISM: CAN WE STILL AVERT CATASTROPHIC CLIMATE CHANGE WITHOUT "DEGROWTH" BY QUICKLY TRANSITIONING TO 100% RENEWABLE ENERGY? INTRODUCTION: In this meetup, we'll discuss how advances in solar panels, wind turbines, batteries, electric vehicles have excited economists and technology experts, many of whom now think we may be able to avert catastrophic climate change later in the 21st century without resorting to "degrowth" policies that make everyone poorer. Instead of linking several short videos under each section, I'm just asking our members to watch this 80-minute talk between The NY Times journalist Ezra Klein and the environmentalist Bill McKibben about his new book Here Comes the Sun and how it sheds some light on these current debates: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogAZS7_RhhA \* Note: You can also read an edited transcript of their discussion here - https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/10/opinion/ezra-klein-podcast-bill-mckibben.html \- or an archived copy here \- https://archive.ph/OTedv Bill McKibben is not a climate scientist (he has a B.A. from Harvard in Government) but rather a longtime environmental activist and journalist who is best known as the leader of the environmental organization 350.org. Since its founding in 2007, McKibben's 350 group has run a variety of protests pushing for fossil fuel divestment and opposition to the Keystone XL and Mountain Valley pipelines, as well as campaigns like the 2009 "International Day of Climate Action", the 2014 "People's Climate March", and the 2019 "Global Climate Strike". In 2021, McKibben founded the Third Act Movement, which aims to mobilize people over the age of 60 which focuses on safeguarding the climate and America's democracy. McKibben is also known as an author, beginning with his book The End of Nature (1989) which has been called the first book on global warming written for a general audience. In total, he's authored a dozen books about the environment, including Hope, Human and Wild: True Stories of Living Lightly on the Earth (1995), Maybe One: A Personal and Environmental Argument for Single Child Families (1998), Enough: Staying Human in an Engineered Age (2003), Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future (2007), Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet (2010), Oil and Honey: The Education of an Unlikely Activist (2013), and Falter: Has the Human Game Begun to Play Itself Out? (2019). These books not only expressed the urgency of political action to address climate change, but also questioned the capitalist paradigm of endless economic growth and advocating for scaled-back, localized economies that aligned closely with degrowth & sustainability principles. McKibben's latest book is somewhat more optimistic than many of his previous ones and titled Here Comes the Sun: A Last Chance for the Climate and a Fresh Chance for Civilization (2025). According to the publisher's blurb, it "tells the story of the sudden spike in power from the sun and wind―and the desperate fight of the fossil fuel industry and their politicians to hold this new power at bay. From the everyday citizens who installed solar panels equal to a third of Pakistan’s electric grid in a year to the world’s sixth-largest economy―California―nearly halving its use of natural gas in the last two years, Bill McKibben traces the arrival of plentiful, inexpensive solar energy. And he shows how solar power is more than just a path out of the climate crisis: it is a chance to reorder the world on saner and more humane grounds. You can’t hoard solar energy or hold it in reserves ― it’s available to all. There’s no guarantee we can make this change in time, but there is a hope ― in McKibben’s eyes, our best hope for a new civiliza