it was ok ( )

Didn't receive

Didn't click with me. ( )

This book is very accessible and conversational in tone. There is a wealth of information regarding agencies, organizations, and local government woven in with stories of interactions and interviews with people who are in the middle of the grassroots climate action out there. The action steps at the end of each chapter and the full action plan at the end are very, very helpful. They are steps we can each take. Some take some research and effort and phone calls on our parts, but that is how we get things done. Capitalism sure makes it hard to have free time to take these actions (oh, have we stumbled upon the whole plan - occupy all of our time with survival so we can't break the system to thrive?). We can all do what we can when and where we can. Written from this person's perspective, versus a more glib and obtuse activist's, you do get the sense they understand the challenges of the food deserts, the environmental/industrial hazards, etc.

Some casual comments here and there bothered me, like, "so and so 'gets PTSD when people make certain comments.' " I know what they mean, but I'd like to stay away from terming behaviors that are not OCD, PTSD, Depression, and Anxiety as those diagnosable conditions. At the same time, I don't think I have a moral high ground to say it's wrong to do so - more I want to bring it into the conversation, is this the best way to exaggerate or emphasize what we have to say?

As others have noted, this text has some inaccuracies and typos and should be sent back to the publisher for a bit of editing. I did like the ideas for action at the end of each chapter, though some were repetitive. I think it'd be neat if this book came with online appendices - a toolbox for some of these action items. I also think it would have been cool had the author considered the viewpoints of folks like Aph and Syl Ko on Black veganism... found the way it was written there a tad shortsighted and lacking in depth. I suppose it isn't meant to be an academic book, though, so that's on me.

Some of the action items could be re-focused, also, to consider how organizers might use them. If you have people power and, therefore, might be able to do a collectively operated solar field, how would you go about accessing a brownfield? I guess I need more concrete descriptions of what to do. I recognize and appreciate that the audience is more general and the book a 101 overview. The definitions of things were crucial for me, as the environment is something I've neglected in my own activism. I am worried about it, but it's never been front and center. The point is, I am not the type of person that has land laying around. I live in a mobile home park and only own the structure. But I am a part of collectives of people who might be into doing stuff like this as we grow. It would have been nice to have tools for that since there is a lot of activity at the grassroots rights now. On an individual level, this book made me want to investigate whether there are any problems in my area. It drove me to think about it more, at least.

Finally: I want to restate how important it is to fix problems in the book before releasing it to the public. I have no idea where things with that process are, but people can have strong aversions to misinformation - which they'll just use as a way out of reading about the topic. Consider the cognitive dissonance readers may be experiencing around climate and the environment. If the author's goal is to get people to engage and take it seriously, the content in the book must stand up to criticism. ( )