Philosophy East and West

Climate change is the greatest existential threat that human beings face in the 21^st century, but unfortunately, we aren't doing very much about it (other than making it worse). Graham Parkes' How to Think about the Climate Crisis: A Philosophical Guide to Saner Ways of Living offers a succinct summary of the causes of global heating--scientific, economic, and philosophical--along with practical solutions to help us avoid the first major tipping point, which is quickly approaching in 2030. Parkes draws from both ancient Greek and traditional Chinese philosophy to develop an alternative worldview that can serve as a conceptual resource for reforming our laws, policies, and ways of life.

Parkes' introduction provides some background for why this book is needed in environmental studies. Globalization has created long supply lines that are driven by fossil fuels, which damage the climate and harm both nature and human beings. Many people fear the consequences of climate change, so they either ignore the issue or invent conspiracy theories about how scientists are trying to destroy their way of life. The Internet's tendency to promote "information cocoons" makes these conspiracy theories more widespread, with significant consequences for even non-believers. Economics, which is the driving force behind domestic and foreign policy, tends to focus on quantity rather than quality, and often ignores the things that make life worthwhile, most of which cannot be directly translated into dollar values. A tiny fraction of the population (e.g., those heavily invested in the fossil fuel industries) are reluctant to combat global heating because they have been making a fortune off the status quo. To support their way of life, they have been waging a war of ideas for decades to persuade the public that climate change does not represent a significant threat. To combat this problematic worldview, Parkes offers some alternative ways of thinking about climate change drawn from ancient Greek and Chinese thought. Chinese philosophy is an essential part of the solution because China is the world's second-largest economy and one of its biggest polluters. Cooperation with China is necessary if we're going to [End Page 1] avoid critical environmental tipping points, and it is most expedient to engage the Chinese using ideas from their own traditions that resonate with concepts from the Greek traditions upon which much of Western culture is based.

Parkes develops his argument in four major parts. Part One, entitled "Reality and Alternatives," explores the science of global heating and the "specious Promethean solutions" that are often proffered. The Earth system remained relatively stable throughout the Holocene, allowing human beings to thrive, but has been disrupted so dramatically in recent centuries that many scientists argue that we are in a new geologic epoch, the Anthropocene. Seven different meta-studies between 2004 and 2015 have demonstrated that 97 percent of climate scientists agree that global heating is anthropogenic (with the dissenting 3 percent publishing in bottom-tier journals). Nonetheless, most Americans are unaware of this consensus. Much of the ignorance about climate change has come as a result of a "strategic ploy" on the part of the fossil fuel industry and conservative politicians, who have spread disinformation and done their best to discredit environmental scientists. The 2018 IPCC report indicates that unless we reduce carbon emissions by 50 percent by the year 2030, we will move past the 1.5°C tipping-point and face catastrophic consequences. Parkes criticizes "Promethean" solutions to climate change that rely on science developing sophisticated technologies in the near future that can combat global heating so that we do not have to change our current lifestyles (e.g., carbon capture and storage, hydro-fracking, and "clean coal" technology). None of these solve the problem of global heating, but instead give people a false sense of hope that negative consequences can be avoided by...