New book "What If We Get It Right?" offers hopeful view of handling the climate crisis

Transcript

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Geoff Bennett: One of the global problems being addressed at this week’s U.N. General Assembly is the climate crisis.

Multiple wars and other geopolitical tensions have cast a particularly sobering shadow over whether nations can meet meaningful pledges they have made, but, tonight, a more optimistic conversation about what individuals can do.

Amna Nawaz recently spoke with marine biologist Ayana Elizabeth Johnson about her new book, “What If We Get It Right?”

Amna Nawaz: Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, welcome to the “News Hour.” Thanks for joining us.

Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, Author, “What If We Get It Right?: Visions of Climate Futures”: Thanks for having me.

Amna Nawaz: So the title itself of your book kind of reframes the entire conversation around climate change. It forces us to imagine success, instead of failure. Why frame it that way?

Ayana Elizabeth Johnson: I don’t know if it’s success so much as possibility, right? What if we get it right has a question mark at the end of it. And I feel like at the very least we should not assume failure and acknowledge that getting it as right as possible absolutely matters.

This is not apocalypse or paradise. It’s really like, how close can we get to paradise?

Amna Nawaz: You start the book with this question. You say that you’re most often asked at parties when people find out what you do.

I’m going to use the safe for TV version here. The question is, basically, how screwed are we? So what do you tend to say when people ask you that?

Ayana Elizabeth Johnson: Well, we’re pretty screwed unless we all roll up our sleeves and do something, right?

I mean, the place where I learned to swim, the waters off of Southern Florida reached 100 degrees Fahrenheit last year. Those are literally hot tub temperatures. Coral reefs cannot survive that. All species on this planet are evolved to have a pretty narrow range of temperature, salinity, humidity comfort zones.

And so we’re getting to just be out of the comfort zone of current modern life on Earth, including humans.

I mean, there are places where it is too hot for normal human life now. So we’re going to have to figure out how to adapt to be more resilient to things. And so getting it right is not just about stopping things from getting worse. It’s about,how do we adapt to this world that is already changed and is going to continue to change?

Amna Nawaz: There’s a short passage from your book I want to share here that kind of captures your approach.

You write: “Humans have evolved to not leap into a void. That’s dangerous. So we need something firm to aim for, something with love and joy in it. And we need the gumption that emerges from an effervescent sense of possibility.”

So, Ayana, when you talk about getting it right and those possibilities, what are those possibilities? What’s the something firm to aim for?

Ayana Elizabeth Johnson: I think it’s really important to understand that we basically have all the solutions we need.

We already know how to make energy that’s clean and renewable. We already know how to green buildings and be more efficient with our energy. We know how to do public transit, and high-speed rail would be amazing to have in the U.S., wouldn’t it? And composting and bike lanes and regenerative agriculture and protecting and restoring ecosystems.

I just want people to understand that we have the solutions we need. It’s implementation of those solutions that’s really not up to the pace that we need. There’s a lack of political will that’s holding us back. There’s some cultural change that needs to happen in order to shift the status quo. But it really is possible.

There are so many possible futures that are better than the trajectory we’re currently on. So, yes, I mean, I love that word gumption. And possibility is the thing that I hold on to, even though I’m not an optimist, per se. I’m a scientist and a realist. I know that there’s a lot we could each be doing to make sure we have the best possible future.

Amna Nawaz: Can I ask you more about that lack of political will? Because that’s often where the finger-pointing goes, right?

There’s political divisions that fuel that lack of action. There’s enough people who don’t believe that climate change is real or that human action could change the directions right now. How do you look at that?

Ayana Elizabeth Johnson: Well, first I find it, like, most jarring once you learn that a lot of those politicians are just pretending they don’t believe it because it’s politically expedient. They know that the science is real. It’s just a game, right?

And to play that game with the future of life on Earth is unforgivably reckless. But I think the opportunity in there is to — we don’t even really have to talk about the climate crisis in order to agree on the solutions.

So, for example, it is Iowa and Texas that have the most wind energy in the United States. And that’s not because there’s a bunch of hippies running around. It’s because it makes economic sense. It’s because they’re good jobs.

And the same with the Inflation Reduction Act. It’s mostly red states that are benefiting from the surge in manufacturing, for example, batteries for electric cars and things like that. I think that’s what’s missing in a lot of this conversation.

Amna Nawaz: What about at the individual level? From all the conversations you feature in your book, what do you take away in terms of what’s standing in the way of people acting at an individual level to do what they think they need to address climate change?

Ayana Elizabeth Johnson: I think some people think they’re part of it doesn’t matter.

I think some people don’t know where to start. And to those people, I would say it absolutely matters. Our actions add up. We’re voting with our dollars and our time and how we spread the word and use whatever influence it is that we have.

More broadly, I have sketched out something that I call a climate action Venn diagram. And that’s three simple circles. And the first one is, what are you good at? So what are your skills, your resources, your networks? What can you specifically bring to the table?

The second one is, what is the work that needs doing? There are hundreds of climate injustice solutions. So pick one and get moving. And the third circle is, what brings you joy or satisfaction, right? What gets you out of bed in the morning? And finding each of us, that sweet spot in the center, that’s what we should be doing.

Amna Nawaz: The book is called “What If We Get It Right?: Visions of Climate Futures.” The author is Ayana Elizabeth Johnson.

Thank you so much for joining us. Good to speak with you.

Ayana Elizabeth Johnson: Thank you.