Mark Hertsgaard’s Hot – Living Through the Next Fifty Years on Earth can be summed up in a quote he offers from Kevin Danaher, an activist and co-founder of Global Exchange who encourages local green economies, “We must learn to be good ancestors.”
The book explores the realities of climate changes that will impact our lives, and highlights programs around the world that are bringing about significant, positive changes. He uses examples from places like Bangladesh, the Netherlands, and Washington State to encourage us to push for a “Green Apollo” to “mobilize public and private resources in all countries”. He acknowledges that policies must be transformed at the top and quotes Barack Obama's pre-election words, “Change does not happen from the top down. It happens from the bottom up… [People] arguing, agitating, mobilizing, and ultimately forcing elected officials to be accountable…That’s how we’re going to bring about change.”
Throughout his book, Mark Hertsgaard continually reflects on his concerns for his young daughter’s future in a warmer world; any parent, aunt, uncle, grandparent, or caring human being, will connect with his anxiety about the future we are leaving for the next generation and the urgency to avoid further climate changes, while we adapt to those that are inevitable.
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