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The Big Fix

Seven Practical Steps to Save Our Planet

By Hal Harvey and Justin Gillis

About The Book

An engaging, accessible citizen’s guide to the seven urgent changes that will really make a difference for our climate—and how we can hold our governments accountable for putting these plans into action.

Dozens of kids in Montgomery County, Maryland, agitated until their school board committed to electric school buses. Mothers in Colorado turned up in front of an obscure state panel to fight for clean air. If you think the only thing you can do to combat climate change is to install a smart thermostat or cook plant-based burgers, you’re thinking too small.

That’s where The Big Fix comes in, offering everyday citizens a guide to the seven essential changes our communities must enact to bring our greenhouse gas emissions down to zero—and sharing stories of people who are making those changes reality.

Energy policy advisor Hal Harvey and longtime New York Times reporter Justin Gillis hone in on the seven areas where ambitious but eminently practical changes will have the greatest effect: electricity production, transportation, buildings, industry, urbanization, use of land, and investment in promising new green technologies. In a lively, jargon-free style, the pair illuminate how our political economy really works, revealing who decides everything from what kind of power plants to build to how efficient cars must be before they’re allowed on the road to how much insulation a new house requires—and how we can insert ourselves into all these decisions to ensure that the most climate-conscious choices are being made.

At once pragmatic and inspiring, The Big Fix is an indispensable action plan for citizens looking to drive our country’s greenhouse gas emissions down to zero—and save our climate.

About The Authors
Drew Altizer
Hal Harvey

Hal Harvey is the chief executive of Energy Innovation, a nonpartisan climate policy firm that advises leaders around the world on how to drive down greenhouse gas emissions. He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in engineering from Stanford University.

Alex Griswold
Justin Gillis

Justin Gillis is an award-winning journalist with four decades of experience explaining complex issues in simple language for major daily newspapers, including The New York Times, where he was the lead reporter on climate science; The Washington Post; and the Miami Herald. He was recently a fellow at the Harvard University Center for the Environment.

Product Details
  • Publisher: Simon & Schuster (October 13, 2022)
  • Length: 320 pages
  • ISBN13: 9781982123987

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Raves and Reviews

“Full of illustrative stories and compelling evidence, The Big Fix outlines an ambitious yet feasible guide for addressing the climate crisis. Business leaders, activists, and policymakers at all levels will find inspiration from the pragmatic approaches outlined in this book.”
—Al Gore, chairman of The Climate Reality Project, chairman of Generation Investment Management, and former vice president of the United States 

“Smart, honest, and down-to-earth, The Big Fix addresses the crucial issue of our time: how citizens can compel action on climate change.”
—Elizabeth Kolbert, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Sixth Extinction and Under a White Sky

“Nobody grasps climate policy—and what can actually work—better than Hal Harvey. Nobody elucidates climate science better than Justin Gillis. Together, they offer a bold blueprint for saving a habitable Earth.”
—John Doerr, chairman of venture capital film Kleiner Perkins and author of Speed & Scale

“A truly comprehensive—and entirely comprehensible—guide to the things we can and must do to transform our use of energy. This book will be of great use to anyone who wants to participate in the greatest technological revolution in human history.”
—Bill McKibben, a founder of grassroots climate-campaign group 350.org and author of The Flag, the Cross, and the Station Wagon

“[Harvey and] Gillis make fighting climate change feel a bit less intimidating in this down-to-earth look at ways the average citizen can make a difference… a useful guide for budding activists.”
—Publishers Weekly

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The Big Fix

Seven Practical Steps to Save Our Planet

By Hal Harvey and Justin Gillis