Uncertain Futures How to Unlock the Climate Impasse

About this book

Why is the world not moving fast enough to solve the climate crisis? Politics stand in the way, but experts hope that green investments, compensation, and retraining could unlock the impasse. However, these measures often lack credibility. Not only do communities fear these policies could be reversed, but they have seen promises broken before. Uncertain Futures proposes solutions to make more credible promises that build support for the energy transition. It examines the perspectives of workers, communities, and companies, arguing that the climate impasse is best understood by viewing the problem from the ground up. Featuring voices on the front lines such as a commissioner in Carbon County deciding whether to welcome wind, executives at energy companies searching for solutions, mayors and unions in Minnesota battling for local jobs, and fairgoers in coal country navigating their uncertain future, this book contends that making economic transitions work means making promises credible.

Contents

1. Introduction
2. Problems and solutions
3. Asking people, communities and companies
4. Opportunity knocks?
5. Making government policy credible
6. Bargaining for the future
7. Making workforce programs work
8. Green jobs under the spotlight
9. Conclusion

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Biography

Alexander F. Gazmararian is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Politics at Princeton University, where he is researching how to unlock the climate impasse. He is currently writing a book with Helen Milner about how global warming will reshape politics.

Dustin Tingley is a Professor of Government at Harvard University. He is the author of numerous articles on the politics of climate change, international relations, international political economy, and statistical methodology. His book Sailing the Water's Edge, with Helen Milner, won the Gladys M. Kammerer Award for the best book on U.S. national policy.