"Apocalypse Never is an extremely important book. Within its lively pages, Michael Shellenberger uses science and lived experience to rescue a subject drowning in misunderstanding and partisanship. His message is invigorating: if you have feared for the planet’s future, take heart." — Richard Rhodes, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for The Making of the Atomic Bomb
“Environmental issues are frequently confused by conflicting and often extreme views, with both sides fueled to some degree by ideological biases, ignorance and misconceptions. Michael Shellenberger’s balanced and refreshing book delves deeply into a range of environmental issues and exposes misrepresentations by scientists, one-sided distortions by environmental organizations, and biases driven by financial interests. His conclusions are supported by examples, cogent and convincing arguments, facts and source documentation. Apocalypse Never may well be the most important book on the environment ever written.” — Tom Wigley, climate scientist, University of Adelaide, former senior scientist National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), and fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
“We must protect the planet, but how? Some strands of the environmental movement have locked themselves into a narrative of sin and doom that is counterproductive, anti-human, and not terribly scientific. Shellenberger advocates a more constructive environmentalism that faces our wicked problems and shows what we have to do to solve them.” — Steven Pinker, Johnstone Professor of Psychology, Harvard University, and author of Enlightenment Now
"If there is one thing that we have learned from the coronavirus pandemic, it is that strong passions and polarized politics lead to distortions of science, bad policy, and potentially vast, needless suffering. Are we making the same mistakes with environmental policies? I have long known Michael Shellenberger to be a bold, innovative, and nonpartisan pragmatist. He is a lover of the natural world whose main moral commitment is to figure out what will actually work to safeguard it. If you share that mission, you must read Apocalypse Never.” — Jonathan Haidt, author of Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion
"The painfully slow global response to human-caused climate change is usually blamed on the political right’s climate change denial and love affair with fossil fuels. But in this engaging and well-researched treatise, Michael Shellenberger exposes the environmental movement’s hypocrisy in painting climate change in apocalyptic terms while steadfastly working against nuclear power, the one green energy source whose implementation could feasibly avoid the worst climate risks. Disinformation from the left has replaced deception from the right as the greatest obstacle to mitigating climate change." — Kerry Emanuel, professor of atmospheric science, MIT
"The trouble with end-of-the-world environmental scenarios is that they hide evidence-based diagnoses and exile practical solutions. Love it or hate it, Apocalypse Never asks us to consider whether the apocalyptic headline of the day gets us any closer to a future in which nature and people prosper.” — Peter Kareiva, director of the Institute for the Environment and Sustainability, UCLA, and former chief scientist for The Nature Conservancy
"In this tour de force of science journalism, Michael Shellenberger shows through interviews, personal experiences, vignettes, and case histories that environmental science offers paths away from hysteria and toward humanism. This superb book unpacks and explains the facts and forces behind deforestation, climate change, extinction, fracking, nature conservation, industrial agriculture, and other environmental challenges to make them amenable to improvements and solutions." — Mark Sagoff, author of The Economy of the Earth
"We environmentalists condemn those with antithetical views of being ignorant of science and susceptible to confirmation bias. But too often we are guilty of the same. Shellenberger offers ‘tough love:’ a challenge to entrenched orthodoxies and rigid, self-defeating mindsets. Apocalypse Never serves up occasionally stinging, but always well-crafted, evidence-based points of view that will help develop the ‘mental muscle’ we need to envision and design not only a hopeful, but an attainable, future.” — Steve McCormick, former CEO, The Nature Conservancy and former President of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
"Michael Shellenberger loves the Earth too much to tolerate the conventional wisdom of environmentalism. This book, born of his passions, is a wonder: a research-driven page turner that will change how you view the world. I wish I'd been brave enough to write it, and grateful that he was." — Andrew McAfee, Principal Research Scientist at MIT and author of More from Less
"Will declaring a crisis save the planet? The stakes are high, but Michael Shellenberger shows that the real environmental solutions are good for people too. No one will come away from this lively, moving, and well-researched book without a deeper understanding of the very real social challenges and opportunities to making a better future in the Anthropocene." — Erle Ellis, professor of geography and environmental systems, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and author of Anthropocene: A Very Short Introduction
"Michael Shellenberger methodically dismantles the tenets of End Times thinking that are so common in environmental thought. From Amazon fires to ocean plastics, Apocalypse Never delivers current science, lucid arguments, sympathetic humanism, and powerful counterpoints to runaway panic. You will not agree with everything in this book, which is why it is so urgent that you read it." — Paul Robbins, Dean, Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, University of Wisconsin, Madison
"Michael Shellenberger loves the Earth too much to tolerate the conventional wisdom of environmentalism. This book, born of his passions, is a wonder: a research-driven page turner that will change how you view the world. I wish I'd been brave enough to write it, and grateful that he was."
We must protect the planet, but how? Some strands of the environmental movement have locked themselves into a narrative of sin and doom that is counterproductive, anti-human, and not terribly scientific. Shellenberger advocates a more constructive environmentalism that faces our wicked problems and shows what we have to do to solve them.
"If there is one thing that we have learned from the coronavirus pandemic, it is that strong passions and polarized politics lead to distortions of science, bad policy, and potentially vast, needless suffering. Are we making the same mistakes with environmental policies? I have long known Michael Shellenberger to be a bold, innovative, and nonpartisan pragmatist. He is a lover of the natural world whose main moral commitment is to figure out what will actually work to safeguard it. If you share that mission, you must read Apocalypse Never.
"In this tour de force of science journalism, Michael Shellenberger shows through interviews, personal experiences, vignettes, and case histories that environmental science offers paths away from hysteria and toward humanism. This superb book unpacks and explains the facts and forces behind deforestation, climate change, extinction, fracking, nature conservation, industrial agriculture, and other environmental challenges to make them amenable to improvements and solutions."
"Will declaring a crisis save the planet? The stakes are high, but Michael Shellenberger shows that the real environmental solutions are good for people too. No one will come away from this lively, moving, and well-researched book without a deeper understanding of the very real social challenges and opportunities to making a better future in the Anthropocene."
Environmental issues are frequently confused by conflicting and often extreme views, with both sides fueled to some degree by ideological biases, ignorance and misconceptions. Michael Shellenberger’s balanced and refreshing book delves deeply into a range of environmental issues and exposes misrepresentations by scientists, one-sided distortions by environmental organizations, and biases driven by financial interests. His conclusions are supported by examples, cogent and convincing arguments, facts and source documentation. Apocalypse Never may well be the most important book on the environment ever written.
"Apocalypse Never is an extremely important book. Within its lively pages, Michael Shellenberger uses science and lived experience to rescue a subject drowning in misunderstanding and partisanship. His message is invigorating: if you have feared for the planet’s future, take heart."
"The painfully slow global response to human-caused climate change is usually blamed on the political right’s climate change denial and love affair with fossil fuels. But in this engaging and well-researched treatise, Michael Shellenberger exposes the environmental movement’s hypocrisy in painting climate change in apocalyptic terms while steadfastly working against nuclear power, the one green energy source whose implementation could feasibly avoid the worst climate risks. Disinformation from the left has replaced deception from the right as the greatest obstacle to mitigating climate change."
"The trouble with end-of-the-world environmental scenarios is that they hide evidence-based diagnoses and exile practical solutions. Love it or hate it, Apocalypse Never asks us to consider whether the apocalyptic headline of the day gets us any closer to a future in which nature and people prosper.
"We environmentalists condemn those with antithetical views of being ignorant of science and susceptible to confirmation bias. But too often we are guilty of the same. Shellenberger offers ‘tough love:’ a challenge to entrenched orthodoxies and rigid, self-defeating mindsets. Apocalypse Never serves up occasionally stinging, but always well-crafted, evidence-based points of view that will help develop the ‘mental muscle’ we need to envision and design not only a hopeful, but an attainable, future.
"Michael Shellenberger methodically dismantles the tenets of End Times thinking that are so common in environmental thought. From Amazon fires to ocean plastics, Apocalypse Never delivers current science, lucid arguments, sympathetic humanism, and powerful counterpoints to runaway panic. You will not agree with everything in this book, which is why it is so urgent that you read it."
"Michael Shellenberger is one of our most insightful and provocative environmental thinkers. In Apocalypse Never he convincingly questions conventional wisdom and offers essential out-of-the-box thinking for a new 21st-century environmental movement. Full of personal drama and mind-bogglingly counter-intuitive information, Apocalypse Never will leave you hopeful, inspired, and eager to build a better future."
"A passionate advocate, yet pragmatist at heart, Michael Shellenberger proposes an optimistic vision for a future in which human flourishing and environmental protection go hand in hand. Blending a deep love for the natural world with a rational and humanistic outlook, Shellenberger carves a new pathway for environmentally conscious leaders."
Apocalypse Never is a seminal book. Without alarmism or denial, Michael Shellenberger has broadened the discussion and changed how we think about climate change and the environment. As a pro-safety environmentalist, I view his work as invaluable to advancing the creation of safe and reliable energy sources.
The environmental movement desperately needs intelligent self-criticism. Michael Shellenberger provides it, training the light of science and reason on core green tenets, revealing where they do not reflect reality. Required reading for open-minded lovers of nature and humanity.”
"The apocalyptic impulse is irrepressible, so the job of countering its destructive effects requires relentless effort. There are few authors more capable of this task than Michael Shellenberger, who brings cool reason to our hothouse of emotionalism. Apocalypse Never is a triumph that will take its deserved place in the canon of serious revisionist literature of environmentalism."
"Apocalypse Never will make some green progressives mad. But I see it as a useful and even necessary counterpoint to the alarmism being peddled by some activists and journalists, including me. Let the arguments begin!
"Defending science and reason against end-of-the-world sensationalism, Michael Shellenberger’s is a must-read book."
While denial and indifference surely undermine the battle against climate change, so too does misinformed panic, which serves the poorest among us worst of all. Inoculate yourself with Michael Shellenberger’s timely and deeply informed Apocalypse Never.
"In this refreshing chronicle, Michael Shellenberger rescues environmental activism from sensationalism and partisanship. Brought to life by rich personal experience and filled with data and grounded science, Apocalypse Never is a must-read for policymakers and others searching for pragmatic solutions to our ecological future.
If you think you have all the answers about our environmental problems and the best way forward, don't read this book. But if you're open to having your beliefs challenged, this book will not disappoint. It is not always a comfortable read, but our planet's future is too important to not put our assumptions to the test.
With Apocalypse Never, Michael Shellenberger provides a master class in rigorous reporting, stout science, and unapologetic humanism. Whether the issue is climate change, sweatshops, whales, the myth of 'energy leapfrogging' or the importance of power density, he pulls them together into a coherent, timely, and important book that will make you feel optimistic about the future of people and the planet.
2020-04-05
The future may not be altogether rosy, but it may be less grim than many environmental scientists project.
Melting ice caps, rising sea levels, intensifying storms: all tipping points, one would think, any one of which could wreak incredible destruction across the planet. However, environmental journalist and activist Shellenberger argues that much of the news about the environment, especially climate change, is incorrect and/or overstated, marked by “exaggeration, alarmism, and extremism,” all of which run counter to the principles of good science and what he characterizes as a positive and humanistic approach to environmental troubles. One aspect of his argument concerns the economic advancement of developing nations. For example, he writes, the Congo is dysfunctional in part precisely because it’s undeveloped, and the eastern portion of the country “could produce much more food and support many more people if there were roads, fertilizers, and tractors.” On that note, adds the author, agricultural yields are expected to rise in the coming decades by 20 to 30 percent, depending on which scenario one follows, contrary to projections of widespread famine caused by climate change. Shellenberger asserts that his conclusions are drawn from the best scientific literature and that works such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s summary of climate change have advanced incorrect assumptions such as the disappearance of the Himalayan glaciers by 2035. Of course, it’s not yet 2035, and those glaciers seem to be melting away pretty quickly, so it remains to be seen where we’ll be in another 15 years. The author predicts a future in which people will suffer far less greatly than some of the direr scenarios would have it, but some of that will depend on adopting still-controversial measures, such as the nuclear energy that he advocates.
Though arguable, Shellenberger’s prediction of a healthier future adds balance to the literature.
