Blueprint for Radical Change by Dave Cohen
As part of my ongoing tikkun olam (commitment to help repair the world) I've become quite actively involved in the above-named steering group. Our aim is to maintain pressure on Haringey Council to put the climate agenda at the heart of every issue of policy making - especially as they are in the process of creating a new 15 year Borough Plan, which will be implemented about a year from now.
We're getting involved in all sorts of local activities - for instance Rabbi David Mason (from Muswell Hill United Synagogue) and I are working on a scheme called Eco Faith Haringey. The plan is to set up a pilot scheme whereby all places of worship in the borough are audited and advice is given to all congregations about practical ways to reduce their carbon footprint.
In another development, we are pioneering a scheme in Tottenham designed specifically to help low income families escape the fuel poverty trap. Part of the money raised for this scheme came from my son Jack's sponsored walk as part of his bar mitzvah tikkun olam project in 2019.
I promised to read these two books; How To Avoid A Climate Disaster by Bill Gates and The New Climate War by Michael Mann, published at the start of 2021, first to help expand my own knowledge on the subject but also to think about how we should progress – as individuals, and as a climate forum.
I have come away feeling surprisingly more optimistic on this subject than in a long while. The very fact that one of these blueprints for radical change is written by the richest man in the universe is one of many minor but astonishing side-facts along the way. It helped that while I was reading about the requirement for bold scientific and technological vision and huge government investment, Joe Biden turned up swiftly with both.
This review is less about the details within the books. I have out of necessity left out a lot of the technical side, aware that there are still huge gaps in my scientific knowledge that I need to research in greater depth, but there is still plenty in here that has implications for our group.
I’ve divided it into four main sections:
Science and Technology
Politics
Political Challenges
What Can We Do?
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