Preview
  • Being the Change

  • Live Well and Spark a Climate Revolution
  • By: Peter Kalmus
  • Narrated by: Nate Drury
  • Length: 9 hrs and 8 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (16 ratings)

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Being the Change

By: Peter Kalmus
Narrated by: Nate Drury
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Publisher's summary

Life on one-tenth the fossil fuels can be awesome.

We all want to be happy. Yet as we consume ever more in a frantic bid for happiness, global warming worsens.

Alarmed by drastic changes now occurring in the Earth's climate systems, the author, a climate scientist and suburban father of two, embarked on a journey to change his life and the world. He began by bicycling, growing food, meditating, and making other simple, fulfilling changes. Ultimately, he slashed his climate impact to under a tenth of the US average and became happier in the process.

Being the Change explores the connections between our individual daily actions and our collective predicament. It merges science, spirituality, and practical action to develop a satisfying and appropriate response to global warming.

Part one exposes our interconnected predicament: overpopulation, global warming, industrial agriculture, growth-addicted economics, a sold-out political system, and a mindset of separation from nature. It also includes a readable but authoritative overview of climate science. Part two offers a response at once obvious and unprecedented: mindfully opting out of this broken system and aligning our daily lives with the biosphere.

The core message is deeply optimistic: Living without fossil fuels is not only possible, it can be better.

Peter Kalmus is an atmospheric scientist at Caltech/Jet Propulsion Laboratory with a PhD in physics from Columbia University. He lives in suburban Altadena, California, with his wife and two children on one-tenth the fossil fuels of the average American. Peter speaks purely on his own behalf, not on behalf of NASA or Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Please note: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2017 Peter Kalmus (P)2020 New Society Publishers
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What listeners say about Being the Change

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An apt title

While we wait for that mysterious leader to show up and tell us what to do, Peter Kalmus points out that it is up to us.
Excellent.
Funny he came to my attention as he had chained himself to the door of a bank as part of an Extinction Rebellion event reported on by Status Coup.

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Some great ideas and challenges

Some great ideas and challenges, held back by a scientifically illiterate narrator.

Personal actions of varying degrees of difficulty mixed with a spiritual and interpersonal philosophy. I found worth considering. The test is a bit dated as world events have moved on, however the issues remain unaddressed and the actions recommend are still valid.

I found the naration middling, but the incorrect usage of general American english and in particular miss reading units of measure left me shaking my head. Pronouncing the abbreviations of units of power "W" as W rather that correctly as Watts or Wh as Watt-hours drove this engineer mad!

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