Half-Earth Socialism: A Plan to Save the Future from Extinction, Climate Change and Pandemics

A plan to save the earth and bring the good life to all

In this thrilling and capacious book, Troy Vettese and Drew Pendergrass challenge the inertia of capitalism and the left alike and propose a radical plan to address climate disaster and guarantee the good life for all. Consumption in the Global North can't continue unabated, and we must give up the idea that humans can fully control the Earth through technological "fixes" which only wreak further havoc.

Rather than allow the forces of the free market to destroy the planet, we must strive for a post-capitalist society able to guarantee the good life the entire planet. This plan, which they call Half-Earth Socialism, means we must:

- rewild half the Earth to absorb carbon emissions and restore biodiversity
- pursue a rapid transition to renewable energy, paired with drastic cuts in consumption by the world's wealthiest populations
- enact global veganism to cut down on energy and land use
- inaugurate worldwide socialist planning to efficiently and equitably manage production
- welcome the participation of everyone--even you!

Accompanied by a climate-modelling website inviting readers to design their own "half earth," Vettese and Pendergrass offer us a visionary way forward--and our only hope for a future.

Author: Troy Vettese, Drew Pendergrass
Publisher: Verso
Published: 04/12/2022
Pages: 240
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.70lbs
Size: 8.40h x 5.50w x 0.90d
ISBN: 9781839760310

About the Author
Troy Vettese is an environmental historian and a William Lyon Mackenzie King research fellow at Harvard University. He has written on the history of energy systems, environmental economics, neoliberalism, and mass extinctions. His reviews and essays have appeared in n+1, Jacobin, Bookforum, Salvage, New Left Review, and In These Times.

Drew Pendergrass is a PhD student in Environmental Engineering at Harvard University. His current modeling projects focus on Chinese air quality and the impact of droughts on global food security. His environmental writing has been published in Harper's and Current Affairs.