Break Through or No Excuses

Break Through: From the Death of Environmentalism to the Politics of Possibility

Author: Ted Nordhaus

Current tactics can't solve today's complex global crises. The "bad boys of environmentalism" call for a bold and empowering new vision

Environmental insiders Michael Shellenberger and Ted Nordhaus triggered a firestorm of controversy with their self-published essay "The Death of Environmentalism," which argued that environmentalism cannot deal with global warming and should die so that a new politics can be born. Global warming is far more complex than past pollution problems, and American values have changed dramatically since the movement's greatest victories in the 1960s, but environmentalists keep fighting the same old battles. Seeing a connection between the failures of environmentalism and the failures of the entire left-leaning political agenda, the authors point the way toward an aspirational politics that will resonate with modern American values and be capable of tackling our most pressing challenges.

In this eagerly awaited follow-up to the original essay, the authors give us an expansive and eloquent manifesto for political change. What Americans really want, and what could serve as the basis for a new politics, is a vision capable of inspiring us to greatness. Making the case for abandoning old categories (nature/market, left/right), the authors articulate a pragmatism fit for our times that has already found champions in such prominent figures as Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

This book will hit the same nerve as What's the Matter with Kansas and Don't Think of an Elephant. But its analysis will reshape American politics for decades to come.

The New York Times - Matthew Yglesias

Conventional environmentalist policy is perfectly compatible with an optimistic vision of a landscape dotted with windmills and solar panels, of high-speed trains and energy-efficient office towers. But to win, Nordhaus and Shellenberger persuasively argue, environmentalists must stop congratulating themselves for their own willingness to confront inconvenient truths and must focus on building a politics of shared hope rather than relying on a politics of fear.

Publishers Weekly

Three years after their contentious, seminal essay, "The Death of Environmentalism," advocated a radical reassessment of the global warming dilemma, career environmental activists Nordhaus and Shellenberger present the book version, which mines postmaterialist thought for solutions that fall somewhere between the death threats and Band-Aid solutions they say are currently masquerading as debate and progress. Arguing that preservation requires something "qualitatively different from limiting our contamination of nature," Nordhaus and Shellenberger contend that, as Americans, we must collectively sacrifice our standard of living to reverse the inevitable, a seemingly impossible but necessary task in a nation plagued by affluence envy and credit card debt. Referencing a wide array of current political and environmental work, the authors show how current pop environmentalism (think Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth) is mired in a "pollution paradigm... profoundly inadequate for understanding and dealing with global warming." True progress, they contend, requires embracing a pragmatic approach to the constantly changing world, rather than a stubborn belief that "all things have an essential unchanging nature," which can be protected or restored. Though their plan to sell the largest middle class in history on "a new vision of prosperity" (defining wealth by "overall well-being") seems like a long shot, their big-picture ideas are important and intensely argued, making this a convincing, resonant and hopeful primer on "postenvironmentalism." (Oct.)

Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information

Michal Strutin - Library Journal

Nordhaus and Shellenberger contend that standard environmental tactics won't solve global warming and insist that a paradigm shift in our approach to the problem is essential. Their central point is that most environmentalists see global warming narrowly, as a pollution problem to be solved by the "politics of limits," such as using less energy and cutting carbon dioxide emissions. The writers, who have had long careers in environmental organizations, sparked great debate among the environmental community with their controversial 2004 essay, "The Death of Environmentalism," which detailed how the thou-shalt-nots of current environmental tactics are less effective than more global, market-driven solutions. Their book envisions a federal program, "a new Apollo project," to develop new energy technologies that would create new jobs and world markets. The book reads like a collection of interrelated essays; too bad the authors' vision is fleshed out only in the last chapter. But their fresh view may be reason enough to include it in any public or academic library collection.

Table of Contents:

Introduction: From the Nightmare to the Dream     1
The Politics of Limits
The Birth of Environmentalism     21
The Forest for the Trees     41
Interests Within Interests     66
The Prejudice of Place     89
The Pollution Paradigm     105
The Death of Environmentalism     130
The Politics of Possibility
Status and Security     157
Belonging and Fulfillment     188
Pragmatism     216
Greatness     241
In Gratitude     274
Notes     278
Bibliography     322
Index     333

See also: Out of the Ashes or The Miracle of MSM

No Excuses: Concessions of a Serial Campaigner

Author: Robert Shrum

He was named by The Atlantic Monthly as "the most sought-after strategist in the Democratic party." He was targeted by National Review as the Democratic Party's "poet goon." From his unique perspective, Robert Shrum gives us an epic and personal story of the struggle for power in America during the past four decades.

With wit and humor, rare candor, and a wealth of detail, he vividly recounts the real personalities and real forces that shaped the outcome of the closest and most important elections of our time. We are there with Shrum in the back rooms, on the planes, and in the motorcades with Ted Kennedy, Al Gore, John Kerry, John Edwards, and Bill and Hillary Clinton.

Shrum reveals the manipulations and limitations of old and new forms of political persuasion, from the historic and sometimes controversial speeches he wrote to the negative ads he created for national and statewide candidates, from prepping presidential nominees for critical debates to the deployment of the new political weapon, the Internet.

He lifts the curtain on decisive moments. Did John Kerry and John Edwards actually believe in the Iraq war they voted for? What was the real reason the Kerry campaign didn't respond faster to the Swift Boat attacks? Why didn't Al Gore let Bill Clinton campaign all-out in 2000? How did Clinton get through the first perilous week of the Lewinsky scandal?

This is a provocative journey through recent history: George McGovern's antiwar campaign of 1972, the improbable rise of Jimmy Carter, Senate campaigns that made historic breakthroughs and shaped the presidential contests of the future, the gifts that made Bill Clinton a great politician -- and the circumstances and calculations that kept him from being a great president.

As strategist, adviser, and often friend to the leaders he enlisted with, Shrum shows them as they are, with their strengths and human weaknesses -- as well as his own.

Assailed as a populist who pushed the Democratic Party, in a phrase he coined, "to stand for the people, not the powerful," Shrum argues that unlike Republicans from Reagan on, Democrats fall short, politically or in office, when they trim their convictions and walk away from fundamental issues -- like universal health coverage.

This is one of the most fascinating books ever written about the victories and defeats, the causes and candidates, the "flawed heroes" that drive the high drama of American politics.

The New York Times - Janet Maslin

Welcome to the moral limbo of political consulting, as outlined in sometimes routine, sometimes scorching detail in Mr. Shrum's memoir. Although his writing is curiously bereft of his foremost professional skills — gripping rhetorical structure and a broad vision of the political landscape — he illuminatingly outlines the calculations that go into campaigning. And if he writes with a prominent sense of his own access, prescience and importance, he also writes with real experience of political image-making. His book is evidence that there is more to the people who dream up slogans like "the people, not the powerful" than great raw material for parody.

The New York Times Book Review - Timothy Noah

Shrum has produced a lively and indiscreet memoir about his three decades at the center of Democratic presidential politics, from Edmund Muskie's failed primary bid in 1972…to John Kerry's general election defeat in 2004.

Publishers Weekly

Shrum's autobiography reads like a detailed history of politics with a heavy concentration on the Democratic Party that may cause some to lose what little faith they have in the democratic process. From childhood days as a student deeply interested in politics and the first few campaigns he worked on to the 2004 election, Shrum reveals some of his hardest challenges, greatest achievements and disappointments. Known as the mastermind behind numerous election campaigns at the federal, state, and local level for over 30 years, Shrum reveals the different tactics and strategies employed over the years to garner votes and manipulate public opinion. Shrum masterfully summons up the details and moods of past elections, injecting the hope of the time into past political campaigns. Prichard only adds to this compelling and insightful book by keeping an excellent pace and smooth rhythm to his narration. When quoting politicians, he imbues the words with trace hints of each person's speaking style so that the unique voices of Sen. Edward Kennedy, and presidents Reagan and Clinton are easy to recognize. With a long history of speech writing, Shrum's talent for writing for sound blends seamlessly with Prichard's narrating adeptness. Simultaneous release with the Simon & Schuster hardcover (Reviews, Apr. 9). (July)

Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information

Kirkus Reviews

A winning memoir from a high-end consultant to Democratic presidential candidates. Shrum, now a senior fellow at NYU, recalls three and a half decades in the political game, where he started out in 1970 as the wunderkind 26-year-old speechwriter for New York Mayor John Lindsay and then became a top and sometimes controversial strategist for a string of unsuccessful presidential hopefuls, from George McGovern and Dick Gephardt to Al Gore and John Kerry. "Sooner or later, your luck is bound to change," said Ted Kennedy. It never did. But what a ride: After the Georgetown debate team and Harvard Law, he plunged into politics and began crafting the main Democratic messages of our time. Writing with engaging candor, he describes the rise of modern political consulting, offering incisive snapshots of such notables as Edmund Muskie, the doom and gloomer; Jimmy Carter, of the "empty pieties"; and the existential John Kerry. We see Shrum talking theology with Mario Cuomo, advising Bill Clinton in the Lewinsky scandal and enlisting Warren Beatty to help convince McGovern to remove a Ralph Waldo Emerson quote from the end of a speech. ("Look, George, you can't do this," said Beatty. "It would be like making love to a beautiful woman . . . and then at the last minute pulling out and saying, 'I'll let Ralph finish for me.' ") There are countless bright stories about friends (Hunter S. Thompson, Pamela Harriman and Larry Tribe) and many clients who won election to the U.S. Senate. The book brims with speechwriting tips: Offend no one and you persuade no one. Beware of lines that sound too good not to be used-rhetoric can outpace reality. Like a symphony, he writes, a good political speech rises androuses the audience, then falls to a quieter level, "transfixing the listeners instead of eliciting applause."A big, wonderfully readable tale certain to delight political junkies.