The Story of Upfront Carbon: How a Life of Just Enough Offers a Way Out of the Climate Crisis
BOOK REVIEW
By Lloyd Alter
New Society Publishers © 2024
Review by Julia Bassett Schwerin
THERE IS MUCH ATTENTION BEING PAID to reducing operational carbon—the carbon of auto emissions, the exhaust of building heating systems and industrial smokestacks that plague our air quality and create greenhouse gases. But what about embodied or upfront carbon expended in the manufacturing, transportation and construction of materials used in making a final product? One expert who is talking—and writing—about upfront carbon is Lloyd Alter, a sustainable design professor andauthor ofLiving the 1.5 Degree Lifestyle. His latest book, The Story of Upfront Carbon: How a Life of Just Enough Offers a Way Out of the Climate Crisis, is a thought-provoking introduction to the concept of embodied carbon. Alter’s main premise is that at some point, hopefully before we overshoot the catastrophic tipping point of 1.5°C of global warming, we will have wrestled operational carbon to the ground. When we have converted all fossil fuel combustion to electricity, in the vision of Saul Griffith of electrification nonprofit Rewiring America, the majority of emissions left to deal with will be upfront carbon. If, like me, you long to understand the issues involved in living more sustainably, The Story of Upfront Carbon is for you. It’s an introduction to concepts like circularity, in which everything is saved, reused and repurposed—like at my Uncle Jim’s legendary garage, where he salvaged everything you needed or could make do with. This mindset that was so common among people who lived through the Great Depression has been totally upended by the economy of planned obsolescence.
To resist this economic force requires thoughtfulness and determination. A regenerative economy, as Alter puts forth using the term “circularity,” is one vision of how we could live on this planet without exhausting our natural resources. It is apparent that economic forces and the relentless drive for corporations to continually produce more puts an unsustainable strain on the environment. It is difficult to knowhow to stop and seemingly impossible to convince the profit-motivated to try. Alter concludes with a summary of what you can do to useless in various aspects of life, such as a smaller house, less driving or flying or less processed food, as well as some that focus on more, such as more sharing, more resiliency and more flexibility. Mother Nature seeks balance in an ecosystem of sustainability, whereas a substantial portion of human nature seeks growth at any cost. The two are irreconcilable. If you are inclined to seek balance for yourself, this book is a good guide.If you seek inspiration, stimulation and recommendations to live your life more sustainably, this book is a good resource. If you are curious how we could achieve sufficiency as a society, this book is a good start.
This article appeared in the Fall 2024 edition of Green & Healthy Maine HOMES. Subscribe today!
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