This audiobook is narrated by an AI Voice.
In January 2025, the United States government—historically the world's largest cumulative emitter of greenhouse gases—began dismantling decades of climate policy. The Trump Administration withdrew the United States from the Paris Agreement on Climate Change for the second time, later withdrew from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), rolled back federal emissions standards, expanded permits for fossil fuel extraction on public lands, and proposed eliminating the Environmental Protection Agency's authority to regulate carbon dioxide as a pollutant.¹ At the same time, Russia continued to exploit its vast oil and gas reserves with little meaningful commitment to emissions reductions, while several petrostates—countries whose economies depend on fossil fuel revenues—quietly worked to weaken international climate commitments at global negotiations.²
The consequences of this abdication are severe and already visible. In 2024, global average temperatures exceeded 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels for the first time on an annual basis.³ Extreme weather events—droughts, floods, wildfires, heat waves, and intensifying hurricanes—are becoming more frequent and more destructive. Arctic sea ice is at record lows. Coral reefs are bleaching. Food systems are under strain. And the window for avoiding the worst outcomes is closing fast.
This guide is written for you—the concerned citizen, the parent worried about the world your children or grandchildren will inherit, the young person who has grown up hearing about climate change but wondering what you personally can do about it. It is written for families, employees, retirees, students, and community leaders who want to act but are not sure where to start. It is written in the conviction that, while governments and corporations bear the heaviest responsibility for driving climate change, citizens are neither powerless nor absolved of responsibility.