What the book does
Through carefully chosen illustrations, this book shows you how to “read” in today’s landscape the record of the transformation from early colonization to the present. There have been sweeping changes that vary from region to region depending on environmental factors, economic forces, and dominant beliefs and trends. Per Chris Wilson:
Since its publication in 1990, The Making of the American Landscape has remained the best single-volume introduction to the country’s cultural landscape mosaic. The original edition began life as a twelve-part series in the Geographical Magazine in 1979–80 edited by Michael P. Cozen, who subsequently solicited additional essays to round out the eighteen-chapter first edition of this book.
What’s Missing
This book helps you see how we got to the present American landscape, step by step. It is an excellent exercise in seeing your surroundings and appreciating how economic, environmental, industrial and lifestyle decisions impacted the land.
What it needs are a few more chapters to help us navigate to the future landscape we desire.
Now more than ever, we need to be able to “read ahead” to see what landscape our zero carbon choices will result in. Many people have only a vague idea of the land use impacts of their favorite zero carbon solutions. We need a book that spells it out clearly, all the options, extrapolated and scaled up to the zero carbon world we are headed for.
Perhaps a few chapters are not enough. We need a new book:
The Making of the American Landscape: Zero Carbon Edition
A comprehensive look at the landscape choices we now face as we contemplate the best way to get to a net zero carbon economy.
What would the American landscape look like if we adopt:
- a 100% Renewable Energy solution
- a 100% Nuclear Energy solution
- a portfolio of energy solutions (your portfolio here!)
- What if large portions of the population adopt a minimalist lifestyle, or a car free lifestyle as described in “Happy City”?
Live the Story
Don’t wait for some academic to write this book. We are all living this story now. Jump in and explore the options. How? Join us in setting up Zero Carbon Coaching Clinics in your community to work through all the options for getting to your preferred landscape.
These clinics are a core part of the Race to Zero Carbon. The race we are all in, whether we realize it or not.
Do you want to keep America beautiful? The mountains majestic, the waves of grain amber and the plains fruited? Then you need to roll up your sleeves and consciously engage in the Race to Zero Carbon. It’s the ultimate act of historic landscape preservation.
It’s a transpartisan race. Red state solutions, blue state solutions, wild card solutions are welcome.
America - the land - isn’t going to preserve itself.
Americans - the people - need to step up and do it!
Pledge now to join the race.
