Building an Ark

by Ethan Smith and Guy Dauncey

Published 1 November 2007
Building an Ark: 101 Solutions to Animal Suffering is a first-of-its-kind, inspiring look at practical solutions for the humane treatment of animals and animal liberation.

Animal cruelty has many forms: factory farms, habitat destruction, animal product testing, the abuse and neglect of companion animals, the illegal trade in endangered species, unsustainable fishing, and climate change. All these create unnecessary suffering for animals and destroy animal rights.

For several decades there has been a global movement building, an ever-increasing consciousness that will soon affect animal welfare and the future of life on Earth-if it's given time to do so. Building an Ark is the story of this movement. Extensively researched and drawing on practical examples from around the world, it provides a voice for both the animals and the humans who have dedicated their lives to building a sustainable future for all species.

The ark is ready for all to board. Individuals, action groups, schools, businesses, governments, farmers, fishers, developing nations-there's a role for everyone on this journey. Building an Ark offers a host of solutions that, if adopted, will ensure that animals will suffer less today, and that humans and animals will share a more sustainable planet tomorrow.

Ethan Smith is a writer, animal welfare advocate, and author/editor of the anthology Softly On This Earth: Joining Those Who Are Healing Our Planet.

Guy Dauncey founded the Solutions Project and is author of several books, including Stormy Weather: 101 Solutions to Global Climate Change.

The Climate Challenge

by Guy Dauncey

Published 1 January 2009
This is a terrific labor. Nowhere will readers find a more exhaustive, yet accessible, treatment of the climate challenge. The Climate Challenge is a terrific resource for anyone interested in understanding the preeminent issue of our time. Guy Dauncey's skills as an educator are on full display in this masterful work! -- Gary Gardner, Senior Researcher, Worldwatch Institute

A lot has been written about climate change over the last few years, but this is a real cracker. Hugely informative, hard-hitting and very upbeat about the solutions. Get your head around The Climate Challenge, and I think you'll find there's only one answer to Guy Dauncey's own question (`do we believe in our ability to create a green, sustainable future?'), and that's `yes!' -- Sir Jonathon Porritt, past Chair of the UK Sustainable Development Commission

If you are wondering what to do about climate change, here is the answer. The Climate Challenge is not only interesting and informative, it is also exciting. -Lester R. Brown, author of Plan B 4.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization

What an amazingly (insanely!) comprehensive and useful book. Guy Dauncey gets it. He understands all the individual things we must do, but also why they won't work unless we also commit to working together and building a movement. This is a joyous, hope-filled manual for facing the greatest crisis humanity has ever encountered. It's going to do a lot of good!
- Bill McKibben, 350.org

A wonderfully clear guide to simplify the issues of global warming and climate change so that anyone can get involved, doing what they can where they are. Dauncey's 101 solutions - which people can take at every level from personal to global - provide both the needed information and the inspiration. -- Hazel Henderson, President of Ethical Markets Media, and author of Ethical Markets: Growing The Green Economy

The Climate Challenge is the handbook for the increasing number of people worldwide who understand the stakes: unchecked, global warming threatens a swing in global temperatures of ice age magnitude, only in the opposite direction, within the lifetime of today's young people. Guy Dauncey provides meaningful, effective solutions at the personal, professional and business level. But he also makes it clear that only if local action builds quickly to serious and sustained national political engagement can we really change the future. - Eban Goodstein, Director, Bard Center for Environmental Policy, New York

Very timely and persuasive. The Climate Challenge is an essential owner's manual for our planet. Guy Dauncey's clear-eyed presentation of the problem is followed by practical solutions that empower each of us to take action now - - and if we follow his advice, we will meet the challenge and win. - Terry Tamminen, New America Foundation, former Secretary of California EPA

Guy Dauncey has created something unique in the current literature by blending (i) a highly readable narrative on global warming, (ii) a rich picture book on climate solutions, and (iii) an up-to-date digest of the relevant heaps of climate change information that have steadily grown into electronic Himalayas. If you wish to grasp the mind-boggling complexity of the climate challenge, read this book. -- John Shellnhuber, Chief Sustainability Scientist for the German Government and, Founding Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research

The Climate Challenge is an informative, yet hopeful look at the climate crisis. Based on the latest science, the book includes a wealth of practical steps for citizens, industries, and governments to help avert catastrophic climate change as well other detrimental environmental impacts. -- Rhett A. Butler, founder of mongabay.com

This book is marvelous! Guy Dauncey's new book is an elegant, insightful and comprehensive examination of the dominant global challenge we face. This attractive work belongs on the desk of every investor, entrepreneur, citizen and policy maker.
-- Paul R. Epstein, M.D., M.P.H., Associate Director, Center for Health and the Global Environment, Harvard Medical School

To employ the book's own martial metaphors, Dauncey writes that we are all soldiers of circumstance placed on the front line of the great battle of our time: the fight against the forces of climate change. The Climate Challenge does more than orient the reader and set out the tactics; Dauncey rallies the troops for the struggle ahead by instilling a vision of the better future that will c