Climate Chains

The future of the planet -- and all of us on it -- is in peril due to climate change. But what can any of us do about it? "Climate Chains" is more than a play on words. It's the uplifting story of how one family faced this frightening threat and broke the chains that bind us to damaging ways of living. Clifford is a a retired university professor, an expert in climate change. He lives with his daughter Caroline, who teaches English at a small local college. Her husband Chuck is a down-to earth guy who owns several car dealerships and worries that the trend toward clean energy will be bad for his business. John is Caroline's brother, a financial analyst in painful grief after his wife Emma was killed in a curious automobile accident. Jason is his teenaged son, and Sarah, who reveres Cliff and his command of environmental knowledge, is his girlfriend. Sarah's dad was involved in a secret affair with Emma and suffers silently after her fiery death on the way to meet him. Robert is a university graduate student who becomes Cliff's partner in an important series of community seminars about the risks of climate change. They're all good people, facing life's ups and downs, hopes and fears, disease and death with courage and resolve. At a time when the world can look dark, they show the way to a brighter, more fulfilling future.

Julia Hathaway's dedication to helping people communicate about climate change derives from years in the environmental arena, including time on Capitol Hill, in advocacy, and in grassroots organizing. She earned a PhD at George Mason University, a Master of Environmental Management from Yale University, and a B.A. in Communication from George Washington University.