June 22, 2020
I was privileged to invite Dain Rohtla for an interview with BooKecCenTric to discuss his latest book The
Sustainability Handbook and the inspiration
behind it. Enjoy!
*********
The
Sustainability Handbook is meant to be a textbook about sustainable development
- general issues about sustainability, how YOU can be more sustainable,
political agendas to fight climate change, and my overarching thesis that
sustainability is not dependent on technology, but rather economics and
people's unwillingness to change. Greta Thunberg is the most well-known
environmental pundit yet she does not really proffer tax agendas, she
complains, and I would rather people focus on solutions than problems.
I was inspired
by debating my friends about the benfits of hunting. I told them not to think
about 'killing bambi,' take the emotions out of it because A) the money spent
on hunting saves more animals than you kill, and B) animals die more gruesome
deaths in the wild if they are not killed by hunters. This inspired me to do
more reading about it. I had already taken sustainable development classes and
was decently in-tune politically so I just wanted to put my thoughts together
for myself.
Who is your target
audience, and why do you think this book will appeal to them?
This is best
suited for those of high school age and above who are interested in politics or
the environment. This should appeal because it offers a bipartisan take on
combatting climate change, a narrative which is dominated by left wing thinkers
who Greenwash the issue to advance socialism policies. Many right-wing people
support the environment but do not want to hear congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez or
Greta Thunberg so this argues brings more context to the issue.
What message
do you wish to pass across to your readers with this book?
Environmental
degradation is worse than you think; its not just a slight rise in temperature,
its trash pollution, marine life decline, terrestrial life decline,
deforestation, everything and it affects everyone.
As a writer, is
there anything you've learned about yourself while writing this book?
I care more
about the environment than when I started! I did not care that much originally,
it seemed quite intangible, but now I see it as ever-present, I notice the
massive plastic wrapping everywhere, the abundance of beef, and it makes me
want to change things.
For your own
reading, do you prefer ebooks or traditional paper/hard back books, and why?
I like
traditional books, it feels good to hold paper, scrunch the book on my lap,
flip through the pages, and see it on my bookshelf.
What is your
niche genre, and if you were to write in a different genre, what would it be?
I like
environmental economics; I write a lot about it on my society's website
roosevelt-group.org as well. If not this I would write fantasy, when I was in
6-8th grade I wrote a 250-page fantasy book that was probably horrible and has
since been mysteriously deleted.
Why do you care
about the environment?
Growing up in
the suburbs instilled a love of the outdoors when I was young. I was am an
Eagle Scout and I love carp fishing most of all. No matter how much time I
spent on other aspects of boyscouts like knot tying, or other hobbies like
soccer, I always came back to carp fishing. At university in Scotland I took
Sustainable Development classes because they were apparently easy, but it
taught me alot. I learned about how important marine life is for my hobbies and
the world but that it was dying excruciatingly quickly. I wanted to help the
environment because it gives me so much joy.
What books and
authors have most influenced you?
I am a huge fan of Ernest Hemingway, more as a
person than a writer. I love his attraction to hunting, fishing, skiing, all
these wonderful adventures. My favorite of his books is Green Hills of Africa
which is a non-fiction account of his hunting in Africa and it instills the
sense of love, of the journey, not only the goal, and the true simple pleasures
of life, like a Michigan sunset or whiskey at the end of a hard day of hiking.
Other than Hemingway, I read a wide selection, mostly older works. I love F Scott Fitzgerald's Tender is the Night and The Great Gatby which I have reread several times.
Other than Hemingway, I read a wide selection, mostly older works. I love F Scott Fitzgerald's Tender is the Night and The Great Gatby which I have reread several times.
Why is your
finance background pertinent in a discussion about ecology?
To many
ecologists and 'treehuggers' get caught up in feelings and morals. Too many people
don't react to that, especially if they don't spend time hunting, hiking, and
fishing. Eating vegan or riding a bike to work is difficult, so we need to
educate people on how climate change affects them, and incentivize them to act
cleaner. If we say its because polar bears are dying or because insects are
going extinct in the Amazon, that doesn't hit home.
Any additional
comments?
Regarding the organization e350.org, I think
they create a false narrative. The premise is that we need to bring the
atmosphere's CO2 PPM down to 350 (and its now nearly 420) to stop global
warming, and we do this by divesting from those greedy bastard fossil fuel
companies. I think those greatly overemphasizes the importance of divestment.
We should not focus on tearing down something we need, thats just hypocritcal
and dangerous. There is no way we can operate without fossil fuel so stop
acting like divestment will make them go bankrupt and save the planet.
Secondly, if the goal is to bring down PPM to 350 lets actually focus on that.
If we want to reduce CO2 we need to focus on aforestation: planting trees
through initiatives like the Great Green Wall, and restoring seagrass which is
great for carbon sequestration. Other than this, we should be INVESTING in
renewables and particularly carbon capture storage technology companies like
Climeworks. We should heal the environment by building helpful institutions not
creating a socialist economy devoid of fossil fuels.
Do you have any
more books in the works?
I want to write
a fishing diary / Florida-policy specific piece. I love Florida, I recently
tarpon fished down there but it has experienced great degradation lately. Fish
populations are going down, seagrass is torn up, bad water from Okeechobee
flows into saltwater estuaries, its a mess, and they rely on the outdoors for
the economy!
What is your
preferred method to have readers get in touch with or follow you (i.e.,
website, personal blog, Facebook page, Goodreads, etc.)?
Follow me on
Twitter @economicsmussel
Dain Rohtla
is a University of St Andrews Management student from America. At school he is
Head of the Economic Policy Research Group and President of the international
society, Roosevelt Group. He plans on going into the finance field but thinks
sustainability will be of increasing importance in business. This is his first
book but plans to write others. Follow him on Twitter @EconomicsMussel
