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Stop Global Warming: change the world

Stop Global Warming is a polemic addressed to trade union leaders and activists concerning the importance of climate change. Since 2005 I have been one of the national officers of the Campaign against Climate Change. One of my main responsibilities is involving unions in our work. The research challenge was: 1 to develop an analysis of climate politics from the point of view of working people (something that had not been done before) 2 to write scientific exposition clearly, to be accessible to intelligent trade union activists without a university education. 3, To produce an analysis of the problem and possible solutions that showed how different aspects of the problem were related. Research practice involved firstly extending existing expertise from anthropology, economics and politics into science and engineering. Secondly, I undertook wide reading in popular science to learn how to write for a popular audience, for instance in George Monbiot, Fred Pearce and Stephen Jay Gould. Thirdly, I gave many talks on climate change, to community, union, and environmentalist audiences in several countries, and used the direct engagement with the audience to established where confusion or understanding had arisen.