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WHOEVER ends up in the White House will have to enter the battle against climate change, and America鈥檚 scriptwriters are already limbering up for the action. Europeans may scoff at US movies showing how the Americans won the second world war with barely a walk-on part for anyone else, but writers are now repeating the pattern in their books on global warming.

Earth: The sequel casts what it calls 鈥渢he race to reinvent energy and stop global warming鈥� as an American crusade. To be fair, , president of the , and his journalist co-author Miriam Horn, have some compelling case studies of US innovators in solar and wind power, ocean and geothermal energy, biofuels and carbon capture. It is just the relentless Americanisation of the endeavour that grates for non-US readers.

Virtually ignored are and the fact that happens to be Danish. The firm gets 12 words 鈥� 11 of them in brackets. And in case you miss the subtext, the book鈥檚 last paragraph begins: 鈥淲e have before us an extraordinary opportunity to harness the power of the United States of America鈥檚 huge and dynamic markets to ensure a safe future鈥� [to] gather US ingenuity and resourcefulness to serve a higher purpose: protecting this planet for generations to come.鈥�

Hey, guys, this is our world, too. And we鈥檇 appreciate some recognition that until now the US has been part of the problem, not the solution. I don鈥檛 care if the intended audience for this absurdly titled book is American. Right now, Americans need to know more than ever what the rest of the world is thinking and doing.

Even , the venerable and well-travelled founder of the , the Washington DC research organisation that focuses on creating an environmentally sustainable society, can鈥檛 quite avoid the 鈥淎merica saves the world鈥� narrative. Towards the end of his equally irritatingly titled Plan B: 3.0, he gives inspiration for saving the planet by suggesting that 鈥渢he US entry into World War II offers an inspiring case study in rapid mobilization鈥�, one that 鈥渉elped turn the tide, leading the Allied Forces to victory鈥�.

Still, Brown is not afraid of scaring Americans with the reminder of just how severe this mobilisation effort could be. For nearly three years during that wartime effort, such was the scale of industrial commandeering that 鈥渢here were essentially no cars produced in the United States鈥�. Nor does he shy away from reminding his readers that the sacrifices they will have to make in the new battle will be much tougher. Heroes and technology, American or otherwise, will not be enough. When Hitler and the Japanese were beaten, car production resumed so fast that soon a third of all the world鈥檚 cars were driving on US freeways. This time round, though, 鈥渕obilizing to save civilization requires an enduring economic restructuring鈥�.

What kind of technologies would such a restructuring involve? I know it鈥檚 not very sexy, but we already have most of the technologies needed to fix climate change. Some require a firm kick-start, such as hydrogen fuel cells for cars. Others, such as wind, thermal and photovoltaic solar power, are already growing fast. Brown describes how the oil state of Texas is investing megabucks in wind turbines. And the mighty General Motors, following the lead of Toyota, has bet its future on hybrid cars with lithium-ion batteries that you plug into the mains at night. Put the two technologies together and he sees a world dawning in which cars run on wind.

Brown is right to say that there is ample renewable energy out there to power the world鈥檚 economy many times over, but it has to be said that there is only one off-the-shelf, high-output source of electricity available to replace fossil fuels: nuclear power. Brown ducks the issue, blandly observing in a single paragraph that his Plan B assumes old nuclear power stations will all be replaced. Blink and you鈥檇 miss it.

, author of 14 popular science books and a neurologist at the University of Washington in Seattle, grasps the nuclear nettle in Global Fever: How to treat climate change. This book is just about the easiest and most up-to-date read of the batch. In his final chapter on solutions, he avers that 鈥渨e have no choice but to expand nuclear鈥�. A lot of people pussyfoot around the nuclear issue, so Calvin deserves full marks for clarity.

Nuclear is old tech, though. Calvin鈥檚 weakness is for new and untried technology. For instance, he pins huge hopes on highly speculative machines for engineering the oceans to soak up carbon dioxide from the air. By 2040, he says, we could be starting to bring down atmospheric concentrations.

Journalist Robert Kunzig and oceanographer in their book Fixing Climate demonstrate the same weakness. They give pride of place in the fixing stakes to a machine developed by Klaus Lackner of Columbia University, New York, for chemically stripping CO₂ from the air. The machine is expensive and you鈥檇 need millions of them. They call it 鈥渢he only hope鈥�. Hmm. By all means do research, but even to pencil such technologies into our timetable for staving off climatic apocalypse is nuts.

The problem with all the techno-talk is that it suggests that鈥檚 where the solution lies. Brown at least knows it is not enough. He puts people at the heart of his story. Not Krupp鈥檚 blue-eyed entrepreneurs, but real people. There are, he says, four key challenges facing the world in the 21st century: climate change, poverty, rising population and the collapse of ecosystems. 鈥淚f we fail on any one of them, then we fail on them all.鈥�

Brown has a line where he says: 鈥淭hings are so bad now we can鈥檛 afford to be pessimistic.鈥� It makes me want to cheer. One of the main threats to fixing climate today is a growing fashion for cynical pessimism. People who yesterday denied climate change existed now say it is too late to do anything. This volte-face may be cretinous, but it does have the advantage of continuing to absolve these people of any responsibility for acting to call a halt to climate change.

Many of these vicarious doomsday merchants will probably be buying The Global Warming Survival Kit 鈥� written by the sole British writer among this batch of books. In it, popular science author promises 鈥渃lear-headed practical guidance so that you, your family and loved ones can prepare for the end of the world as we know it鈥�. The book 鈥� subtitled The must-have guide to overcoming extreme weather, power cuts, food shortages and other climate change disasters 鈥� advises all manner of hoarding and selfishness, while warning against displaying 鈥渃onspicuous consumption鈥�. 鈥淚n stressful times there is likely to be more resentment of the blatantly rich,鈥� he explains.

鈥淥ne book advises all manner of hoarding and selfishness鈥�

This might all be a joke: at one point Clegg offers tips on how to prepare a safe worm sandwich. But I fear this is the new green survivalism. I looked in vain for a section on sharing what you have, or reducing your impact on the planet. Instead the take-home message can be summed up by Clegg鈥檚 advice: 鈥淒on鈥檛 hitch-hike; don鈥檛 pick up hitch-hikers.鈥� I can鈥檛 help thinking this selfish attitude is what got us into the problem in the first place.

Hysteria gets us nowhere. The truth is we have the technology. And with oil at over $100 a barrel, deploying it will not screw up the world economy. Only failing to deploy it will do that.

Calvin and Brown are both right, in their different ways, in seeing that the problems are mainly political. They are about making happen what we know should happen. Yes, we can, but will we? 鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be like herding stray cats,鈥� Calvin says, which is as good a metaphor for global governance as I have come across. So I will try to forgive him his last line, where he likens the political leaders we need to 鈥渢he geniuses who pulled off the American Revolution鈥�. Give us a break, Uncle Sam.

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