Paul Scott’s “RADICAL,” An Alarming Solution To Dangerous Climate Change — Exclusive Interview

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Paul Scott Radical Book
Paul Scott, Radical Book

When I first met Paul Scott at the AltCar Expo in Santa Monica back in 2009, I automatically liked this friendly man on his electric Vectrix. Paul was frank, straightforward, and driven by a strong motivation to tell the world how to clean up its act with a smile. But make no mistake, this mild-mannered looking man is on a mission, and a dangerous one at that — to avoid a climate meltdown and terrorism. Paul Scott’s Radical book subtitle says it all: With Billions of Lives at Stake, What Would You Do?

Paul Scott Writes A Radical, Dangerous Book

When Paul first told me he was writing a dangerous book two years ago, I chuckled. What could be so dangerous writing a book about the environment? Surely, Paul isn’t one of those conspiracy theorists? But as he told me more about it, I knew the book would do more than raise a few eyebrows. The book is a chilling insight into what could easily happen if we continue on our merry way destroying our planet while mega-corporation pockets grow larger and larger. But who really is Paul Scott, anyway?

If you haven’t heard of Paul Scott, you might need to get out of the rock you’ve been hibernating under. Paul, a lifelong environmentalist, and a leader in the emerging electric vehicle (EV) and renewable energy fields, has worked extensively in both of these cleantech industries. He speaks nationally and abroad and has exclusively driven electric cars and motorcycles since 2002, powering them solely with clean energy generated by the photovoltaic panels on his home.

Paul lives in Santa Monica, California, where I interviewed him several times and where he witnessed the rebirth of the EV race in the late 1990s. He also saw the infamous crushing of the GM EV1 and Toyota’s electric RAV4 EV. He was incremental in getting Toyota to sell some of its RAV4 EV (1st generation) to the public at large, a move that would help EV adoption in more than the company could ever foresee.

Paul was also a leading motivation behind Chris Paine’s Who Killed The Electric Car? movie. He is also one of the Plug In America co-founders, the nation’s foremost nonprofit EV advocacy group. But today Paul is a national environmental leader and amongst many hats worn has just published his debut novel, Radical, on Earth Day, April 22, 2017.

Paul Scott Radical Book
Paul Scott, Radical Book

Paul Scott’s Radical Book —1st Interview For CleanTechnica Only

CleanTechnica is one of the first news outlets to interview Paul Scott about this dangerous book that involves modern day terrorism, romance, brainwashing, idealism, and much, much more. The drive behind the book is the simple question we’ve been asking for decades — what will it take for everyone to finally stop subsidizing big corporations, politicians, and international wars? Although a vast and huge topic, Paul’s mission is to have enough people kick into action by doing the little things anyone can do at their level to tip the overall scale back into our favor.

The gist of the book is simple: Let’s not wait until a disaster strikes again to do the right thing. It doesn’t take much to stop wars. Voting and peaceful marches might help, but local actions speak far louder than protesting against this or that, especially in these rich days of media manipulations.

Paul Scott’s Dangerous Book Storyline

Paul’s protagonist’s name is Cody Benson. Cody is likened to a biological evolution of our society and how nature evolves in similar ways. A single cell can change to make a body healthier or can grow wildly out of control. In many ways, Cody is exactly the answer to the violent forms of cancer in our society. He is a sort of anti-cancer, flushing out the bad cells among us, but with dire consequences.

Eventually, Cody lets loose, wreaking havoc, but before he does, he joins the US Army, thinking he’ll avenge the wrongs done to his country after 9/11. Sent to Iraq, he finds out the war is really about oil after he kills on behalf of his country. He returns home a changed man, disillusioned, and meets a left-wing attorney who prosecutes environmental criminals. This man, sharing his work and beliefs, radicalizes Cody.

Eventually, Cody sets out to assassinate public figures. But Cody doesn’t stop there. Much as terrorism on all sides affects innocent lives, Cody goes after a creepy underground as well.

One of the many questions Paul asks in the book is that, if you don’t like the constant stream of violence we are fed — to the point of numbness — why do people feel happy enough simply marching against certain events?The problem is that, after the march, everyone gets into their gas-burning cars, which in turn feeds the perpetrators. So, why march against something and then fund the people you demonstrate against? What good can come out of this insane cycle?

Paul argues that the fictive and sometimes not-so-fictive assassinations portrayed in the book are the same as the direct and indirect consequences of when we gas up or use dirty energy at home. We basically facilitate mass murder, our very own unhealthy conditions, wars abroad and innocent casualties, as well as a very expensive health care system, the same one used to repair the pollution we paid for in the first place. Crazy, no?

Paul says about the book: “It is a dangerous book because radical problems require radical solutions. This is at the heart of the book, although careful reading will reveal the true solution I am proposing.”

The book is available through Amazon.

Here’s the rest of the interview:

CleanTechnica (CT): Why did you write this book?

Paul: Because too few Americans are doing their part to help solve climate change. Even progressives have stopped short of the solutions readily available to millions of Americans.

I am particularly frustrated that the national dialogue about climate change consistently neglects to take into account the enormous external costs of dirty energy: gas and electricity are artificially cheap because their price doesn’t reflect the costs of polluting our environment, damaging our health, and fighting wars for oil.

People need to switch their electricity to clean, renewable energy, and their gas-guzzling cars to electric.

CT: Are you condoning violence with this book? You seem to be advocating that people assassinate others.

Paul: On the contrary, the book is decidedly non-violent. While the assassinations grab your attention, the true message is that the use of dirty energy, which kills millions, is the actual violence perpetrated against people and the planet. I advocate that people stop being violent in this way.

CT: How, in your story, will assassinating public figures fight climate change?

Paul: It won’t. Assassinating people is a bad thing. That was merely an artistic choice that allowed me to inform the reader of the importance of the problem and how serious we need to take it. If I have made the argument that these people should be assassinated, and the logic conforms to that of killing Hitler, then those who are targeted must be doing something very bad.

CT: So your book is a stunt?

Paul: Yes, that’s exactly what it is, although I think I’ve told a good story, too.

We can’t assassinate our way out of this problem. The real solution is for average people to stop using dirty energy. This not only eliminates the pollution, but drains vast financial resources from the industries causing the problems.

Every dime you spend on dirty energy lines the pockets of those in power who are perpetuating climate change. For instance, when you buy gasoline, and when you pay your power bill, you’re funding Trump’s second term. Let that thought sink in.

CT: Solar power has been affordable for a decade, yet U.S. adoption is only at 1%. How will a book get people to go solar?

Paul: Solar adoption has only recently become less expensive than grid power, and the adoption rate is now approaching 2%. At the utility scale, contracts are being signed for energy at under 4 cents/kWh. That compares to a new coal plant at 8 cents/kWh. And that’s without any carbon tax on the dirty energy.

CT: Not everyone can afford a new car.

Paul: While true, over 15 million Americans do buy a new car each year, and the average price is over $33,000. The price of most new EVs is less than that after incentives. And more and more used EVs are on the market every year.

It’s not about those who can’t buy an EV, it’s about the millions of Americans who can. I want them to step up and do the right thing. The same goes for renewable energy.


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Nicolas Zart

Nicolas was born and raised around classic cars of the 1920s, but it wasn't until he drove an AC Propulsion eBox and a Tesla Roadster that the light went on. Ever since he has produced green mobility content on various CleanTech outlets since 2007 and found his home on CleanTechnica. He grew up in an international environment and his communication passion led to cover electric vehicles, autonomous vehicles, renewable energy, test drives, podcasts, shoot pictures, and film for various international outlets in print and online. Nicolas offers an in-depth look at the e-mobility world through interviews and the many contacts he has forged in those industries. His favorite taglines are: "There are more solutions than obstacles." and "Yesterday's Future Now"

Nicolas Zart has 572 posts and counting. See all posts by Nicolas Zart