Who Will Save the Planet?
Who Will Save The
Planet is a young adult story of about
45,000 words. The main plot is environmental, with
an underlying theme about the tension between
determination and obstinacy.
The Story
A shy student, Jason Saunders goes to high school in a small coastal town. He has strong views about global warming, but feels isolated in his beliefs. His disappointment peaks when he hears that the Prime Minister doesn’t intend to agree to strict emission control targets at an upcoming conference.
After a chance encounter, Jason suddenly gets the power to force the government to do what he wants.
Of course, the government isn’t happy about having to sign up to emission control targets against its will, thinking that doing so would be bad for the economy and hence their prospects for re-election. They try to get Jason off their backs. Things get pretty unpleasant for Jason.
Will Jason stick to his guns? Should Jason stick to his guns? Is everything as simple as he first thought?
Jason’s adventure is shared with, and influenced by, his less-than-serious friend David, an unwell dog, and a fly. Along the way, he has to do battle with an obstructive public servant (using only a thickshake as a weapon), a university professor with questionable motives, and a legalistic lifeguard.
Style
Despite its theme, Who Will Save The Planet is not merely a thinly-veiled sermon on the evils of global warming—or on denial of same. It will appeal to readers who like to be given the opportunity to think, as Jason is forced to question his decision-making processes and the legitimacy of his stance.
I’ve judiciously woven in some of the themes from my PhD-level research and practical work on dealing with uncertainty in long-range planning. This adds to the novelty of the story, and provides a few carefully-calibrated intellectual challenges.
Despite the potentially
dry 
subject matter,
there’s a good amount of humour in the story.
Topicality
With its theme of emission control targets, the story is obviously topical. The pressure on governments to adopt and revise such targets will remain for as long as humankind has the population and technology to put pressure on the environment.
The issue is of great (and perhaps greatest) concern to the younger generation, who will inherit the environment we leave for them while not being able to influence what we do to it in the meantime. In this regard, Who Will Save The Planet is wish-fulfilment escapism.
Status
I started writing this story during writing courses I undertook in 2007. In 2010, I submitted it to literary agents for their consideration. Fingers crossed!
