“Climate change is the very essence of a collective problem,” said Naomi Klein at the opening of her lecture and book signing in Santa Rosa Friday night.  

Klein is an award-winning journalist, syndicated columnist and author of The New York Times and No. 1 international bestseller, “The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism.”

Published worldwide in 2007, “The Shock Doctrine” was published in over 30 languages and has over 1 million copies in print.  It appeared on multiple “best of year” lists including as a New York Times Critics’ pick of the year.  Her new book, “This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate,” was published in the United States, Canada and U.K. last month.

Klein is a contributing editor for Harper’s and reporter for Rolling Stone magazine, and writes a regular column for The Nation and The Guardian that is syndicated internationally by The New York Times Syndicate. 

In 2004, her reporting from Iraq for Harper’s won the James Aronson Award for Social Justice Journalism. Additionally, her writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Newsweek, The Los Angeles Times, The Globe and Mail, El Pais, L’Espresso and The New Statesman.

The North Bay Organizing Project funded Klein’s lecture and was able to get her to visit Sonoma County and talk about her new best selling book.  The Vice President of the North Bay Organizing Project addressed the audience and said, “by being here tonight, you are joining the family.”

Susan Shaw, the director of the North Bay Organizing Project, opened for Klein Friday night and commented on her exceptional reviews and revolutionary ideas. 

“We only have one planet. It is our job to take care of it,” Shaw said. 

Many people in the crowd showed overwhelming excitement when Klein approached the stage.

“I’m really excited to be here and share my book with all of you,” Klein said.

She started by telling a little about her background for those who were unaware and then delved into her new book and revamped ideas about the physical world we currently inhabit. In her book Klein challenges her readers to forget everything they know about global warming.

“The really inconvenient truth is that its not about carbon—it’s about capitalism.” Klein exposes the myths that are clouding the climate debate.

“We have been told the market will save us, when in fact the addiction to profit and growth is digging us in deeper every day,” said Klein. “We have been told it’s impossible to get off fossil fuels when in fact we know exactly how to do it—it just requires breaking every rule in the ‘free-market’ playbook: reining in corporate power, rebuilding local economies, and reclaiming our democracies.” 

Klein also builds the case for how massively reducing our greenhouse emissions is our best chance to reduce gaping inequalities.Daniel Malpica, a faculty member at Sonoma State University, said he was “thrilled to have such an accomplished author visit Sonoma County.”

The documentary film “This Changes Everything” by Klein’s spouse Avi Lewis is coming to theatres in 2015.

“It’s not too late to save us from catastrophe,” said Klein. “We have the power to change radically, we just have not gotten there yet.”