Pick your poison--oil, coal, or nuclear energy.
Pick your energy and climate change book with the same care lest you be steered in the "wrong" direction.
I'm reading two climate change, global warming, and what to do to solve our oil/energy crisis books that recently hit the bookstores:
Winning Our Energy Independence: An Energy Insider Shows How written by an energy insider.
Earth:The Sequel written by an environmental advocate.
The book I thought I'd prefer?
I was wrong.
Did the environmental advocate or the energy industry insider say the following?
"As a substitute for oil, coal, and nuclear energy, the sun can replace the three poisons with inexhaustible fuel."
And...
"It is an unhappy fact that the places where additional oil in the U.S. may be found are places of extreme beauty that most Americans believe ought to be left alone. What we know is that today's epidemics of asthma and cancer are caused in significant part by burning over 7 billion barrels of oil a year in close proximity to Americans. Just think if all vehicles ran on renewable electricity that emitted zero pollution? The air would be fit to breathe. The streets would be free of the oil spills from cars and trucks that pollute nearby waterways."
Never judge a book by its cover or what you may think about the author.
The beauty of a blog... I get to speak my truth.
I highly recommend Winning Our Energy Independence: An Energy Insider Shows How by U.S. environmental and energy policy "czar" S. David Freeman--energy adviser to American Presidents including Carter, Nixon and Johnson, and now President of Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners. The Port of Los Angeles is one of America's big polluters.
The right guy is around to take on the challenge.
Freeman's book is a wise and informative fast read, which I believe should be on every energy leader and energy policy-adviser's bookshelf in America.
On the otherhand,
Earth:The Sequel by President of Environmental Defense Fund Fred Krupp I found difficult to read due to a patchwork quilt of words and phrases, giving the feeling of multiple authors, which slowed the pace. And its theme. Is about making money from our climate change problems more than fixing the problems with sound solutions.
Co-author Krupp runs a non-profit environmental advocacy group, so I was somewhat surprised to learn from my internet research that Krupp earned a $357,000 salary and over 50K in salary related money in 2004. Earth: The Sequel was also written by journalist Miriam Horn.
Winning Our Energy Independence.
At 81 years of age, Freeman has been a major contributor to energy policies throughout a 50 year career. It is clear that his experience counts.
Freeman's approach to make America energy independent is to use 100% renewable energy and bypass the old boys oil and coal network, which is resistant to change.
In Winning Our Energy Independence, Freeman shows us how to fight for policy changes that will create 100% renewable energy based on sun and wind.
He calls his solution: Big Solar
Freeman says that it's a mistake for our scientific community to keep innovating when we have everything we need right now to be energy independent--if we'd only develop our resources now!
Freeman dishes nuclear and so-called clean coal energy as ridiculous and outlines why. I so agree.
In simple, easy-to-follow language, but no less profound, he outlines how oil dependence is putting our money in the hands of potential terrorists. And pollution is not okay, and drilling into the beauty of Alaska and offshore in California and Texas is wrong. It leads to oil spills, ruins water, birds, fish, eco-systems. And nuclear. It's too dangerous, and there's nowhere to store radioactive waste, let alone safe place. What radioactive waste America has is now leaking from outdated storage units.
We have the sun's energy, which is free, and converting its energy will come down in price as we move forward.
The sun is the non-toxic way to power cars, computers, living rooms, offices, television: the world.
Freeman's writing style is passionate, streamlined, and he hits every important note as if writing a symphony on energy policy in one nifty easy-to-read book.
Earth: The Sequel not only seemed like a handbook on how to make money off of our energy problems, without proper consideration to what will likely work, it seemed like a big press release on why we must fund a cap and trade system. Money, money, money. Again, the vibe was this is about the dollar to benefit mostly white men's innovations, whether they are based on sound information, or not.
Krupp quickly knocked a carbon tax, for reasons that make no sense to me.
A carbon tax was just successfully implemented in our more sustainability-conscious neighbor Canada.
I wish California would implement a carbon tax immediately, and get $ from oil producers like ExxonMobile and BP Arco currently contributing to disturbing my lungs in nearby Wilmington and Torrance.
While Earth: The Sequel has examples of emerging technologies, some of which I'm sure are worthy, it does not discern with the "wisdom" of a S. David Freeman, who provides sound examples of why a technology will or will not work.
If you're ready to be inspired to move in the best direction regarding energy policies and new technologies based on sun and wind to combat global warming, and potentially terrorism, be inspired with my favorite new climate change/renewable energy book:
On another note, as far as I could tell neither "environmental" book was published on recycled paper. That technology exists, too, guys.
Update 9/19/09: Check out my Chasing Clean Air Climate Change video that illustrates climate change impacts I found along the road to clean air.
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