Coming Clean: Breaking America's Addiction to Oil and Coal by Michael Brune

From the Publisher

Americans are awakening to just how costly and destructive our fossil-fuel habit has become-to the environment, our national security and stature, our health, and especially our pocketbooks. We want to take action, to move our country down the path to clean energy, but we're not sure how. Coming Clean provides the road map, showing how we, as motivated citizens, can promote real solutions and collectively pressure government and corporations to change their energy priorities. Author Michael Brune tracks the myriad ways our thirst for dwindling supplies of oil and coal corrupts national policy and international finance, harms poor communities worldwide, and wreaks havoc on the climate. He describes the most promising developments in renewables, biofuels, and efficient design, and outlines an inspiring vision of the clean energy future within our reach.

Brune and his organization, Rainforest Action Network, have had stunning success in convincing corporations-including Home Depot, Citi, and Bank of America-to green their business practices, and his activist skills and passion are at the heart of this book. Offering well-tested action strategies, Coming Clean is rooted in the author's faith that Americans acting together can create profound change.

About the Author:
Michael Brune is executive director of Rainforest Action Network and provides strategic direction for its Freedom from Oil campaign

Publishers Weekly

An experienced political activist and straight-talker, executive director of the Rainforest Action Network Brune challenges average citizens to join him in the fight for clean energy, warning that, even though "60 percent of Americans believe that we must take action now," it will only happen by "changing corporate America and challenging our political leaders." Presenting a trove of information, Brune looks at the costs of oil dependency, the dirty mechanics of so-called "clean coal," the role played by politics and finance, and the possibilities for a post-oil economy. "Take Action" sections at the end of each chapter suggest further reading and viewing, ways to profile an adversary, how to identify the most important issues to you, and what to do from there (speaking out, organizing others, taking your demands to government representatives). While Brune is obviously looking to recruit converts, his guide contains enough solid, interesting information (Ford Motor Company's current fleet averages fewer miles per gallon than their old Model-T) to fill in anyone interested in the present state of the energy economy.
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Product Details

• Table of Contents

Table of Contents