Earth: The Sequel: The Race to Reinvent Energy and Stop Global Warming by Dick Hill, Miriam Horn, Fred Krupp

From the Publisher

A high-stakes race that will transform global economies is beginning: the race to develop low-carbon energy in time to solve the dangerous problem of global warming. And if Washington gets the rules wrong, the race will flounder or even run horribly off course.

Publishers Weekly

Environmental Defense Fund president Krupp and journalist Horn proffer a business-centric prescription for alleviating climate change, coupling the market force of capitalism with technological innovation and entrepreneurial inventiveness. The authors argue in favor of strict federal carbon caps, which would induce innovators to explore new ways to control carbon dioxide emissions. The book notes the global and historical successes of cap and trade mechanisms, such as the Clean Air Act of 1990. Designed specifically to control sulfur dioxide (which causes acid rain), the Clean Air Act cut emissions 30% more than the law required by providing coal plant operators with a financial incentive to modernize. New technologies that would benefit from such a "logical, elegant, market-based approach" include one as basic as an Arizona natural gas power plant that vents its smokestack waste into a vast greenhouse, where it nourishes algae used for manufacturing biodiesel, and one as a radical as harnessing the kinetic energy of molecules as a power source. This optimistic book brims with similar ideas, balancing jargon-heavy science with engaging profiles of individuals who are blending business and science in an attempt to save the planet. (Mar.)

David R. Conn - Library Journal

Environmental Defense, a major national advocacy group that promotes market-based solutions to environmental problems, has often influenced U.S. government policy, notably with the Clean Air Act. Krupp, its longtime president, and journalist Horn begin their survey of current attempts by scientists, venture capitalists, and entrepreneurs to meet our energy needs by summarizing recent scientific statements that global carbon emissions must be cut drastically to halt climate change. The authors strongly advocate federal government caps (legislated limits) and trading of allowances on carbon. Assigning a cost to carbon emissions, they argue, would allow cleaner sources of energy to compete with fossil fuels in the marketplace and would encourage innovation. Successive chapters sketch recent progress and possibilities in solar, biofuels, ocean, geothermal, coal, biogas, conservation, and transportation. The last chapter looks at some experimental sources of energy and methods for removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. This wide-ranging but focused book joins recent, similar titles like George Monbiot's Heat: How To Stop the Planet from Burning and Ron Pernick and Clint Wilder's The Clean Tech Revolution. It should have extra presence because of Krupp's profile. Recommended for public and academic libraries building up collections on sustainability, alternative energy, and the environment.

Product Details

• Table of Contents

Table of Contents