$38.49
Author: Zehner Ozzie
Brand: University of Nebraska Press
Edition: Illustrated
Number Of Pages: 464
Details: Product Description
We don’t have an energy crisis. We have a consumption crisis. And this book, which takes aim at cherished assumptions regarding energy, offers refreshingly straight talk about what’s wrong with the way we think and talk about the problem. Though we generally believe we can solve environmental problems with more energy—more solar cells, wind turbines, and biofuels—alternative technologies come with their own side effects and limitations. How, for instance, do solar cells cause harm? Why can’t engineers solve wind power’s biggest obstacle? Why won’t contraception solve the problem of overpopulation lying at the heart of our concerns about energy, and what will?
This practical, environmentally informed, and lucid book persuasively argues for a change of perspective. If consumption is the problem, as Ozzie Zehner suggests, then we need to shift our focus from suspect alternative energies to improving social and political fundamentals: walkable communities, improved consumption, enlightened governance, and, most notably, women’s rights. The dozens of first steps he offers are surprisingly straightforward. For instance, he introduces a simple sticker that promises a greater impact than all of the nation’s solar cells. He uncovers why carbon taxes won’t solve our energy challenges (and presents two taxes that could). Finally, he explores how future environmentalists will focus on similarly fresh alternatives that are affordable, clean, and can actually improve our well-being.
Watch a book trailer.
Review
“Causing shockwaves…Not anti-green but simply asking questions” -The Sunday Times
“Terrific book. . . . Zehner is especially good at untangling sloppy thinking.” -David Owen, The New Yorker and author of Green Metropolis
Top Nonfiction Books –Goodreads
“This book takes a look at the dark underbelly of ‘green energy’ and attempts to shift the US dialogue to a more pressing problem: consumption.”–Christian Science Monitor
AWARDS Nautilus Book Award Winner IPPY Award Winner Best Earth Day Books – Christian Science Monitor N. California Book Award Winner
From the Inside Flap
Green Illusions is a critical primer on solar cells, wind turbines, biofuels, nuclear power, clean coal, and electric cars. It also delivers three dozen first steps around the themes of environmental justice, overpopulation, rebound effects, energy economics, degrowth, taxes, bicycling, livable neighborhoods, and energy conservation.
About the Author
The Sunday Times describes Ozzie Zehner as “an academic who is causing shockwaves.” He is the author of Green Illusions and a visiting scholar at the University of California, Berkeley. He regularly guest lectures at universities and public policy organizations. He has appeared on MSNBC, CNN, PBS, and numerous public radio shows. He has also written for Christian Science Monitor, Grist, The American Scholar, The Humanist, The Futurist, Women’s Studies Quarterly and other publications. Read Ozzie Zehner’s full biography at GreenIllusions.org
Release Date: 01-06-2012
Package Dimensions: 27x229x695
