7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Four Horsemen of the Energy Apocalypse, March 1, 2008
This review is from: Apollo's Fire: Igniting America's Clean Energy Economy (Hardcover)
Congressman Jay Inslee puts forth his view toward a solution to fuel prices and climate change. The field is rather crowded right now for books on this topic. Inslee approaches the angle of the economy and jobs more fully than his competitors. He remains more neutral on hydrogen, nuclear, and clean coal, while encouraging wind, solar, and tidal energy.
Inslee puts forth Ten Energy Enlightenments.
1. Opportunity Is Best Found in Crisis
2. Boldness Is Required - Tinkering at the Edges Didn't Put a Man on the Moon
3. We Must Reject the Tyranny of the Present
4. There Are No Silver Bullets
5. Everybody Needs to Get on the Bus
6. If Government Sets the Road Signs, the Market Will Drive
7. Failure Is an Option
8. Prejudices Are Best Left at the Door
9. Clean Energy Will Be Powered by New Politics
10. No More Free Lunches
"Failure Is an Option" is one that has been forgotten. As a nation it seems that fear of risk in the short-term is setting America up for absolute failure in the long-term. Like Apollo 13, failure is a necessary part of exploration.
Inslee sizes up energy situation and climate change well, and does thorough descriptions of energy alternatives - solar, wind, biofuels, clean coal, nuclear, tidal. His description of the "Four Horsemen of the Energy Apocalypse" is memorable.
1. Inertia - ideas can represent change in investments, policies and behavior. Inertia wears down efforts to change the status quo.
2. Special interests
3. Miasma of ideology - issues are viewed through an ideological prism rather than a scientific, pragmatic one.
4. Fear - we cannot adopt policies that can succeed.
I would add one more. Fashion. Once ideas sit for too long the media will migrate back to other things, such as Britney, Paris or Lindsay.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Disappointing, December 9, 2009
Congressman Inslee is a full-time elected representative with a background in economics and law, so we expect a book written by him to emphasize economics and public policy, and to be weak on science. Still, he could have sought out help on science.
His book merely supports popular solutions to the climate-change problem and disdains unpopular ones, and he never checks the data. For example, he proposes to replace gasoline with cellulosic ethanol made from switchgrass. He points to publications that promise salubrious results and doesn't mention that cellulosic ethanol has never been shown to be practical. He's sure that compressed air could store enough energy to make part-time energy sources like wind and solar practical, but he never took the trouble to see how much air volume would be required--if he did he'd realize that no such scheme could ever work. He quotes a promoter of algal biofuels saying 650 gallons of biofuel per acre per year would offset the US's oil imports with only 0.1% of its land area. A pocket calculator shows it would take over 13%, compared with 18% that's arable. In contrast, he agonizes over nuclear energy. He's aware of its importance in slowing global warming, but he's fallen into the trap of believing it enables weapons proliferation. He wrings his hands over spent fuel from reactors, even though no person has ever been harmed by it. He gasps at construction costs for nuclear plants but says nothing about the costs of wind and solar, even though those costs are higher.
We should be pleased that a representative would interest himself in this subject enough to write a book about it. The book would be more helpful if he'd taken greater care.
A much better book is Terrestrial Energy by William Tucker, a career journalist who studied the same subjects extensively and produced a comprehensive but quite legible study. Mr. Tucker lays it all out plainly with no patience for unexamined hypotheses and empty wishes. [...]
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best book I've seen on energy tech and solutions to Global Warming, January 9, 2008
This review is from: Apollo's Fire: Igniting America's Clean Energy Economy (Hardcover)
The thing I like about this book is that it was a great crossover book for both my boyfriend and I. I don't follow energy issues nearly as closely as he does. I need a book that isn't too dry and keeps my interest, but provides the information I need to come up to speed on solutions to global warming and energy independence. This book accomplishes that by relaying that information through personal stories of individuals throughout the country, and contrasting their efforts with national policy. At the same time, judging from my partner's perspective, he was very happy with the book providing him with the latest on this fast moving subject and offering insights into the best investment opportunities in the clean energy space. The book also had some interesting anecdotes about interactions with politicians like Bill Clinton.
The only thing that I think can be considered a down side for the book is that it could have given the status of its policy proposals in Congress. However, I do recognize that doing this could make the whole book outdated when new laws are finally passed.
I think I speak for my partner and I when I say that it was inspiring. Finally, a proposed solution (or plan at least) to this problem!
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