Straight Up: America's Fiercest Climate Blogger Takes on the Status Quo Media, Politicians, and Clean Energy Solutions [Paperback]

Joseph J. Romm (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 15, 2010 | ISBN-10: 1597267163 | ISBN-13: 978-1597267168 | Edition: 1

In 2009, Rolling Stone named Joe Romm to its list of "100 People Who Are Changing America." Romm is a climate expert, physicist, energy consultant, and former official in the Department of Energy. But it's his influential blog, one of the "Top Fifteen Green Websites" according to Time magazine, that's caught national attention. Climate change is far more urgent than people understand, Romm says, and traditional media, scientists, and politicians are missing the story. Straight Up draws on Romm's most important posts to explain the dangers of and solutions to climate change that you won't find in newspapers, in journals, or on T.V. Compared to coverage of Jay-Z or the latest philandering politician, climate change makes up a pathetically small share of news reports. And when journalists do try to tackle this complex issue, they often lack the background to tell the full story. Despite the dearth of reporting, polls show that two in five Americans think the press is actually exaggerating the threat of climate change. That gives Big Oil, and others with a vested interest in the status quo, a huge opportunity to mislead the public. Romm cuts through the misinformation and presents the truth about humanity's most dire threat. His analysis is based on sophisticated knowledge of renewable technologies, climate impacts, and government policy, written in a style everyone can understand. Romm shows how a 20 percent reduction in global emissions over the next quarter century could improve the economy; how we can replace most coal and with what technologies; why Sarah Palin wears a polar bear pin; and why controversial, emerging technologies like biochar have to be part of the solution. The ultimate solution, Romm argues, is bigger than any individual technology: it's citizen action. Without public pressure, Washington and industry don't budge. With it, our grandkids might just have a habitable place to live.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“I trust Joe Romm on climate.”

(Paul Krugman New York Times )

“America’s fiercest climate-change activist-blogger” and one of “The 100 People Who Are Changing America”

(Rolling Stone )

“One of the most influential energy and environmental policy makers in the Obama era”

(U.S. News & World Report )

“The indispensable blog”

(Thomas Friedman New York Times )

"Important...I recommend you read this book."

(Al Gore Huffington Post )

"Romm’s forceful, impassioned blogging — and his book publishing — are a shining light...Simply put, if the ‘nation’ would read Straight Up and follow Romm’s prescriptions, we would find ourselves moving away from decline into a new era of prosperity."

(Get Energy Smart )

"A stiff drink of a book..In Straight Up: America’s Fiercest Climate Blogger Takes on the Status Quo Media, Politicians, and Clean Energy Solutions, Romm distills his best work from the blog and honestly describes the catastrophic path humanity is on — and the clean energy solutions that offer hope for survival."

(Wonk Room )

"If you want to be culturally literate about climate change… you must read… Straight Up… presented so accessibly that even veterans of [ClimateProgress.org] will find it informative. No one in the public eye understands climate change, its solutions and its detractors better than Romm."

(Change.org )

“The Web’s most influential climate-change blogger” and “Hero of the Environment 2009”

(Time )

About the Author

Joseph J. Romm is a climate expert, physicist, energy consultant, and author. He is executive director and founder of the Center for Energy and Climate Solutions; principal of the Capital E Group; fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science; senior fellow at the Center for American Progress and former acting assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy. His previous books include Hell and High Water, The Hype About Hydrogen, and Cool Companies. He writes the blog ClimateProgress.org.

Product Details

• Paperback: 248 pages
• Publisher: Island Press; 1 edition (April 15, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1597267163
• ISBN-13: 978-1597267168
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 0.6 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #497,529 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

48 of 55 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Breaking the Language Barrier on Climate Change! April 20, 2010

By Alexandra VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

In the footsteps of George Lakoff's Don't Think of an Elephant, about GOP language games and how to counter them, Jospeh Romm shows us how to use the Ancient Greek art of rhetoric to debunk the complete irrationality coming out of the GOP today, as regards the urgency of fixing climate change, which does not necessarily mean "hotter everywhere all the time", but certainly does mean new and dangerous extremes in weather. Don't tell me you haven't experienced some of it in the last few years.

Republicans have successfully sown a lot of uncertainty, recently, that the planet's warming is man-made. Here Romm debunks climate-change deniers like Bjorn Lomborg and Sarah Palin, and shows you how to do it, too; although mostly it is directed at scientists who know the evidence intimately, which to be fair is not all of us.

Joe is a trained climate physicist from MIT who served in the Clinton administration
as assistant deputy energy secretary and has also written many books. He spent some years showing companies how they could retrofit their companies(or, I think, build new ones) to be more energy efficient and in every case they took a profit in doing so! We do want to give credit to those in business, some among the GOP, who understand the need for clean energy.

In this book, Romm has married both arts of science and fine writing.

The intro refers back to George Orwell's Essays on Politics and the English Language,
particularly the chapter, "Why I Write". Joe calls his "Why I blog." Kudos to him for opening completely to readers about his motivations so you know exactly where he's coming from and that his not just a political axe to grind. Climate Change, as he says, is a bipartisan issue.

There's a good section on the science of the most energy efficient car(hybrid plug-ins), the feasibility of the different new, but not impossibly new, forms of energy, including a wild(but not new) one I'd never heard of, CSP, which involves using mirrors to catch the sun's light and direct it into energy creation.
Romm discusses most of the alternative forms out there as wedges of a pie that would get us to be much less dependent on oil. And it must be done yesterday
but there's still hope.

Romm also points out that the media did a terrible job of assessing the outcome of Copenhagen. They called that international summit on climate change underwhelming. In fact, a lot went on! "Read all about it."

It also goes without saying that media too often feels that it has to present both sides of every story- even when only one side is supported by the facts.
But Romm says it here with a vengeance.

This book comes out at an auspicious time when Kerry and Lieberman just presented a Bill last week.
Here's a quote from today, May 20, 2010, where Romm urges the Senate to act on it:

"WashPost: Senate needs to act now on climate bill

Quotes IEA: 'Every year the world fails to seriously deal with climate change raises the price tag by $500 billion -- a lot of which, no doubt, Americans will be on the hook for' May 20, 2010
Sens. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) and Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.) have provided Congress with an opportunity. Their climate bill, released last week, is imperfect. But it offers a start, very much in the right direction. Contrary to popular wisdom, acting on global warming is not going to get easier after this year's election. Legislators should seize this moment."

Joseph Romm's a famous blogger now, and doesn't need me to tout this book.
If you would like to keep up with his blog, it's at climateprogress dot org or you can follow him on Twitter under the name "climateprogress"

37 of 45 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Real Climate Realism April 16, 2010

By N. Berini

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

If you haven't bought or read Straight Up, please do so immediately. Joe Romm has an amazing ability to stay fact-driven and optimistic even as the anti-science ideologues become even more entrenched. It is this passionate science-based activism (and similar efforts by so many others) that may preserve a livable climate for our children and grandchildren.

My favorite aspect of the book is Romm's dedication to realism and honesty. Romm states, "Affection for the planet is unrequited. We need to focus on saving ourselves." By separating himself and climate-change from traditional environmentalism, Romm is able to focus on the true challenge: preserving a livable climate for humans. Combined with the "why I blog" section of the book, Romm makes it clear that he and many other Climate-change activists are not driven by an environmental or liberal idealism, but rather the rational and science-based understanding of the consequences of business-as-usual (i.e. worst-case-scenario.) We can only hope this kind of inspection of both the science and the solutions (and the barriers to each) will become more pervasive, and finally transform the undeserved perception of "alarmism."

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A must read!! October 31, 2010

By Allen J. Thoma

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

If there is one book to read this year, this is the one. The most important issue for humankind to address is GLOBAL WARMING. This book by a scientist cuts through the disinformation and gets to the true facts surrounding global warming and lays out the stark reality facing our children and grandchildren. Rather than being a constant downer this book provides hope, but only if we get action now! A must read.