Hot, Flat, and Crowded
Why The World Needs A Green Revolution - and How We Can Renew Our Global Future
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- £9.49
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- £9.49
Publisher Description
Thomas L. Friedman's phenomenal number-one bestseller The World is Flat has helped millions of readers see the world in a new way. In this essential new book, Friedman takes a fresh and provocative look at two of the biggest challenges we face today: the global environmental crisis and America's surprising loss of focus and national purpose since 9/11. It is a groundbreaking account of where we stand now, and he shows us how the solutions to these two big problems are linked - how we can restore the world and revive America at the same time.
Friedman explains how global warming, rapidly growing populations, and the astonishing expansion of the world's middle class through globalization have produced a planet that is 'hot, flat, and crowded'. In just a few years, it will be too late to fix things - unless there is a worldwide effort to replace our wasteful, inefficient energy practices with a strategy for clean energy, energy efficiency, and conservation that Friedman calls Code Green. This is a great challenge, Friedman explains, but also a great opportunity, and one that we cannot afford to miss. He argues that this cannot happen without American commitment and leadership.
In vivid, entertaining chapters, Friedman makes it clear that the green revolution we need is like no revolution the world has seen. It will be the biggest innovation project in history; it will be hard, not easy; and it will change everything, from what you put into your car to what you see on your electric bill. But the payoff will be more than just cleaner air. It will inspire us to summon all the intelligence, creativity, boldness and concern for the common good that are our greatest human resources.
Hot, Flat, and Crowded is classic Thomas L. Friedman: fearless, incisive, forward-looking, and rich in surprising common sense about the challenge - and the promise - of the future.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times columnist Friedman (The World Is Flat) is still an unrepentant guru of globalism, despite the looming economic crisis attributable, in Friendman's view, to the U.S. having become a "subprime nation that thinks it can just borrow its way to prosperity." Friedman covers familiar territory (the need for alternate energy, conservation measures, recycling, energy efficiency, etc.) as a build-up to his main thesis: the U.S. market is the "most effective and prolific system for transformational innovation.... There is only one thing bigger than Mother Nature and that is Father Profit." While he remains ostensibly a proponent of the free market, he does not flinch from using the government to create conditions favorable to investment, such as setting a "floor price for crude oil or gasoline," and imposing a new gasoline tax ($5-$10 per gallon) in order to make investment in green technologies attractive to venture capitalists: "America needs an energy technology bubble just like the information technology bubble." To make such draconian measures palatable, Friedman poses a national competition to "outgreen" China, modeled on Kennedy's proposal to beat the Soviets to the moon, a race that required a country-wide mobilization comparable to the WWII war effort. Recognizing the looming threat of "petrodicatorship" and U.S. dependence on imported oil, this warning salvo presents a stirring and far-darker vision than Friedman's earlier books.
Customer Reviews
Outstanding
I may be biased as Friedman is my favourite author and economist but I found this to be a fascinating look at global growth trends tied to economics contextualised using the implications on global warming. As a UK citizen, once you can get past the notion that America is the greatest nation on the planet and apply some of the thinking on a broader scale, it provokes some significant questions in the mind. It's a sensational read written in the typical Friedman way with passion and eloquence. Strongly recommend it.