|
|
Green Illusions: The Dirty Secrets of Clean Energy and the Future of Environmentalism
Zehner, Ozzie
Publisher: University of Nebraska PressYear Published: 2012 Pages: 462pp ISBN: 9780803237759 Resource Type: Book Cx Number: CX24001 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. Abstract: - From the publisher: 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 bio fuels 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. Table of contents Title Page iii Contents vii Illustrations viii Figures ix Acknowledgments xi Introduction- Unraveling the Spectacle xv Part I - Seductive Futures 1 1- Solar Cells and Other Fairy Tales 3 2- Wind Power’s Flurry of Limitations 31 3- Biofuels and the Politics of Big Corn 61 4- The Nuclear-Military-Industrial Risk Complex 81 5- The Hydrogen Zombie 105 6- Conjuring Clean Coal 121 7- Hydropower, Hybrids, and Other Hydras 133 Part II - From Here to There 147 8- The Alternative-Energy Fetish 149 9- The First Step 171 Part III - The Future of Environmentalism 185 10- Women’s Rights 187 11- Improving Consumption 223 12- The Architecture of Community 263 13- Efficiency Culture 301 14- Asking Questions 331 Epilogue- A Grander Narrative? 343 Resources for Future Environmentalists 349 Notes 355 Index 415 In the Our Sustainable Future Series 438 Subject Headings |