Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution--and How It Can Renew America

Again Friedman has got my thought spinning in my head.It caused me to re thinnk my beliefs about the environment and policy.

Kind of a "blah" book. I got it because Obama was reading it, and by the title, it sounded right up my alley of interest. Not so much.

Sorry somehow Friedman's painful repetitiveness has rubbed off on me. With the exception of the common sense around petro- dictatorships, this book is loaded with nonsense. Loaded with nonsense..sorry I did it again. I have never read a book that says the almost the exact same thing chapter after chapter. Some points are good and some are even innovative BUT the repetitiveness made this a very slow and at many times a painful read.
All that aside, what is even more dissapointing than repetitiveness is that if Friedman were half as serious about his concern for the planet as he pretends to be in this book he would insist on having it ONLY be available as an eBook from a company that ONLY runs SUN Systems ultra efficient servers. Instead he bores us as we flip through dead tree after dead tree that makes up this almost 400 page diatribe on how we are all going die in 100 years and we need tax like crazy to solve a potential problem, that might, or could,or may potentially, some speculate, affect the earth 100 years from now. What about today's problems? The challenges we know and can prove exist? Perhaps we should look to tax like crazy to solve the crisis of today. The millions of starving children all of over Asia, millions of people dying of AIDS in Africa, hundreds of thousands homeless here in America. All this is happening NOW. But Friedman says over and over (and over) again that the Govt. should invest Trillions (with a "T" and plural) to solve something that might, maybe, or could perhaps affect us in 100 years or more. I understand that windmills on Cape Cod and electric cars in Malibu is much sexier than rice and clean water for the starving 3 year olds in Cambodia or basic medicines for the those whose bodies are being raveged by disease in Nigeria, but let's get real about what is real. Don't invest in this book unless you find this kind of fiction entertaining. Instead send your 15 bucks to UNICEF or the United Way or any of the dozens of other organizations that see and own peice of solving TODAY's crisis. When you wake up tommorow thousands will die of AIDs in the your first waking hour, All while Friedman argues that the earth's temperature will rise somewhere between 0.5 an 6 degrees in 100 years. Basic science would suggest that that variance is so great that their is no argument. There is nothing to discuss or debate. Science simply cannot support that degree of variation in anything and call it science. However, science has proved that if you dont have food or water, you starve and die an incredbly painful death. Science has also proved that AIDS kills 100% of it's victims. So what do you want to do with you tax dollars? Fund Friedmans fantasy of what tragedy might occur in a 100 years OR help what is real and what is here today? In his book, he blames us all for greenhouse gases that may or may not have anything to do with anything. I blame him for ignoring what is real.

Again, lets get real about what is real..oops I repeated myself again.

Thomas Friedman uses his extensive international experience to first, set the motivation for Americans everywhere to stand up and look around at our political, physical, chemical, and bioloigical environment from a global perspective; and, second, describe a way to unleash the historical American potential that has always risen to address threats to ourselves, our country, and our planet. In true journalistic fashion Mr. Friedman provides a multitude of references to sustantiate the picture he paints in words.

As a professional in energy and transportation I recommend extending this work from energy storage that has already become a necessary part of life into future energy storage that will be as important to life and communication as highways are to travel today.

It is an excellent book of today and what to do for tomorrow. I bought another 3 for presents and I will buy more. I hope they translate it to Spanish so more people here in Mexico will be able to read it.