10 "must-read" energy books
The Monitor asked two energy experts to share their lists of the best books on the future of energy.
In "Storms of My Grandchildren," climatologist James Hansen Hansen describes what he believes will come to pass in our children's and grandchildren's lifetimes if we continue our current energy consumption patterns.
When it comes to books on energy challenges, what do the experts recommend? We asked two. Here is their list of their 10 most highly recommended books.
Lester Brown, founder of global think tank Worldwatch and the Earth Policy Institute and author of “Plan B 4.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization,” recommends the five following titles:
1. "Climate Hope: On the Front Lines of the Fight Against Coal," by Ted Nace
2. "Storms of My Grandchildren: The Truth About the Coming Climate Catastrophe and Our Last Chance to Save Humanity," by James Hansen
3. "Blackout: Coal, Climate and the Last Energy Crisis," by Richard Heinberg
4. "Down to the Wire: Confronting Climate Collapse," by David Orr
5. "Post Carbon Reader: Managing the 21st Century’s Sustainability Crises," edited by Richard Heinberg and Daniel Lerch
Michael Shellenberger, environmental strategist and coauthor of “Break Through: From the Death of Environmentalism to the Politics of Possibility” with Ted Nordhaus, suggests these five titles:
1. "The Climate Fix: What Scientists and Politicians Won’t Tell You About Global Warming," by Roger Pielke Jr.
2. "Energy at the Crossroads: Global Perspectives and Uncertainties," by Vaclav Smil
3. "The Bottomless Well: The Twilight of Fuel, the Virtue of Waste, and Why We Will Never Run Out of Energy," by Peter Huber and Mark Mills
4. "Structuring an Energy Technology Revolution," by Charles Weiss and William B. Bonvillian
5. "Whole Earth Discipline: An Ecopragmatist Manifesto," by Stewart Brand
Nora Dunne is a Monitor contributor.