Non-Fiction Pick of the Week: Hot, Flat and Crowded

Hot, Flat and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution — and How It Can Renew America
by Thomas Friedman 2008

Friedman, foreign affairs columnist for the New York Times, is best known for his recent book The World is Flat. "Flat" as in technology has leveled the global economy, allowing more people to compete, connect and collaborate. Since that book, he's noticed 2 other trends: the weather is getting hotter and the population is growing rapidly. He sees these 3 trends exacerbating 5 problems: resources are decreasing as people wanting them increase; as the prices of these resources increase, money is being transferred to petro-dictatorships, who oppose our western society; climate disruptions; energy poverty, where poor societies cannot afford the electricity to participate in the global economy; and the loss of biodiversity.
His analysis is based on extensive travel and interviews with experts. Friedman's thought-provoking solution is that America must reinvent itself as a green and energy efficient society and export this new approach to the world. Non-Americans might find his wide-eyed patriotism annoying and excessive. But the world notices the American lifestyle, either rejecting it or embracing it, so his arguments are compelling.