A sweeping and empowering look at a new era of energy production.
A comprehensive, practical guide to clean, renewable energy.
Nagy’s nonfiction debut begins by laying out some basic realities: “Climate change,” he says, “is a serious problem” and simply “ignoring it…is untenable.” But some solutions to the problem, he notes, have plenty of health and economic benefits. Nagy initially concentrates on three infrastructure-related energy challenges—buildings, power structures, and transportation—and he details obstacles and innovative approaches connected with each. Citing advancements in clean-energy technology and the so-called “internet of things,” Nagy discusses how corporations and individual homeowners have been lessening their carbon footprints and increasing the efficiency of their heating and cooling systems. “Smart” buildings, designed to minimize energy loss, are increasingly practical and affordable, he asserts. Nagy also targets persistent myths about switching over to renewable energy sources, such as wind, solar, or geothermal power; he cites reassuring research into questions regarding intermittent supply, affordability, animal habitat destruction, and noise pollution, and he assuages concerns about putting old power industries out of business. Throughout, the author interviews not only specialists in different types of power usage, but also ordinary consumers from all walks of life as they confront new economic and environmental factors. It’s a thorough and wide-ranging approach that aligns neatly with the book’s broader message, which offers unexpected hope in the face of a drastic problem—one that’s coming whether we prepare for it or not. Nagy effectively counters doomsayers by constantly pointing out real-world measures that can be taken today to lessen the impact of change down the line—and maybe improve things in the short run, as well: “Your choices today will make you important beyond your time and beyond your circle of family and friends,” he writes. “You can achieve something.”
A sweeping and empowering look at a new era of energy production.Pub Date: Oct. 8, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5381-1578-7
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Occasionally wonky but overall a good case for how the dismal science can make the world less—well, dismal.
“Quality of life means more than just consumption”: Two MIT economists urge that a smarter, more politically aware economics be brought to bear on social issues.
It’s no secret, write Banerjee and Duflo (co-authors: Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way To Fight Global Poverty, 2011), that “we seem to have fallen on hard times.” Immigration, trade, inequality, and taxation problems present themselves daily, and they seem to be intractable. Economics can be put to use in figuring out these big-issue questions. Data can be adduced, for example, to answer the question of whether immigration tends to suppress wages. The answer: “There is no evidence low-skilled migration to rich countries drives wage and employment down for the natives.” In fact, it opens up opportunities for those natives by freeing them to look for better work. The problem becomes thornier when it comes to the matter of free trade; as the authors observe, “left-behind people live in left-behind places,” which explains why regional poverty descended on Appalachia when so many manufacturing jobs left for China in the age of globalism, leaving behind not just left-behind people but also people ripe for exploitation by nationalist politicians. The authors add, interestingly, that the same thing occurred in parts of Germany, Spain, and Norway that fell victim to the “China shock.” In what they call a “slightly technical aside,” they build a case for addressing trade issues not with trade wars but with consumption taxes: “It makes no sense to ask agricultural workers to lose their jobs just so steelworkers can keep theirs, which is what tariffs accomplish.” Policymakers might want to consider such counsel, especially when it is coupled with the observation that free trade benefits workers in poor countries but punishes workers in rich ones.
Occasionally wonky but overall a good case for how the dismal science can make the world less—well, dismal.Pub Date: Nov. 12, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-61039-950-0
Page Count: 432
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Review Posted Online: Aug. 28, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2019
SEEN & HEARD
Career and business advice for the hashtag generation. For all its self-absorption, this book doesn’t offer much reflection...
A Dumpster diver–turned-CEO details her rise to success and her business philosophy.
In this memoir/business book, Amoruso, CEO of the Internet clothing store Nasty Gal, offers advice to young women entrepreneurs who seek an alternative path to fame and fortune. Beginning with a lengthy discussion of her suburban childhood and rebellious teen years, the author describes her experiences living hand to mouth, hitchhiking, shoplifting and dropping out of school. Her life turned around when, bored at work one night, she decided to sell a few pieces of vintage clothing on eBay. Fast-forward seven years, and Amoruso was running a $100 million company with 350 employees. While her success is admirable, most of her advice is based on her own limited experiences and includes such hackneyed lines as, “When you accept yourself, it’s surprising how much other people will accept you, too.” At more than 200 pages, the book is overlong, and much of what the author discusses could be summarized in a few tweets. In fact, much of it probably has been: One of the most interesting sections in the book is her description of how she uses social media. Amoruso has a spiritual side, as well, and she describes her belief in “chaos magic” and “sigils,” a kind of wishful-thinking exercise involving abstract words. The book also includes sidebars featuring guest “girlbosses” (bloggers, Internet entrepreneurs) who share equally clichéd suggestions for business success. Some of the guidance Amoruso offers for interviews (don’t dress like you’re going to a nightclub), getting fired (don’t call anyone names) and finding your fashion style (be careful which trends you follow) will be helpful to her readers, including the sage advice, “You’re not special.”
Career and business advice for the hashtag generation. For all its self-absorption, this book doesn’t offer much reflection or insight.Pub Date: May 6, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-399-16927-4
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Portfolio
Review Posted Online: June 22, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2014
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