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

This guy lives in a 114,000!!! square feet mansion and gives us lessons!

This guys is what one can call a total fake, he lives in an obscene huge mansion, Not green, he is a lobbyist for the GOP and AIPAC, he promoted the war in Iraq, justifies war crimes all over the world, drives a NON green car, and all he does in this book is propaganda things that he does not practice at all!
Matt Taibbi wrote and article, google it talking how this guy has become a converted "green" guy but yet his actions are nowhere to be seen, Besides this his own wife is the owner of thousands of Malls around the globe and the US, super polluting machines! And they destroyed pristine lands in order to build more malls just last year, this guy is using green as a money making machine! shame on him he should eat less as well

11 out of 23 people found this review helpful.

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

The World is Flat opened our eyes to the rise of technologies like high-speed Internet and the knocking down of barriers both literal (the Berlin Wall) and figurative (the opening of China's economy to free trade). As Friedman notes new technologies, political paradigm shifts and, more importantly, innovative individuals at the helms of startups have leveled the playing field in the global economy. Now things are getting worse, and the clock is ticking. Americans have squandered most of the goodwill extended since 9/11, writes Friedman, and in the years of the Bush administration no thought has been given to what 9/12 is supposed to look like. The climate is changing, but the administration has spent most of its tenure denying it and insisting on a particularist view that we deserve to be profligate because we're Americans. Our political blindness and ignorance vis-a-vis other nations now butts up against the world's instability and, Friedman continues, 'the convergence of hot, flat, and crowded is tightening energy supplies, intensifying the extinction of plants and animals, deepening energy poverty, strengthening petrodictatorship, and accelerating climate change.'

7 out of 7 people found this review helpful.

Stick to what you know

Friedman is knowledgeable about the middle east and should stick to that subject. When he ventures 'off the farm' to energy and politics his bias and hatred of George Bush colors his judgement and he becomes a 'raving preacher of doom'.

7 out of 20 people found this review helpful.

A Doable, Win-Win Plan

64 of 67 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars A Doable Win-Win Plan, September 8, 2008 By Norma Lehmeierhartie (New York, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME) In Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution--and How It Can Renew America, Thomas Friedman presents an irresistible opportunity for Americans--one that can save the planet and increase our wealth. The world is flat because of globalization--which is good, as ideas and practices can spread effectively. What is not so good is that our world population is exploding and countries like India and China are seeing an increase in wealth, which puts more strain on the world's resources and increases global warming. Friedman begins the book with a discussion of how America has changed post 9/11. He uses the example of the US consulate built in 1882 in Istanbul. The consulate was built in the heart of the city: 'it was an easy place for Turks to get a VISA, to peruse the library or to engage with an American diplomat.' Following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the building was closed and a nearly impenetrable consulate was built. This all but stopped visitors from visiting. Although the new building does protect against attacks, it isolates Americans and impacts on how we are viewed and how we see ourselves. Friedman writes that he wrote the book because: 'An American living in a defensive crouch cannot fully tap the vast rivers of idealism, innovation, volunteerism, and philanthropy that still flow through our nation. And it cannot play the vital role it has long played for the rest of the world--as a beacon of hope and the country that we can always be counted on to lead the world in response to whatever is the most important challenge of the day.' That challenge is global warming. He proposes we begin a massive project called 'code green.' Friedman identifies three broad trends in our society: 1. The post 9/11 building of walls around us to protect Americans from foreigners. 2. Since the 1980's, politicians acting 'dumb as we wanna be,' meaning we will get to fixing the roads, global warming and other issues when we get around to it. This includes politicians like Bush 'protecting us' from gas taxes and other unpleasantries to keep our standard of living, or the fact that we are in war and don't have to make any sacrifices (save the soldier's lives.) 3. Nation building at home. This is the one good trend Friedman sees and he writes about the plethora of innovative, imaginative souls who devote their energy to finding green solutions. Friedman considers what is now called the green movement to be more like a green party. He cites several 'green' books that include the words 'easy' or 'lazy' in the titles. The authors write books where: 'everyone is a winner, nobody gets hurt and nobody has to do anything hard.' I have read several of these books and agree--much of the advice is fluff. However, I do see the recent deluge of books and articles on sustainability as changing the consciousness and buying habits of the country. Many people who begin by making 'painless changes' get serious about the environment and one or two of them may be the next inventor of the solar-run car. I also believe that when millions cut down on the use of plastic and other nonrenewable resources, that it does make an environmental difference. The increase in population and wealth and buying power all tax our already limited supply of petroleum, coal and gas--all substances that cause global warming and pollute our planet. Even if you didn't 'believe' in global warming, it is a fact that petroleum--now needed in unprecedented amounts--is rapidly becoming an increasingly difficult product to procure. If you think spending $5.00 a gallon for gas for your car is a hardship, that price will be considered nothing in a few years. Folks, we are running out of time and oil. Friedman gets that Americans can use the diminishing supply in no

6 out of 7 people found this review helpful.

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

Hot, Flat and Crowded is great, just like Friedman's previous book. As in The World Is Flat, he explains a new era--the Energy-Climate era--through an illuminating account of recent events. He shows how 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, and the flattening of the world by the Internet (which brought 3 billion new consumers onto the world stage) have combined to bring climate and energy issues to Main Street. But they have not gone very far down Main Street the much-touted 'green revolution' has hardly begun. With all that in mind, Friedman sets out the clean-technology breakthroughs we, and the world, will need he shows that the ET (Energy Technology) revolution will be both transformative and disruptive and he explains why America must lead this revolution--with the first Green President and a Green New Deal, spurred by the Greenest Generation. Hot, Flat, and Crowded is classic Thomas L. Friedman--fearless, incisive, forward-looking, and rich in surprising common sense about the world we live in today. Highly recommended. People who like business books will also enjoy the other book I read this week: Squawk!: How to Stop Making Noise and Start Getting Results. It's been a big boon to my productivity as a manager already.

5 out of 6 people found this review helpful.

Should have been edited for better emphasis

Friedman explains how global warming, a fast growing population, and an astonishing expansion of the world's middle classes are creating a planet that is 'hot, flat, and crowded.' The dangers posed by these changes are clear: global warning, energy and natural resources will be scarce, petrodictatorships will flourish, energy poverty, and biodiversity loss, and extinction of animal species. In just a few years--2012--according to Friedman, it will be too late to fix things. The US must step up to the plate and take the lead in a worldwide effort to replace our wasteful, inefficient energy practices with a strategy for clean and efficient energy, at the same time we start a massive plan of conservation that the author calls: 'Plan Green.' Not only it is a great challenge, but also a great opportunity and one America can't afford to miss. Not only is American leadership the key to the healing of the earth it is also our best strategy for the renewal of our country. Hot Flat, and Crowded is a classic book: fearless, incisive, forward-looking, and rich in surprising common sense about the challenges--and promises--for a better future. My only concern with the book is that it should have been edited for better emphasis. After a while he just kept repeating himself.

4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

Excellent explanation about the demographics of the world and Friedman's view about where we are headed. With the world becoming Hot, Flat and Crowded, Friedman explains what he thinks that we need to do in order to avert global catastrophe!

Even though I don't believe all of the "facts" in the book and I am sceptical about certain of Friedman's conclusions, the book is very intellectually stimulating and should be required reading for every American!

Friedman very competantly explains how the world is becoming Hot (global warming), Flat (economic parity) and Crowded (population explosion). His historical perspectives are very good and help the laymen to understand these core issues.

It is difficult for anyone to really know with certainty where we are headed with global climate change. Friedmans climate change conclusions are sobering and very well could be correct. However, Friedman does not give a balanced appraisal of the global warming debate. In a few places he uses emotionally charged arguements to support his conclusions (instead of sound scientific facts)about climate change. Friedman almost completely ignores the views of all climate scientists and considerable scientific information that might in anyway be contrary to his views. Although his global warming conclusions may indeed be correct, Friedman looses some credibility by using (at times) intellectually disingenuous arguements.

Friedmans vision of the future, clean energy, etc, etc is appealing. It would be difficult for most readers to argue with his vision. However, the devil is always in the details. I suspect that the United States lacks the political will to implement his plan. I also suspect that the real economic costs to implement Friedman's vision are more than he represents. If his conclusions about climate change are correct, then we may have no choice but to make considerable social and energy changes, whatever the cost. However, if Friedman's climate change conclusions are exaggerated, it might not behove us to ruin our economy to avert a non-existent environmental castastrophe.

Climate change and energy are the compelling issues of our generation. Reading Friedman's provocative book is intellectually stimulating and certainly worth the time to read regardless of whether you agree with the conclusions reached by Friedman!

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Grinds on you

I got it after the first few chapters. I find it insulting when any author say if you don't do something a certain way you must be either not 'enlightened' or 'uninformed'. And his pure science leaves something to be desired. When he states that the measurement of CO2 in the air has incresed every year since 1750, one has to wonder how they measured CO2 in 1750 ...or 1850...or 1950. And when they give reasons on why the planet is getting hotter, they convienently leave out that the sun is going thru a stage of getting hotter (sunspot activity)--but is now getting cooler. Hmmm, I wonder why they left out the fact that China just went thru 2 of its coldest winters on record. Does anybody take into consideration that instumentation is much more precise than it was a hundred hears ago. Just forty years ago you measured tempurature by 'looking ' at a thrmometer--no digital. Garbage!

3 out of 7 people found this review helpful.

This book irked my nerves,

although this book might appeal to some it did not appeal to me. I disliked the book and just wanted to throw it across the room. Not only did i dislike the book the title also reminded me of a teens vajayjay. Take my advice and do not read this book.

2 out of 10 people found this review helpful.

Don't waste your money

Nothing new here--I would imagine most sophomore level environmental science majors could come up with something at least as compelling.

2 out of 6 people found this review helpful.

Green is the new Red

Just look at the people who push the green movement. Most or all of them have strong backgrounds in communist or Maoist beliefs. The green movement is more about transferring wealth than saving the planet. If it were about saving the planet, then every true believer in the movement would be svelte vegans who walk from speech to speech instead of the overweight, meat-eating, private jet fliers that they are.

Add in the fact that the science behind the green movement, that increasing CO2 levels cause global warming, is fundamentally wrong since CO2 levels have been rising for the past decade while global temperatures have fallen and you have what religious skeptics call a religion. According to religious skeptics, religions are based on myth and belief in something that cannot logically be true given evidence to the contrary.

I didn't read this book the first time it was released and I certainly won't be reading it this time.

1 out of 8 people found this review helpful.

Outstanding, Realistic Book with Problems and Solutions

I would recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in our environment, where we may be going, what the problems are, and some realistic ways that problems can be addressed. Thomas Friedman uses his extensive experience in the mideast as well as many other countries to discuss how this is a worldwide issue and how this needs to be addressed in a worldwide manner.

The only improvement might be that he probably could have made his points quicker, but he set the stage for all points with facts and input from various experts.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Hot, Flat and Crowded gives an overall picture of the impact of science and technology and its impact on critical problems facing us on a global scale in the near future. A must read for all, including members of the National Academies.

As am endowed professor at a top 50 research university and an internationally recognized research scientist, I strongly recommend Thomas Friedman's book. It reliably accurate, clearly written and interesting to read. It give a glimpse into the future and points out sensible and relatively simple thing we can already do to make the US economically competitive and deal with the present and real threat of global warming. I am buying copies and giving them to my friends.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Hot, Flat, and Crowded

Thomas Friedman¿s Hot, Flat, and Crowded raises awareness to the worlds problem of global warming, a rise of the middle classes, and rapid population growth. He does an excellent job of showing the connection of all three issues. He addresses these controversial issues with well reasoned viewpoints and facts. It is an easy and interesting read. After completion of the book, I found myself motivated to want to make a difference, and work to change the ways we live to create a healthier and more stable environment. It is important that we change to a greener way of life so that not only will we be able to live in the world we were born into, but also generations to come.

1 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Hot, Flat, and Crowded with Information

Hot, Flat, and Crowded is a very insightful book that explains what the earth's problems are regarding global climate change, the advancement in and the substantial dependence on technology ("flatness" of the world), and the exceeding world population. The second half of the book is dedicated to sharing ideas on how we can slowly, yet significantly, lessen these problems. Although Friedman successfully describes our world's issues and how we can eliminate them, the book tends to share an over-abundant quantity of scenarios, interviews, and news stories, one after another. This puts the reader in a state of perplexity because of these abrupt changes. The vast quantity of political, economic, and statistical information left me confused and a little bored because of the somewhat monotonous string of information. Otherwise, I learned a lot about our world's issues that I didn't know before. Getting an insight of other countries' problems and achievements made me want America to be #1 in being "green" and environmentally cautious, while still being an economically and politically stable nation.

recommended for people who what to learn about what is happening with the going green and the environment.

The first chapter of this book is vary good, but as you read on it tends to get a little more wordy or lots of words between interesting facts. Thomas Friedman could have added more things like how average Americans can help the environment. All around this is a decent unless if you don't believe in a cleaner and heather future for the following generations.

Highly recommend

I did not realize all of the things that went wrong behind the scenes of the recent financial crisis. Friedman lays things out in a way I can understand. He took it beyond what you here in the news.

Dont buy this book! Read the book summary.

I tried for three weeks to get in to it. Message is old but vaild. Buy the book summary. Also this book is not a good reflction of Thomas' other works. The lexus and the olive tree and the world is flat were both great books and worth the read at the time.

One Star for Charity's Sake

It's yesterday's book, and poorly wrtten. You won't find the issues of the day here; you'd never guess the US is broke, the EU on its last legs, international bureaucracies feathering their nests.
There are the simple mistakes: e.g., on p. 179, Brazil's largest city is spelled two ways in three lines. There are sins of ommission: nowhere do we read of natural gas being a good and cheap replacement for gasoline, instead we get statist comments and stupid praise of ethenol. Junk science is big; we have global warming, we have hybrid cars, we have needs to radically expand government regulation of damn near everything.
Finally, and most egregiously, we have calls for "revolutionary bureaucrats! Ever met one?

good read

felt overcome by so many quotations it seemed lengthy but a good read for any passionate green person.