Hot, Flat, and Crowded

Why We Need a Green Revolution - and How It Can Renew America

By: Thomas L. Friedman

Narrated by: Oliver Wyman

Length: 20 hrs and 54 mins

Publisher's summary

Thomas L. Friedman's number-one best seller The World Is Flat has helped millions of listeners to see globalization in a new way. Now Friedman brings a fresh outlook to the crises of destabilizing climate change and rising competition for energy - both of which could poison our world if we do not act quickly and collectively. His argument speaks to all of us who are concerned about the state of America in the global future.

Friedman proposes that an ambitious national strategy - which he calls "Geo-Greenism" - is not only what we need to save the planet from overheating; it is what we need to make America healthier, richer, more innovative, more productive, and more secure.

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 three 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.

©2008, 2009 Thomas L. Friedman (P)2008 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

"An exhaustive, impressive, and convincing argument about the need for the United States to transition to more sustainable systems of energy soon or else risk any possible chance of maintaining hegemony. [Friedman's] ability to identify and summarize succinctly the issues and controversies over resistance to a green revolution is matched by his clear and definitive solutions to these forthcoming problems. Oliver Wyman provides a congenial and gentle voice that works well with the text." ( Publishers Weekly)

Could have been great

This is an important book, but it was a bit of a trudge from time to time. I would have preferred an abridged version because Friedman tends to repeat himself. The reader’s affectation whenever he reads Friedman’s phrase “Hot, Flat, and Crowded” was annoying. If the book was read on television, I have no doubt that drinking games would be invented from the overused used phrase.

informative and inspirational

This book is full of facts and concrete reasoning that show the trouble our planet will be in without some changes to how we get our energy. Mr. Friedman is incredibly well informed, and he clearly lays out the problem and what needs to happen to help turn the problem around. His neutral stance, free from political bias, is refreshing. It is an inspirational call to action; an invitation for all of us to get involved in the process of healing our planet.

Green Reading

First the quibbles. Yes, Friedman needs an editor with the cojones to force the master be be more concise. Second, as with the World is Flat, this book would benefit from a longer view of economic history integrated into the central arguments. My only other complaint is with the "crowded" - as I think Friedman should have spent more time thinking about the impact of an aging population on rich economies.

None of these complaints matter too much, as "Hot, Flat and Crowded" should represent the new middle ground of thinking about the relationship between the environment and economic development. Friedman's work should be the touchstone of reality for both policy makers and voters, that we can no longer pass the costs of our oil/coal economy to future generations. That our dependence on oil is dangerous and expensive geopolitically and militarily. That the argument that global warming is both man made and dangerous to our long term security and prosperity is a scientific fact and not an opinion. That creating a clean energy economy represents an amazing opportunity to regain a competitive edge, create millions of high-paying knowledge jobs, and reduce our dependency on the military to keep oil lanes flowing.

Friedman gets it right that the government needs to set-up market mechanisms to achieve these changes. One way to do this is to use the tax system to insure the people pay the true costs for oil and coal consumption, such as setting a price floor for oil and gasoline and taxing coal (which makes most of our electricity) to account for the true environmental costs. To many readers, Friedman's points will seem obvious - nothing new. What we want is for Friedman's central thesis to become the conventional wisdom across the political spectrum.

For Everyone

I found this piece to be both an excellent notation on our current situation and it also goes into depth on things we (indinivdual, nation, and humanity) can do to help alleviate this. A MUST read for everyone. (My 11 year old is starting to listen to this now)

Big fan

I thouroughly enjoyed this book. It's very long but I found the whole thing to be fascinating and very educational. I am certainly interested in checking out more of Friedman's books.

Stop the World, I Want to Get Off

Friedman is not describing Manhattan in the summer, but the dire state of the world in the 21st Century. If anyone needs talking points for their friends who do not believe in global warming, Friedman has statistics that should turn a skeptic into a believer.
As forbidding as the challenge is to clean up the world, the author offers us hope that there is still time. When people ask if there is still time, he says that there is if we start today; any other answer is too horrible to contemplate.

Long

I like the contents a lot. Informative. I wish more people would read it!
The book is LONG ... maybe could have covered the same topics in 1/2 the time.

Book = 3 Reader = 1

I have the distinct feeling the reader of this book used to teach kindergarten.

great listen!

Great book for anyone who cares about our worlds future. Forget the media and what they try to convince you that are big policy plans for government, mail your representative and ask them what they are doing for our world rather than their pocket book.

Just what we need

Once again Friedman delivers a book packed with detailed information based on research and interviews. His telling of the state of the world should be compelling enough to encourage people to act now to help save our species from destruction. Lets all hope that the green revolution is about to begin. Anyone interested in global politics, "going green" and sustainability should read this book. I found it to be engaging and held my interest for the entire length.