Book description
In this fresh and gutsy analysis, Amanda Little lays bare America's
energy past, present and future and shows how the innovatory designs
that got it to its current energy crisis will actually save it from ruin.
'We're about to see a revolution in the way we live, fundamental changes
to the way our homes work, the way our cars move, the way we grow our
food, distribute our products, the way we make and recycle plastics.' -
Amanda Little
In this adventurous, jargon free, optimistic book, Amanda Little -
tipped as 'the new voice of green' by Robert Redford - reveals the
gargantuan influence of oil on our daily lives. It fights our wars,
grows our crops, produces our plastics and medicines, warms our homes
and animates our cities. We've allowed it to seep into every facet of
our existence, from the shine on glossy magazine covers to life-saving
pharmaceuticals. We depend on it completely. So what does this mean for
when the oil runs out?
From a deep-sea oil rig to a plastic surgery operating theatre, from New
York City's electrical grid to the offices of the Pentagon, from a
state-of-the-art wind farm to a testing ground for the cars of tomorrow,
Little visits the most eccentric and exciting frontiers of the global
energy landscape. As she introduces us to a range of characters - Saudi
royalty, grassroots activists, the world's most respected politicians
and an array of inventors - she argues that we are on the brink of a
revolution in the way we source the energy that is so vital to us; there
is an energy future beyond oil - as long as we have the courage and
creativity to pursue it.
Fresh, gutsy and optimistic, Power Trip will show you our world in a
completely new way. 'Power Trip takes a most timely and complicated
issue and weaves a fast, fun, and gripping story-one that's both candid
and unflinching in its approach. Amanda represents the best of a new
young perspective, a new voice of green' Robert Redford
'Energy is the most important story in the world bar none, and no one
has ever told it with more verve than Amanda Little. If you want to know
how the world works, and why it may not work much longer, this is the
book you need.' Bill McKibben, author of 'Fight Global Warming Now: The Handbook
for Taking Action in Your Community''
'Power Trip offers a panoramic view of our energy crisis - exploring
past, present, future - with hope, passion and humor. Whether you are
liberal or conservative, expert or novice, young or old, you will find
adventure and insight in this book' Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
'Lively, engaging and most thought-provoking, Power Trip takes us on a
journey through the very wide world of energy, from its colorful past to
its high-tech future. Little answers the questions that perplex many -
and, so importantly, identifies the key questions that only the future
will answer.' Daniel Yergin, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Prize:
the Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power Amanda Little is an
award-winning journalist who has published widely on energy, technology,
and the environment for more than a decade. Her writing has appeared in
The New York Times, Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, Wired and the Washington
Post. She lives with her husband and daughter in Nashville, Tennessee.
