Green Illusions: The Dirty Secrets of Clean Energy and the Future of Environmentalism (Our Sustainable Future) [Paperback]

This is a book both devastatingly honest and realistic about the challenges we face, but also full of reasons to be hopeful. Personally, I think it is the only environmental book that really addresses the inter-connectedness of the many challenges we're confronting as a society, and Zehner does so with searing intelligence and quite a bit of humour. His critiques are forceful without being pedantic or accusatory. And his writing is extremely accessible and engaging. What's particularly impressive is that Zehner grounds his analysis in social science scholarship, yet you never feel like you're reading an academic book. He reminds us that scholarship cannot only show us where we've gone wrong in our thinking and actions, but in piercing through the fog of our own desires, carve out a realistic path forward. This is an impressive book that I believe will become a classic not only in specific studies of energy technologies, but for the environmental movement more broadly.

Zehner's central critique is that alternative energy technologies are unlikely to make much impact on displacing fossil fuel consumption. This is largely because of what Zehner calls a "boomerang effect" consistent with basic economic principles: Producing more energy (alternative or not) lowers the cost of energy overall, thus leading to increasing energy consumption. In other words, unless you implement some kind of backstop such as an energy tax on all types of energy, alternative energy technologies simply lead to more consumption via lower costs, rather than displacing fossil fuel use. This is a compelling argument and one largely supported if we consider energy consumption historically (e.g., construction of nuclear power plants was accompanied by more, rather than fewer, coal-fired power plants). What's more, says Zehner, these technologies have serious limitations of their own. For example, solar cells contain elements that are quite toxic, require environmentally-unfriendly mining operations, and pose significant disposal issues at the end of their lifespan. They're also expensive. So expensive that they divert funds from much more promising, though less technologically-sexy, alternatives. This might be tolerable if they were doing something to offset fossil fuel use (though even then they would entail trade-offs). But they don't. And, they simply do nothing to change the way we live, which Zehner says is unsustainable given increasing population and therefore, increasing levels of consumption.

Though Zehner critiques the contemporary environmental movement for having lost their way by placing too much emphasis on so-called "green technologies" that simply aren't, his critique is not borne out of animus. Rather, it emerges from deep concern about the future and faith that the environmental movement can do better. It has done better. And Zehner says we need to return to the powerful fundamentals that have less to do with technological "solutions" (solutions that simply allow us to continue consuming without feeling guilty) and more to do with what kind of society we wish to live in. In what may be a counter-intuitive argument to many, focusing our attention on issues like healthcare, women's rights and how we organize our communities in ways that not only reduce consumption but simultaneously improve human relationships will do more to address our unsustainable reliance on fossil fuels than all of the solar cells, wind turbines and electric cars combined.

This book is simply a must-read for anyone concerned about issues of consumption and environmental justice, or even those who are simply skeptical of the hype around alternative energy technologies.

Without a doubt, this is the most engaging and insightful book I've read on environmental issues. Most of us think that our greatest environmental challenges will be solved by innovative scientists and entrepreneurs working to harness renewable sources of energy. We bank on the ingenuity of technical experts to power our future needs with solar panels, wind turbines, biofuels, nuclear plants, and other alternative energy technologies. Ozzie Zehner offers a very different view: our environmental survival and wellbeing is in our own hands, not those of technology gurus. We have a consumption, not an energy, crisis, and it can be resolved only through our own self-discipline and resourcefulness rather than others' inventive genius. We can no longer continue refashioning the world to suit our needs and wants and hope that technology can keep up with our runaway appetites. Zehner offers a trenchant critique of current alternative energy technologies explaining in accessible terms their drawbacks and limitations. The path toward sustainable communities lies through a revision of our everyday lifestyles and values. What will matter for our collective life beyond the 21st century is what consumer goods we enjoy, what homes and neighborhoods we inhabit, what transportation we use, what foods we eat, what hobbies we pursue, and other contexts of a responsible personal life and a just society. Green Illusions discusses several practical strategies toward securing a livable future with a focus on our consumption patterns, cultural values, and civic engagement. Zehner explicates environmental concerns and first steps for tackling them in diverse social spheres--including urban development, scientific research, media, education, healthcare, and political governance--to help us understand how we can live more like informed and engaged citizens rather than passive onlookers and consumers. When you finish reading this book, you have no illusions that a genuine environmental change starts with you, with adjusting your deep-seated habits and pursuits--a vexing but empowering truth.

I first heard about this book and its author Dr. Zehner when I saw his opinion piece in the Christian Science Monitor a few months ago (February 13, 2012).

In that piece he stated the following, which I absolutely love: "The suburban architecture of fully disengaged homes and megastores, connected by wide streets and highways, has prompted a mass deployment of energy resources that would have been unthinkable just a generation before its formation. It is from within the suburban addiction that Americans grew to understand extreme energy waste as perfectly normal."

So I have been really looking forward to this book. Now that it's finally out, it's as good as I hoped.

True, it is terribly disspointing to have my cherished bubbles burst. I was so looking forward to buying an EV or Prius, and installing solar on my house. But I would rather swallow the bitter pill of truth than stay drunk on the liqueur of fantasy.

I am not an active environmentalist, but I am alarmed at the direction we are heading, not least the slowly unfolding disaster of climate change. (If you are not alarmed about climate change, you haven't learned enough about it yet. Start with Six Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet.)

I hope this book will spark a lively debate and get us re-thinking the course we're on. I feel like this book may be a watershed, a new phase in the green movement. I hope so, for the sake of my children and their children.