Talking about wildlife conservation these days can bring about a certain amount of gloom. Poachers are killing off elephants for their tusks faster than you can say fire back. Habitats are being decimated to meet new demands generated by the spread of consumer culture. Everywhere you look, some of the world’s most majestic creatures are being wiped out by (more…)

Here’s a lecture by Ozzie Zehner, whose popular book “Green Illusions” is making the rounds. Indeed, there is a great deal of truth here. In particular, we’re seduced by the sexiness of renewable energy, and in some cases make extremely illogical decisions to deploy it.

Zehner provides an example of a gentleman who (more…)

There’s a compelling and thought-provoking book making the rounds called Clean Tech Nation that should make its way to your must-read list this Fall.

Authored by Ron Pernick and Clint Wilder, the thrust of the book is that the U.S.—long a leader in various technological revolutions—is falling behind the rest of the world when it comes to clean technology (more…)

Let me say right up front that I’m a big fan of all things green, but I’ve been feeling a bit out of it lately when it comes to sustainability. I wrote a book or two about it, and proudly wear the term greenie. I got the solar panels, the Prius, and the compost heap – the whole green nine yards. But lately I’ve wondered if the tide had turned, the world moved on, and maybe I had fallen (more…)

Energy books tend to be either jargon-filled tomes or hand-wringing, end-of-the-world, please-just-shoot-me-now reprimands. So it was a relief to see that Brian Keane avoids both of these worn-out roads in his new book, “Green is Good: Save Money, Make Money, and Help Your Community Profit from Clean Energy.” (more…)

If you’re looking to tour the world of urban transportation without leaving your armchair, then Straphanger might be the book for you. The book describes how people get around in a dozen global cities, including Tokyo, Paris, Copenhagen, New York, and Philadelphia.

Written by travel writer Taras Grescoe, Straphanger (more…)

Is there movement already under way in the world of industry which will outstrip the painfully slow progress of the political world in facing up to the challenge of climate change? Amory Lovins certainly thinks so and his recent book, Reinventing Fire: Bold Business Solutions for the New Energy Era, explains why. Lovins is the co-founder, chairman and chief scientist (more…)

We all know it: energy – and resource efficiency is the panacea to all our energy and environmental woes. As I finished reading an excellent book on the very matter, I am sharing with you today the main findings.

Factor Five is the sequel of the 1997-book Factor (more…)

America is much better in technology than governance. That’s the sentence that leapt out at me and remained prominent throughout my reading of economist Robert Repetto’s book America’s Climate Problem: The Way Forward. I sought the book for review because, although its focus is on the US, what happens there will crucially affect the rest of us, (more…)

Global Climate Change: A Primer may be a book for beginners, but those with an understanding of the issue will find interest in the wide-ranging exposition provided by geologist Orrin Pilkey and his lawyer son Keith.

Pilkey’s research area has been shorelines and coastal geology, with a special focus on barrier (more…)