Power to the People: How the Coming Energy Revolution Will Transform Our Lives, Turn the Energy Business Upside down, and Perhaps Even Save Our Planet

A guided tour of a revolution in the making that promises to change our lives Global warming, rolling black outs, massive tanker spills, oil dependence: our profligate ways have doomed us to suffer such tragedies, right? Perhaps, but Vijay Vaitheeswaran, the energy and environment correspondent for "The Economist," sees great opportunity in the energy realm today, and "Power to the People" is his fiercely independent and irresistibly entertaining look at the economic, political, and technological forces that are reshaping the world's management of energy resources. In it, he documents an energy revolution already underway--a revolution as radical as the communications revolution of the past decades. From the corporate boardroom of a Texas oil titan who denies the reality of global warming to a think tank nestled in the Rocky Mountains where a visionary named Amory Lovins is developing the kind of hydrogen fuel-cell technology that could make the internal combustion engine obsolete, Vaitheeswaran gamely pursues the people who hold the keys to our future. Man's quest for energy is insatiable. It is also essential. By avoiding the traditional binaries that pit free markets against the wisdom of conservation and the need for clean energy, "Power to the People" is a book that debunks myths without debunking hope.

Review :
"In a crucial area of public discourse that is too often dominated by flamethrowers from either side of the political spectrum, Vijay Vaitheeswaran's "Power to the People" provides a welcome relief: a balanced assessment of where we are, how we got here, and where our actions today may be taking us in the years ahead." --Robert N. Stavins, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University "We are at an energy crossroads, and the path taken in the next few years will affect every person on the planet. Vijay Vaitheeswaran has produced a thoughtful and provocative book that maps the choices we face and the trade-offs we will encounter. "Power to the People "explodes myths, highlights our energy options, and shows the way to an energy future that is very different from the past. This volume is must reading for anyone who cares about the environment." --Daniel Esty, Director, Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy "Vijay Vaitheeswaran's analysis of where we stand right now on the energy front is well reasoned, insightful and tempered. At a time when the whole world is increasingly worried about our energy future, Mr. Vaitheeswaran takes us on an engaging, and ultimately hopeful, exploratory journey, investigating the many choices that lie ahead." --Jeremy Rifkin, author of "The Hydrogen Economy" "Many books on energy are filled with table after mind-numbing table, others with paeans to the all-powerful forces of free markets or the supposed magic of green energy technologies. Vaitheeswaran has written a book on energy that is factual, non-polemical and-can it really be?-fun to read! No one will agree with everything the author has to say about the world'senergy future. Everyone will finish this book knowing much more about this important subject than they did before." --Paul R. Portney, President, Resources for the Future "Written in the easy, fluent style that makes Vijay Vaitheeswaran so readable in "The Economist," "Power to the People" examines the energy future, including the prospects for fossil fuels, with a calm rationality that will surely command the respect of people across the political spectrum. More to the point, it does so in a spirit of optimism that doesn't prescribe a disruptive trade-off between preserving our environment and providing enough energy for continuing human progress." --BP chief executive, Lord Browne of Madingley. "The post-petroleum age is approaching rapidly, and who better to herald its arrival than a top journalist for "The Economist," In "Power to the People," Vijay Vaitheeswaran compellingly describes the vast innovations in technology and policy that are beginning to shake the energy industry to its core. It is a sign of the times that "alternative" energy is now attracting as much interest from business executives focused on the bottom line as it is from ecologists focused on climate change: as described in this book, the "coming energy revolution" is as logical, and perhaps as inevitable, as it is necessary." --Christopher Flavin, President, Worldwatch Institute "People need power. The challenge of meeting future energy needs has long moved beyond the realm of increased supply. Vaitheeswaran's analysis offers both a strategic ivory tower perspective as well as a breathtaking review of paradigm shifts and new technological frontiers. This is a book about the future - andthe choices we face. Whether you are a pessimist, skeptic or optimist - "Power to the People" will challenge your assumptions without offering simplistic answers." --Achim Steiner, Director General, IUCN - The World Conservation Union "The post-fossil-fuel age is coming faster than you think, and "Power to the People" shows why. Discover the energy future in an important, lively and highly readable book ." --Gregg Easterbrook, author of "The Progress Paradox "