Michael Shellenberger on the Power Hungry Podcast, AQOP update, & more.
Happy Friday,
In this issue:
My new podcast with Michael Shellenberger
Updates on A Question of Power (It's a best-seller in Oklahoma!)
My latest in Forbes
Shellenberger on the Power Hungry Podcast
This podcast thing is just plain fun. In the latest edition of the Power Hungry Podcast, I talk with Michael Shellenberger about his new book: Apocalypse Never: Why Environmental Alarmism Hurts Us All, which is already a smash hit. The hardcover edition is sold out and the book is currently ranked #67 on Amazon. (You can still buy the Kindle version.)
A few months ago, Michael asked me to write a blurb for his book. I was flattered to do so. I read Apocalypse Never in about a day and a half and then wrote that Michael has provided "a master class in rigorous reporting, stout science, and unapologetic humanism. Whether the issue is climate change, sweatshops, whales, the myth of 'energy leapfrogging' or the importance of power density, he pulls them together into a coherent, timely, and important book that will make you feel optimistic about the future of people and the planet."
In the podcast, Michael and I talked for about 75 minutes and covered a lot of ground, including liberation theology, his history as an activist in Nicaragua and Brazil, and his recent campaign for governor of California. I also asked him about what drives him. He replied that during his career, "I discovered how terrible most environmental policies are for the poorest people in the world…the fire of outrage against that injustice... has driven a lot of my work over the last 15 years and is definitely, I think, the driver of Apocalypse Never.”
I'm having so much fun with the podcast that I have been wondering why I didn't start doing one months (or years) ago. One of the great things about the podcast (which is being produced by Tyson Culver) is that we are also publishing transcripts of our conversations. If you visit this site on Buzzsprout, you can read the transcript and pick from more than a dozen platforms that are carrying the podcast.
The next Power Hungry Podcast will feature my discussion with one of the world's top science writers, Matt Ridley, who also has a new book out. His book, his ninth, is titled How Innovation Works: And Why It Flourishes in Freedom. I also have an upcoming episode with Joyashree Roy, an economist who shared in the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for her work on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
On the podcast, I have three asks:
Subscribe to the Power Hungry Podcast and tell your friends to do the same.
If you like the podcast, please give it a 5-star review. That helps raise its search profile.
If there are people you'd like to hear on the podcast, send me an email with your suggestion.
A Question of Power Is a Favorite in Oklahoma, Austin, and at Intelligence Squared
A few days after my recent interview with Pat Cawiezell at Magic City Books, A Question of Power made the best-seller list in Oklahoma. Pat and I had a good virtual chat about the book, which you can watch here on YouTube.
A Question of Power was also selected to be included in the Mayor's Book Club campaign here in Austin. The program is coordinated by The Library Foundation, the Austin Public Library, and the mayor's office. Several other Austin authors are included in this year's crop including Lawrence Wright (The End of October), and H.W. Brands, who has a new book on US history — in haiku.
Finally, my book was also included as recommended summer reading by Intelligence Squared. I like the headline for the announcement. It reads: "20 Books to Raise Your IQ This Summer: Our 2020 Summer Reading List." Lots of other cool books are on that list (see below) including ones by Bjorn Lomborg, Malcolm Gladwell, and H.R. McMaster.
Land-Use Conflicts Are Raging In New York
A continuing focus of my work is the increasing number of land-use conflicts that are happening around renewable-energy projects. In my recent piece in Forbes — In New York, The Town Of Freedom Isn't Free From Big Wind — I wrote about the town of Freedom and its opposition to the Alle-Catt project, a 340-megawatt project that, if built, will be the largest wind project in New York and the largest one in the northeastern United States.
Last month, the New York State Siting Board ignored the opposition from towns of Freedom and Farmersville, and approved the project. As I explain in the piece, the ruling "provides another example of how renewable-energy projects are being forced onto low-income communities. According to Census Bureau data, Allegany and Cattaraugus are among the poorest counties in New York. Of the 62 counties in New York, the two rank 59th and 58th respectively, in median household income."
The battle over Alle-Catt isn't over. Freedom, Farmersville, and several other towns will be filing a petition for rehearing on the project. Another opponent of the wind project: the Old Order Amish of Farmersville. Also known as the Schwartzentruber, the group is among the most conservative Amish sects in the country.
Okay. That's it for now.
Happy 4th of July!
rb
What can you do?
1. Subscribe to the Power Hungry Podcast.
2. Rent or buy Juice on iTunes or Amazon Prime.
3. Buy my new book, A Question of Power: Electricity and the Wealth of Nations.
4. Follow me and Juice on Twitter.
5. Forward this note to your friends/family/colleagues so I can add them to the email list.
Thanks!