Pipe Dreams: Providing Power to the People

• Author: G. Tracy Mehan III
• Pages: 128-131

128 Best of the Books: Ref‌lections on Recent Literature

Pipe Dreams:

Providing Power to the People

By G. Tracy Mehan III

Powering the Future : A Scientist ’s Guide to Energy Independence.

Daniel B. Botkin . FT Press. 330 pages.

Hidden Costs of E nergy: Unp riced Consequences of Ene rgy

Production and Us e. National Research Council of the National

Academy of Sciences. National Ac ademies Press. 350 pages.

From the September/ October 2010 issue of

The Environmental F orum.

Homer Simpson no doubt spoke for many

who are concerned about the world’s

dependence on fossil fuels when he

oered this prayer: “And, Lord, we’re especially

thankful for nuclear power, the cleanest, safest

energy source there is. Except for solar which is

just a pipe dream.”

Nuclear, solar, wind, wave, and geothermal

power, as well as biofuels, electric cars, and

enhanced energy eciency, are all touted as

elements of the new dispensation, each with its

own lobby and constituencies. ese options,

it is argued, w ill substitute for coal, petroleum,

and natural gas. But there is erce debate as to

which of them, individually or in combination,

might lead A merica into the promised land of

clean, safe, and secure energy. at said, the very

ecacy of such a new energy regime is often

questioned by those who do not see long-term,

insurmountable problems in supply and environ-

mental eects.