Thoughts on Michael Graetz’ The End of Energy

Overall, this book passed my test – it was worth the purchase price.

On the negative side, I felt as though Graetz occasionally leans too heavily on a few stereotypes. For example, he repeatedly dredges up the view of environmentalists as being ‘think small’ and anti-growth. But he fails to mention that a number of prominent environmentalists, notably William McDonough, celebrate sustainable economic growth. On a related note, beyond passing mentions of electric cars and recent growth in solar and wind, Graetz doesn’t spend much time at all on recent business activity in clean energy tech. I didn’t see any reference to companies like BrightSource Energy or SolarCity, for example.

LIke I said, though, the book was worth it for me. I particularly appreciated his discussion on taxes as the obvious and rational choice for dealing with carbon pollution and climate change. In that vein, I also liked his hammering away at policymakers who are hamstrung by anti-tax mania and a fear of asking Americans to sacrifice anything. “Congress is especially bad at addressing long-term problems,” Graetz writes. Depressing.

How Times Have Changed

The End of Energy, page 220:

The Clean Air Act passed the Senate in September 1970 by a vote of 73 to 0.