"Hell and High Water"- it's reality therapy

Long before he wrote "Hell and high Water: global warming, the solution and the politics, and what we should do", Joseph Romm used to work for the Department of Energy. Rather than being a climatologist, he is an expert on physics, transportation, politics, and business. His take on the global warming problem is unique in a world of books that struggle to convince an apathetic electorate of the reality of global warming or that the whole thing is imaginary. He assumes that reality because climatologists have settled the issue, and he proceeds to explore the issues at the heart of global warming as a political topic: what can we expect to happen to our grandchildren, and how do we proceed from our current morass to meaningful action to reduce those devastating outcomes.

In his former life, Romm experienced plenty of frustration and heartache. He documents his efforts to come up with innovative solutions to the wasteful and unsustainable nature of transportation in America, and the ways in which a Republican Congress shot down all those efforts. In one of the more interesting passages of the book, he discusses the group of global warming "denyers" (he scorns the word "sceptic" because he argues that many of these people's opinions are for sale).  If you are a fan of Michael Crichton's diatribes, or the efforts of the American Enterprise Institute's efforts to bribe scientists into finding fault with prevailing climate science, or if you accept the idea that we can do nothing about global warming until hydrogen vehicles hit the road, this book is not for you. Romm does note correctly that the Republican/Democratic divide on global warming is very overstated. Republican Senator John McCain is one of the leaders of the camp that wants strong action now. Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has undertaken in California most of the measures that Romm argues need to be undertaken nationally.  On the other hand, Romm dissects the behavior of the Bush Administration on global warming- the campaign promise that was made in 2000 and promptly broken, the White House re-writes of the scarier climate reports that came from climatologists who worked at NOAA, and the endless promises to do something with future technologies that will just not quite go on line before Bush leaves office. This part of the book may impart a feeling of humiliation.

Ultimately, this book is intended to make you embarrassed and angry. But these emotions are  elicited in the cause of action rather than apathy. As I imply above, if you do not buy the concept that global warming is real, or that human activities have any chance of contributing to it, then you are probably not ready to read this book. But if you are in that camp, you did not reach this point in my book review, did you? If however you are a serious student of public policy with an uneasy feeling about global warming, this book is for you. Warning: reading this book may make your stomach hurt, your heart rate and respiration increase, and a sleep deficit to accrue over several nights. Ignorance is bliss. But your great-grandkids will thank your for reading this book, if you do so with an open mind.