Freedom from Oil: How the Next President Can End the United States' Oil Addiction

by David Sandalow

Book Overview

The United States' oil addiction will be a major issue of the 2008 Presidential campaign, and Freedom From Oil is timed to release with the development of the Presidential primaries. This book reveals... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0071489061
• ISBN13: 9780071489065
• Release Date: September 2007
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill
• Length: 273 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.3" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

I wish this book was fiction, because the truth is scary

This is written in the format of faux government officials advising the President of energy policy options. The book is so intensively researched and so fact-rich that any qualms about the structure are quickly lost. Indeed, I wish that whoever occupies the White House would read this and take the information and projected solutions realistically. Minerals are finite. Minerals are unevenly distributed about the globe, thereby making energy hogs (like Americans) dependent on imports from regions which happen to be unstable or undependable or filled with dangerous fanatics. Combustion of fossil fuel liberates carbon which was trapped in the earth for some millions of years, thereby increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide. (Not everyone agrees. A West Virginia political candidate was quoted as saying that "there's no scientific proof whatsoever that greenhouse emissions are caused by fossil fuels." That such simple minds are in positions of influence is either touching or disturbing, take your pick.) Sandalow debunks the common wisdom that scientists will certainly rush in and save the day by easily turning sea water into combustible (non-carbon emitting) hydrogen or conquering the problems of controlled fusion reactions. Sandalow discusses real-world short-term and long-term actions which should be taken. For instance, widespread use of "plug-in electric hybrid vehicles" would provide immediate energy efficiency and pollution limiting effects. It might be that we now living can escape the worst effects of our energy madness, but our grandchildren won't. If the problem had been this bad in 1908 and was ignored by the people of that year, we would be quite peeved about now, and rightly so.

Sharpen your understanding of Oil with this book

Hat's off to Sandalow! "Freedom from Oil" will improve your understanding of the U.S.'s adiction, vulnerbility and politics of Oil. Too many people easily blame big oil on the high cost of oil, where in fact its largely due to our irresponsible consumption, lack of alternatives, lack of governmental incentives and inefficiency of our motor vehicles. The format that Sandalow uses will keep you intersted, albeit its gets very repetitive near the end. I look forward to another book that expands on alternative energy not adequately discussed in this book.

Timely and masterful policy analysis

Sandalow provides a pithy and extremely timely analysis of the American economy's addiction to oil, and then lays out a highly persuasive and plausible plan to manage this addiction - and eventually end it. This book is chock full of the latest information on a variety of fronts, from the many different impacts that oil addiction has across the economy, to the many new technologies and innovations that are emerging in response to the rising price of oil. Personal vignettes of individuals on the front lines of these trends keep the book grounded, in terms that the reader can relate to easily. The book is cleverly written, taking the reader behind the scenes to see how real government policies are researched, shaped, and eventually decided inside the executive branch of the government. The reader sees how the many different strands of a policy to deal with oil addiction are developed, and later, how they come together to reinforce one another. Finally, the timing of the book is perfect. The candidates are now developing their own policy positions on topics of major national importance. Every policy shop from both the Democratic and Republican sides must study this book carefully. It is quite possible that the national campaign in 2008 may begin to advocate some of the policy initiatives laid out in this book.

Essential, substantial, and easy to read

If you want to understand the issues and options surrounding oil, this book is a must-read. Most books from think tanks are one of two kinds: either long and dry and irresolute, leaving you with "one the one hand / on the other"; or polemical and one-sided, cherry picking info to support a narrow point of view. This book manages cover a lot of content from many angles and boil it down to a coherent policy, all in a concise and very readable book. It's not every day a policy book gets praise from Democrats and Republicans, and from military and environmental figures, at the same time. I found it particularly striking that Sandalow has managed to integrate technological trends into the economic, environmental, and geopolitical issues surrounding oil. With this book, even the stodgy establishment Brookings Institution manages to put pluggable hybrid vehicle technology at the center of public policy, showing both the benefits and the proper government support for the technology. That's the kind of thinking that has guided Pentagon thinking for decades (as in jet aircraft, GPS, computer networks, and robotics), but is rarely seen in domestic, environmental or foreign affairs. There's a lot of talk about oil on the Internet. It could benefit from the solid information and analysis in this book. Whether your concern is global warming, peak oil, or petro-terrorism, this book is essential.

Four points that every SUV owner should read before buying another SUV

Review of Freedom from Oil, by David Sandalow What did you do last summer to reduce our country's dependence on oil? In June 2006, I was making short videos for my web site. I'm an advocate for putting 100,000 electric cars on the road to supplement the 5,000 cars converted to run on battery power. Those additional electric vehicles (EVs) could boost demand for an advanced battery with longer range. I figured that, in addition to converting my vehicle to run on battery power, I could motivate others to do something to become "economic patriots." David Sandalow did something even more creative than my video series on youtube. The policy analyst from the Brookings Institution had lunch with Newt Gingrich and Howard Dean. The question he put to both men was the same one that advocates of a post-oil economy have asked since the OPEC embargo of October 1973: "What should the United States do about its dependence on oil?" Surprise: The answer from both Dean and Gingrich was essentially the same. Sandalow `s book is a work of sheer imagination: Why didn't I think of that? Organize a book around the next President's first major policy speech. Imagine that it's April or May 2009, all of the appointments to cabinet positions have been confirmed and the first task facing these new Secretaries is a memo from the President: The structure of the book is straightforward. Anyone with some chutzpah could have written this, but Sandalow's access through his employer made it easier to compile. By showing responses from the Secretaries of Agriculture, Homeland Security, Labor, Housing, and Defense (as well as the more obvious areas of transportation, commerce and energy), the author shows how pervasive oil has soaked its dependence in our economy and lives. Since reading the policy statements of the Carter Administration (and the "Moral Equivalent of War" speech), I've seen just about every attempt to reduce dependence on oil fail to produce significant results. As Amory Lovins (Rocky Mountain Institute, a think tank for energy analysis based in Snowmass, Colorado) put it so clearly, the only reason the U.S. economy became less dependent on oil after 1973 was a direct response to price. As soon as motors became more efficient, the demand for oil softened, more supplies were uncovered, the price for gasoline slid, and the pressure to find more substitutes for oil subsided. Around 1992 Lovins wrote a clever tale about a housewife who was appointed by "the next president" to lead the Department of Energy. What would an "ordinary" person do to "clean house"? The tale took the housewife and the reader through every advance then under discussion in the 1990s and the structure of Lovins' book helped the reader see the many savings possible when the life-cycle costs of projects are considered. Life-cycle analysis is the hallmark of the Lovins approach to discussing alternatives to petroleum and since his Soft Energy Paths appeared in 1977, th