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Who Turned Out the Lights?: Your Guided Tour to the Energy Crisis
Who Turned Out the Lights? is an entertaining and nonpartisan guide to the current U.S. energy crisis from Scott Bittle and Jean Johnson, coauthors of the breakout bestseller Where Does the Money Go? At once light-hearted and fun—like Jon Stewart’s America: The Book and Stephen Colbert’s I am America (and So Can You!) —and deadly serious, Who Turned Out the Lights? helps readers understand what’s really at stake in the energy debate, an intelligent answer to the partisan Capital Hill squabbling between the “Drill, Baby, Drill” and “Every Day is Earth Day” lobbies.
- GenresNonfiction
366 pages, Paperback
First published October 13, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
November 7, 2009
Who Turned Out the Lights? is an invaluable resource for the person who is trying to decipher all the political jargon out there right now. This book goes beyond partisan explanations of the energy crisis and shows all sides of the argument in language your average person can understand.
This book begins with how we got to where we are today and goes on to discuss the challenges we are facing as a country. Who Turned Out the Lights? talks about all forms of energy from coal to oil to electricity to solar to wind to geothermal. It explains how each type of energy is made and the pros and cons of using it or other sources.
The authors discuss a wide variety of topics including global warming, energy efficient homes, hybrid cars, nuclear power accidents, our aging electric grid and President Obama’s promises regarding the energy crisis.
If you’re looking for an easy to understand book that will introduce you to the energy crisis and offer non-biased explanations and suggestions, I’d highly recommend you read this book.
This book begins with how we got to where we are today and goes on to discuss the challenges we are facing as a country. Who Turned Out the Lights? talks about all forms of energy from coal to oil to electricity to solar to wind to geothermal. It explains how each type of energy is made and the pros and cons of using it or other sources.
The authors discuss a wide variety of topics including global warming, energy efficient homes, hybrid cars, nuclear power accidents, our aging electric grid and President Obama’s promises regarding the energy crisis.
If you’re looking for an easy to understand book that will introduce you to the energy crisis and offer non-biased explanations and suggestions, I’d highly recommend you read this book.
March 9, 2017
A lot of outdated info, I would love to see this book get a new edition covering the last 7 to 8 years in more detail.
December 21, 2009
This is a basic introduction to the energy crisis, written in an accessible and humorous style. I was initially concerned that the pop-culture references would be a bit too much (both Homer Simpson and Paris Hilton make appearances on the first page), but in the end I actually enjoyed some of them.
The goal of the book is to present possible solutions to America's energy problems in an unbiased way. The pros and cons of each solution (more nuclear power, increased oil drilling, a tax on carbon emissions, etc.) are explained, and the authors try to avoid making judgements about what's best, leaving it for the reader to make up her own mind.
I do think that they succeed in explaining the issues clearly, though ultimately, I can't really say that I learned very much from this book. I suspect that, like me, many of the people who would be inclined to read something like this are already reasonably well-informed.
Still, I think this is a good introduction to the topic. Perhaps the highest indication of its success is the fact that I'm considering reading the authors' previous book, Where Does the Money Go?, about the federal budget crisis. As a Canadian who just recently moved to the United States, that's something that I really know nothing about--making me fit perfectly into the target audience.
So, in brief, Who Turned Out the Lights? is a good introductory book, very accessible and easy to read, but not necessarily for those who are already familiar with the topic.
The goal of the book is to present possible solutions to America's energy problems in an unbiased way. The pros and cons of each solution (more nuclear power, increased oil drilling, a tax on carbon emissions, etc.) are explained, and the authors try to avoid making judgements about what's best, leaving it for the reader to make up her own mind.
I do think that they succeed in explaining the issues clearly, though ultimately, I can't really say that I learned very much from this book. I suspect that, like me, many of the people who would be inclined to read something like this are already reasonably well-informed.
Still, I think this is a good introduction to the topic. Perhaps the highest indication of its success is the fact that I'm considering reading the authors' previous book, Where Does the Money Go?, about the federal budget crisis. As a Canadian who just recently moved to the United States, that's something that I really know nothing about--making me fit perfectly into the target audience.
So, in brief, Who Turned Out the Lights? is a good introductory book, very accessible and easy to read, but not necessarily for those who are already familiar with the topic.
September 5, 2010
I enjoyed the relaxed style of the writers in explaining the research, and their effort in discussing the pros and cons of the climate policies that are being explored by our political leaders.
July 24, 2010
This was simplified for dummies to the point of being obnoxious, but I really appreciated it.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews