GLOBAL WARMING, ENERGY, AND WORLD PEACE
The author’s proposed ideas frame the debate as a worldwide issue. Youssef uses his experience living and working in Egypt, Canada, and the United States and numerous trips all over the world to interrogate the history and contemporary development of energy sources. He pays special attention to energy consumption differences in developed and developing countries, noting that some parts of the Middle East and Africa account for the least contributions to climate change but are the “most vulnerable to its impacts.” He highlights sources of energy, such as wood, that are still used in underserved communities, paying special attention to their health consequences. The book also calls for a renewed commitment by developed countries to create a united approach to addressing climate change, including supporting those countries that don’t have the economic wherewithal to make sweeping changes. Finally, the author states that climate change can’t be effectively mitigated without nuclear power, asserting that concerns about radiation and nuclear disaster are “exaggerated.” Overall, Youssef’s perspective is refreshing. Most debate surrounding climate change feels insular, highlighting individual responsibilities and quibbling over alternative energy sources; his global perspective reinvigorates larger issues at play. He also makes a special effort to address how industries can support displaced workers, how countries can accommodate building new facilities, and how the global community can support developing nations, thus preempting rebuttals that extreme changes would harm industry, the disenfranchised, and the underserved. However, his insights are undermined by meandering prose that spends too much time on finer details of how various energy sources work, their history, as well as usage, production, and export data. What results is a disorganized text that often loses track of its ideas. Furthermore, it uses data from sources with uncertain credibility, thereby muddying its assertions.
