Coming Clean: Breaking America's Addiction to Oil and Coal » (Second Edition)

In this timely book, Michael Brune, executive director of Rainforest Action Network (RAN), shows us how we, as motivated citizens, can kick our own fossil-fuel habit and pressure policymakers and corporations to change their energy priorities. His vivid reports remind us of the economic, environmental, moral, and public-health costs of fossil-fuel dependence, and how our government and international banks are complicit. Brune also describes the most promising developments in renewables, biofuels, and efficient design, and offers an inspiring vision of the clean energy future within our reach.

Under Brune’s leadership, RAN has had stunning success in getting corporations— including Home Depot, FedEx Kinko’s, Citigroup, and Bank of America— to green their business practices, and his activist skills and passion are at the heart of this book. Overflowing with pragmatic and well-tested advice, Coming Clean is rooted in the author’s faith that Americans acting together can create profound change.

Publishers Weekly

An experienced political activist and straight-talker, executive director of the Rainforest Action Network Brune challenges average citizens to join him in the fight for clean energy, warning that, even though "60 percent of Americans believe that we must take action now," it will only happen by "changing corporate America and challenging our political leaders." Presenting a trove of information, Brune looks at the costs of oil dependency, the dirty mechanics of so-called "clean coal," the role played by politics and finance, and the possibilities for a post-oil economy. "Take Action" sections at the end of each chapter suggest further reading and viewing, ways to profile an adversary, how to identify the most important issues to you, and what to do from there (speaking out, organizing others, taking your demands to government representatives). While Brune is obviously looking to recruit converts, his guide contains enough solid, interesting information (Ford Motor Company's current fleet averages fewer miles per gallon than their old Model-T) to fill in anyone interested in the present state of the energy economy.
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Acknowledgments 9

Introduction It's Time to Refuel 11

Ch. 1 Getting Our Fix: The True Cost of America's Oil Habit 22

Ch. 2 Smokescreen: The Dirty Side of "Clean Coal" 40

Ch. 3 Separate Oil and State: Getting Fossilized Power Out of Politics 59

Ch. 4 Follow the Money: How Your Bank Is Funding Climate Change, and What You Can Do about It 75

Ch. 5 Redesigning Mobility: Moving America in a Post-Oil Economy 95

Ch. 6 Jump-Start Detroit: How Automakers Can Save Themselves, and the Planet 111

Ch. 7 Growing Gas: Are Biofuels Fueling or Fooling America? 129

Ch. 8 Greening the Grid: How Sun and Wind Can Generate Power and Prosperity 146

Ch. 9 Less Is More: Fighting Climate Change while Living the Good Life 167

Ch. 10 Power Shift: Shaping a Clean-Energy Society 183

Resources 197

Notes 217

Index 259