Coming Clean: Breaking America's Addiction to Oil and Coal

The catastrophic release of oil into the Gulf of Mexico by BP's Deepwater Horizon well has been a wake-up call, bringing home to Americans in a very personal way-more powerfully than statistics on peak oil or global warming-the message that we must end our destructive dependence on fossil fuels. We want to move our country toward a clean-energy future, and this book provides a road map for how to get there. Author Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club and former head of Rainforest Action Network, distills all his activist skills and passion into this handbook. He shows us how we, as motivated citizens, can put our convictions into practice and strategically pressure corporations and our government to change their energy priorities. His vivid reports track the myriad ways our thirst for ever-scarcer oil and coal harms communities like those along the Gulf coast, corrupts policy and finance, and wreaks havoc on the Earth and its climate. He also describes the most promising developments in renewables, biofuels, and efficient design. In a new Afterword to this edition, Brune recounts his personal experiences working on the scene in the Gulf region, and offers an inspiring vision of the clean-energy future within our reach.