Clean Energy Nation:
Freeing America From the
Tyranny of Fossil Fuels
AMACOM, 2012
Congressman Jerry McNerney, PhD, and Martin Cheek
Reviewed by JoAnne L. Dunec
The human race is challenged more than ever before to demonstrate
our mastery—not over nature but of ourselves.
— Rachel Carson
Clean Energy Nation opens with the premise that the United
States is at a crossroads similar to the situation in the summer
of 1776 when members of the Second Continental Congress
debated the question of independence and elected to sign the
Declaration of Independence. To Congressman McNerney and
Martin Cheek,
Today’s members of Congress now face the question of energy
freedom—specifically, how to cut the cord tying more than 300
million Americans to fossil-fuel addiction. . . . Our nation’s
success or failure in manifesting this necessary goal will determine what form our civilization will take in the future.
According to the authors,
We are facing a dual crisis. First, there is a limited supply of fossil fuels. With consumption growing every year, Earth’s supply
will start to dwindle, causing gross instability in the price of fuel.
Second, the atmosphere has reached its limit to absorb carbon
without causing a rapid increase of energy in the atmosphere and
oceans. Either problem by itself is a daunting threat. Combined,
they pose a massive challenge to modern civilization.
Despite the magnitude of the problem, the authors observe
that “[m]any of America’s brightest minds are now working hard
on the challenge of pursuing energy freedom” and that
“[c]ombining our talent and leadership influence, we as a people
can achieve greatness.” The path, however, will not be easy.
The first section of the book addresses the current state of
affairs and the actions that led to it. The authors also “analyze the various energy opportunities available to replace fossil
fuels, and . . . the positive and negative aspects of their widespread use in American society.”
In the second segment, eight of the most significant energy
issues facing the nation are identified as follows, and examined
in turn: good government, national security, the environment,
NR&E Spring 2012
the economy, transportation, agriculture, public health, and
education. From the authors’ perspective,
[1] clean energy will help us preserve our democratic form of
government, [2] achieving our energy independence can help
make Americans significantly safer from foreign threats, [3]
clean and green energy can enable us to become better stewards of the natural world, [4] America’s economy can grow
more robust and secure as we develop sustainable-energy industries, [5] enhancing the efficiency of our nation’s vehicles and
transportation systems is absolutely vital for achieving energy
independence, [6] energy independence can help our country’s
farmers provide the agricultural products needed to sustain our
modern civilization in future years, [7] achieving a sustainableenergy society will help improve the health and well-being
of all Americans, [and 8] building America’s brainpower by
improving our schools and educational systems is an absolutely
necessary component to achieving our energy independence.
The third segment addresses America’s energy future. First,
the authors showcase two regions of California, Silicon Valley and the San Joaquin Valley, as areas that “are taking steps
to improve their economies with various sustainable-energy
projects and programs.” Next, the authors take us abroad to
examine energy transformations, particularly with the use of
solar power in China, India, and the Middle East, and progress
in wind and other clean energy technologies in Europe, Canada, Mexico, Latin America, the South Pacific, and Africa.
The final chapters address “the issue of securing America’s energy future to protect our defense, our economy, our
public health, and our food supply,” as well as the power of
leadership and lessons learned from the efforts to pass the
American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, which was
not enacted as law. Clean Energy Nation “closes with a message
about how we can find inspiration from the past that can motivate modern Americans to progress forward toward a better
energy future.” The authors observe,
The framers of the Constitution understood that the words
they penned would have a deep impact on the lives of millions
of Americans who would follow their footsteps. In their preamble, they stated their vision “to secure the blessings of liberty to
ourselves and our posterity.” Those words set all Americans on
a course compelling us to preserve and protect our rights and
freedoms and to ensure that the Founding Fathers’ great legacy
passes down to future generations of our republic.
They conclude,
Now, destiny has given us an opportunity to rise up and realize
a new freedom never before seen in all of human history. Here
at the junction of one road leading to oblivion and another
road leading to hope, we must make the wise choice for our
future. For the sake of preserving America’s values, let us now
begin traveling toward a better world.
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Published in Natural Resources & Environment Volume 26, Number 4, Spring 2012. © 2012 by the American Bar Association. Reproduced with permission. All rights reserved. This information or any portion
thereof may not be copied or disseminated in any form or by any means or stored in an electronic database or retrieval system without the express written consent of the American Bar Association.