SAN FRANCISCO, CA — A new environmental justice book, Green Illusions, has placed among the top 20 nonfiction books of the year. The announcement marks the first time an environmental justice book has made the annual list, which is tabulated by Goodreads. Green Illusions is published by the University of Nebraska Press and written by Ozzie Zehner, a visiting scholar at the University of California — Berkeley.
Zehner’s book, entitled Green Illusions: The Dirty Secrets of Clean Energy and the Future of Environmentalism, begins with an unlikely twist. Rather than praising the green technologies we have come to admire, he instead reveals hidden environmental justice concerns surrounding the manufacture and use of solar cells, wind turbines, biofuels, electric cars, and other alternative energy technologies. Green Illusions presents more than just a critique of green technologies. The book outlines three dozen “first steps” around the themes of environmental justice, overpopulation, rebound effects, energy economics, degrowth, taxes, bicycling, livable neighborhoods, and energy conservation.
Zehner insists there are better options to reduce fossil fuel use than deploying alternative energy production. “Hype surrounding wind energy might even shield the fossil-fuel establishment--if clean and abundant energy is just over the horizon, then there is less motivation to clean up existing energy production or use energy more wisely,” says Zehner. Instead of pushing for energy production, Zehner argues that nations should prioritize urban designs for walking and biking and institute energy taxes. He also draws connections between environmental justice goals and seemingly unrelated endeavors such as financial reform and women’s rights.
GREEN ILLUSIONS: The Dirty Secrets of Clean Energy and the Future of Environmentalism forms “a bold look at the downside of green technologies and a host of refreshingly simple substitute solutions,” according to Kirkus Reviews. Green Illusions is a non-profit environmental justice book and is available in bookstores worldwide.
Highlights and author biography at: http://GreenIllusions.org
Contact info:
Nancy Parker
Author Representative
(415)501-0073
[email protected]
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12804425-green-illusions