Green act

The book says that a meaningful solution to the climate crisis is possible only if the U.S. changes its mindset on environmental issues.

THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN, in his latest book uses a maxim from Texas to illustrate the inevitable calamity that will befall us if we do not begin to discover imaginatively ways of meeting the crisis of global warming: If all you ever do is all youve ever done, then all youll ever get is all you ever got.

Pained by the burning down of the rainforests, he uses the eminent entomologist Edward O. Wilsons statement that it is like burning all the paintings of the Louvre to cook dinner. The environment had to bear the brunt of going flat or introducing a free market economy.

Friedman goes on to suggest that the code the United States must follow is green just as it was red in the Cold War era, which symbolised the overarching Communist threat, the symbol that was used to mobilise our country to build up its military, its industrial base, its highways, its railroads, ports, and airports, its educational institutions, and its scientific capabilities to lead the world in defence of freedom. Observing the green code will lead the country towards a cleaner and a greener environment, he argues.

After his now-famous The World is Flat, which he wrote for the corporate world, Friedman turns to green consciousness hoping that the executive world, which patiently gave its ears to his views on globalisation, will now be ready audience for his anxiety and warning about global warming and the acceleration of the melting of glaciers. It is in view of this urgency that Friedmans book, Hot, Flat, and Crowded, comes as one more addition to the increasing literature on climate change, a bold and decisive step to raise an environmentally conscious public and shake off any complacency.

A sincere diagnosis of the ecological problem facing humanity, Friedmans book uses opinions of various experts in the field of environment whom he has interviewed or has had serious discussions with. He is, indeed, deeply concerned with the fatal tampering with nature and the reckless misuse of our surroundings and draws the readers attention to the contamination of soil, water and air, affecting vegetation, birds and wildlife, and also to those who have the arrogance to refuse to be persuaded.

Thinking green for him means making America the worlds leader in innovating clean power and energy-efficiency systems of having a deeper respect for the worlds forests, oceans, and biodiversity.

As he argues, the world is slowly getting flat because of equal opportunities; crowded because of the rise of population; and hot because the whole world apes the American way of life, where you possess the creature comforts of a car, a fridge, a washing machine and a television set. To enjoy all this you need more energy. This is, according to him, unsustainable as the use of more energy means more contamination of the atmosphere with carbon dioxide and, consequently, the devastation of biodiversity.

Added to this fall-out is the increasing gap between the haves and the have-nots, between those who use laptops and those who cannot be part of the flat world because they do not have the facility of even an electric bulb: In particular, the convergence of hot, flat, and crowded is tightening energy supplies, intensifying the extinction of plants and animals, deepening energy poverty, strengthening petro dictatorship, and accelerating climate change. How we address these interwoven global trends will determine a lot about the quality of life on earth in the twenty-first century.

Among the public there might be concern, but a widespread and deeply felt worry for the environment and tangible action are lacking. The U.S., argues Friedman, has to first examine the challenges of energy, biodiversity and climate change and then begin to dwell on solutions concerning clean energy and a political leadership that realises that all economic, political and social changes in the future are going to be relative to the dictates of nature. If the U.S. has to maintain the moral leadership of the world, it has to change its mindset on issues of the environment.

The book, therefore, contributes to the campaign of sending out a wake-up call to the citizens of the world to come forward and act now for maintaining the ecological balance. Humankind owes it to itself and the future generations, which will admonish this generation if timely action is delayed to prevent global warming and the depletion of natural resources.

Friedman writes in the opening chapter: America has a problem and the world has a problem. Americas problem is that it has lost its way in recent years partly because of 9/11 and partly because of the bad habits that we have let build up over the last three decades, bad habits that have weakened our societys ability and willingness to take on big challenges. This behaviour and lifestyle is visible in the very nature of American capitalism that ignores the limited natural resources at our disposal.

The location in time of the book is historic, that is, it is not A.D. 2008, but 1 E.C.E. the first year of the Energy-Climate Era and the focus is not on elucidation of the problem, but more on discovering and suggesting solutions. Friedman strongly believes that the U.S. must lead the way with a sense of purpose and a will to act: In a world that is getting hot, flat, and crowded, the task of creating the tools, systems, energy sources, and ethics that will allow the planet to grow in cleaner, more sustainable ways is going to be the biggest challenge of our lifetime. But this challenge is actually an opportunity for America. If we take it on, it will revive America at home, reconnect America abroad, and retool America for tomorrow.

Americans have to understand that nature does not need us; it is we who need nature. A meaningful solution is possible only if the U.S. begins to see the challenge and sits up to take full responsibility to fight the onset of the silent spring the title of Rachel Carsons book on ecological consciousness and decides to use sources of clean energy such as solar, nuclear or wind instead of fossil fuels.

An idealist, Friedman looks ahead in time when each one of our domestic appliances would be connected via the Internet to solar energy that is automatically drawn at the cheapest rate, and when our cars would charge their batteries on solar energy, which will be sold back to the grid when surplus.

Market policy needs to undergo a drastic change so that renewable energy sources are made cheaper and fossil fuels are no longer subsidised. The U.S. mission must focus on innovations and experiments to bring in cleaner fuel and reduce the demand for energy. This approach will be contagious to the rest of the world, a concrete step towards a greener environment worldwide.

That he has turned his attention from the benefits of globalisation to his deeply felt eco-concerns, paradoxically, represents the coexistence of a far right-wing stance and a shift to the Left. Flat, hot and crowded are images that represent the condition of a globalised world where the U.S. needs to become the role model. Though Friedmans concern is timely, he undoubtedly takes a biased standpoint of considering the U.S. as a leader that can set examples for the rest of the world through green politics. Nowhere in the book does he examine the havoc caused by multinationals to forests, though he sounds depressed at the consequences of international trade.

Friedman looks enviously and longingly at the public transport system in Europe, which helps in the reduced use of private vehicles and consequently in the reduction of carbon fumes, though on the other hand he favours free enterprise. The paradox seemingly stares the reader in the eye, though the recent collapse of capitalism has triggered the re-examination of a free market obsession, leaving no doubt that rampant privatisation is not the answer to global prosperity. And the spectre of Karl Marx returns to haunt the world again.

Indeed, Hot, Flat, and Crowded takes a sceptical look over the shoulder at the level playfields that Friedman had sung praises of and comes to the conclusion that these are times in history when we need to awaken to the danger to the environment. Indisputably, climate change is taking place and human activity is the cause. This potential global crisis requires a synchronised response in view of the planetary emergency, which poses a threat to the future of humanity.

We have before us irrefutable evidence on the extent of damage done to the environment. And until we realise that there is an urgent need to collaborate and innovate in all possible ways at the global level, we can scarcely be in a position to counter the cataclysmic results of global warming. Friedman might go on within such a scenario to write the obituary of capitalism and his next book could be Flat and Terminally Ill.