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Hell and High Water: Global Warming--the Solution and the Politics--and What We Should Do
Global warming is the story of the twenty-first century. It is the most serious issue facing the future of humankind, and American energy and environmental policy is driving the whole world down the path of global catastrophe. Hell and High Water is nothing less than a wake-up call to the country. It is a searing critique of American environmental and energy policy and a passionate call to action by a writer with a unique command of the science and politics of climate change. We have ten years, at most, to start making sharp cuts to our greenhouse gas emissions or we will face catastrophic consequences. The good news is that there is something we can do—but only if the leadership of the U.S. government acts immediately and asserts its influence on the rest of the world—in particular such emerging powers as China and India—to join an international effort to stop global warming. Joseph Romm, an expert in the science, business, and politics of climate change, lays out a plan of action that Unfortunately, the required government policies and spending are strongly opposed by conservatives, who have blocked serious action on climate change and continue to publicly deny the dire warnings of scientists. Never before has there been such a sharp divergence between what top scientists know and what policymakers, the general public, and the media believe. And, sadly, never has so much been at stake. Romm, who ran the largest program in the world that was concentrated on climate solutions, offers an authoritative dissection of this disastrous policy. Hell and High Water goes beyond ideological rhetoric to offer pragmatic solutions to avert the threat of global warming—solutions that must be taken seriously by every American.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published December 26, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
October 13, 2008
Dear Mom,
Yes, I know Christmas would be more fun with a child around. And yes, I understand that having a child changes everything. But, the world is a mess and I just can't bring a child into it. And if you need any proof of my argument I suggest reading Hell and High Water. Its all bad news.
Love,
Ellen
P. S. Don't buy any coastal properties.
Yes, I know Christmas would be more fun with a child around. And yes, I understand that having a child changes everything. But, the world is a mess and I just can't bring a child into it. And if you need any proof of my argument I suggest reading Hell and High Water. Its all bad news.
Love,
Ellen
P. S. Don't buy any coastal properties.
September 1, 2009
This is the second book I've read by Romm in as many months, and like his book on Hydrogen fuel cells, this is a clear, cogent analysis of the politics and policy surrounding global warming. I've been frustrated lately by the denyers - and their unwillingness to acknowledge scientific consesus - and this book traces the political rhetoric of the denyers back to 2002 strategy memos by Republican consultant Frank Luntz. He also shows what we have in store by 2050, and more alarmingly, by 2100, if we refuse to address the issue. If you are frustrated by the denyers, this a good book to start with.
August 27, 2019
And ours should be too.
Joseph Romm, who is an expert on energy (author of The Hype about Hydrogen: Fact and Fiction in the Race to Save the Climate (2004), which I highly recommend), holds a PhD in physics with an emphasis on the physics of weather. Consequently he writes from a position of knowledge about climate change that few others can match. He is also politically savvy, having worked in the Department of Energy in the Clinton administration. His hair is on fire because the danger to the planet from global warming is frighteningly real, and it appears that nobody is going to do anything about it until it is too late.
Part I is devoted to both making it absolutely clear that global warming is caused by human activities, in particular the burning of fossil fuels, while giving some considerable data on just what the consequences of global warming will be for the planet and in particular for the US. A number of meany-mouthed nay-sayers have suggested that a little warming won't be so bad, especially for the US. Romm lays this mythology into its grave by showing that the most recent scientific projections show that unchecked global warming will be a disaster for the US, inflicting enormous damage to our costal areas, burying much of Louisiana, Florida and other parts of the US under water, and creating dust bowl conditions in the Midwest far worse than experienced in the 1930s.
The real meat of this book however begins in Part II, "The Politics and the Solution," and in particular in Chapter 5, "How Climate Rhetoric Trumps Climate Reality."
Have you ever asked yourself why conservative politicians are in a state of denial about global warming? I have, and Romm is the first one to explain it to me. Simply put, "ideology trumps rationality." Romm spells it out: "Most conservatives cannot abide the SOLUTION to global warming--strong government regulations and a government-led effort to accelerate clean-energy technologies into the market." (p. 107) Therefore they become what Romm calls "Denyers and Delayers." They are indulging in political purity--but at what price?
In this connection I was intrigued and frankly amazed to find out that many conservatives are in the thrall of novelist Michael Crichton who wrote a novel entitled "State of Fear" in which the villain is a scientist who "falsifies scientific studies to justify draconian steps to curb global warming." Romm notes that President George W. Bush was a big fan of Crichton's book, and ignored "every major study by the world's leading climate scientists," and instead invited Crichton to the White House where they "talked for an hour and were in near-total agreement" (quoting Fred Barnes, p. 102). It appears that not only does Bush practice "faith-based" foreign policy, he gets his science not from scientists but from misinformed writers of science fiction!
In Chapter 10, "Missing the Story of the Century," Romm takes the media to task for not getting the global warming story straight. Fearful of criticism by right-wing think-tank pundits sponsored by the likes of Exxon-Mobil and others with a vested interest in fossil fuels, the media has given more than equal time to a few bought "scientists" who think that global warming is the result of natural causes. This is to the relative exclusion of the many thousands of scientists who have made it clear that global warming is being caused by human activities, most directly by the burning of fossil fuels. It's the Big Lie as practice by the Bush administration whose attitude toward global warming is to wait and see, and meanwhile business as usual. Romm's point is that we can't afford to wait. Conservatives who are afraid of intervention by government are foolish since if we don't act now we will get Big Government (and worse) with a vengeance down the road when "hell and high water" are upon us.
Romm outlines an eight-point program (fully stated on pages 22-23) that will successfully counter and then reverse the trend toward catastrophic global warming. It includes performance-based efficiency programs; efficiency gains from industry and power generation through "cogeneration" of heat and power (instead of wasting the heat, which is what we do now); building wind turbines; capturing carbon dioxide from proposed coal plants; building nuclear plants to generate electricity without CO2 waste; greatly improving the fuel economy of our vehicles using "plug-in hybrid" drives; increasing production of high-yield energy crops; and stopping tropical deforestation while planting more trees.
The compelling thing about this program is that it can be implemented with existing technology and will led to the end of dependence on foreign oil and will create energy-sector jobs here at home for millions of Americans.
Will our head-in-the-sand politicians listen? Not while Bush is president they won't; but if we, as Romm urges, become "one-issue" voters, we can in November 2008 usher in an enlightened administration that will immediately begin work on saving ourselves and the planet from a catastrophe worse than any we have ever faced.
--Dennis Littrell, author of “The World Is Not as We Think It Is”
Joseph Romm, who is an expert on energy (author of The Hype about Hydrogen: Fact and Fiction in the Race to Save the Climate (2004), which I highly recommend), holds a PhD in physics with an emphasis on the physics of weather. Consequently he writes from a position of knowledge about climate change that few others can match. He is also politically savvy, having worked in the Department of Energy in the Clinton administration. His hair is on fire because the danger to the planet from global warming is frighteningly real, and it appears that nobody is going to do anything about it until it is too late.
Part I is devoted to both making it absolutely clear that global warming is caused by human activities, in particular the burning of fossil fuels, while giving some considerable data on just what the consequences of global warming will be for the planet and in particular for the US. A number of meany-mouthed nay-sayers have suggested that a little warming won't be so bad, especially for the US. Romm lays this mythology into its grave by showing that the most recent scientific projections show that unchecked global warming will be a disaster for the US, inflicting enormous damage to our costal areas, burying much of Louisiana, Florida and other parts of the US under water, and creating dust bowl conditions in the Midwest far worse than experienced in the 1930s.
The real meat of this book however begins in Part II, "The Politics and the Solution," and in particular in Chapter 5, "How Climate Rhetoric Trumps Climate Reality."
Have you ever asked yourself why conservative politicians are in a state of denial about global warming? I have, and Romm is the first one to explain it to me. Simply put, "ideology trumps rationality." Romm spells it out: "Most conservatives cannot abide the SOLUTION to global warming--strong government regulations and a government-led effort to accelerate clean-energy technologies into the market." (p. 107) Therefore they become what Romm calls "Denyers and Delayers." They are indulging in political purity--but at what price?
In this connection I was intrigued and frankly amazed to find out that many conservatives are in the thrall of novelist Michael Crichton who wrote a novel entitled "State of Fear" in which the villain is a scientist who "falsifies scientific studies to justify draconian steps to curb global warming." Romm notes that President George W. Bush was a big fan of Crichton's book, and ignored "every major study by the world's leading climate scientists," and instead invited Crichton to the White House where they "talked for an hour and were in near-total agreement" (quoting Fred Barnes, p. 102). It appears that not only does Bush practice "faith-based" foreign policy, he gets his science not from scientists but from misinformed writers of science fiction!
In Chapter 10, "Missing the Story of the Century," Romm takes the media to task for not getting the global warming story straight. Fearful of criticism by right-wing think-tank pundits sponsored by the likes of Exxon-Mobil and others with a vested interest in fossil fuels, the media has given more than equal time to a few bought "scientists" who think that global warming is the result of natural causes. This is to the relative exclusion of the many thousands of scientists who have made it clear that global warming is being caused by human activities, most directly by the burning of fossil fuels. It's the Big Lie as practice by the Bush administration whose attitude toward global warming is to wait and see, and meanwhile business as usual. Romm's point is that we can't afford to wait. Conservatives who are afraid of intervention by government are foolish since if we don't act now we will get Big Government (and worse) with a vengeance down the road when "hell and high water" are upon us.
Romm outlines an eight-point program (fully stated on pages 22-23) that will successfully counter and then reverse the trend toward catastrophic global warming. It includes performance-based efficiency programs; efficiency gains from industry and power generation through "cogeneration" of heat and power (instead of wasting the heat, which is what we do now); building wind turbines; capturing carbon dioxide from proposed coal plants; building nuclear plants to generate electricity without CO2 waste; greatly improving the fuel economy of our vehicles using "plug-in hybrid" drives; increasing production of high-yield energy crops; and stopping tropical deforestation while planting more trees.
The compelling thing about this program is that it can be implemented with existing technology and will led to the end of dependence on foreign oil and will create energy-sector jobs here at home for millions of Americans.
Will our head-in-the-sand politicians listen? Not while Bush is president they won't; but if we, as Romm urges, become "one-issue" voters, we can in November 2008 usher in an enlightened administration that will immediately begin work on saving ourselves and the planet from a catastrophe worse than any we have ever faced.
--Dennis Littrell, author of “The World Is Not as We Think It Is”
December 13, 2017
The first third of the book does an incredibly excellent job of focusing on one great threat of the climate crisis: rising sea levels. It proves this beyond any level of a doubt: by 2100 we will have between 1.5 and 4 meter of sea level rise, accelerating and ongoing.
The mechanisms are even obvious: Greenland melting and slowing thermohaline circulation, WAIS melting starting with Pine Island Glacier, the tundra releasing methane also from clathrates, and forest fires especially in the Amazon. These 80 pages remain supremely relevant one decade later.
The solution second 2/3rds are frustrating. His solutions haven’t come, and they are insufficient to the challenge.
Michael Crichton and the GOP are absolutely terrorists, conspiring with the economic motivations of the fossil fuel industry to devastate the world. The evidence is damning. And the terrorist activity still continues, even more detached from reality under Trump.
The mechanisms are even obvious: Greenland melting and slowing thermohaline circulation, WAIS melting starting with Pine Island Glacier, the tundra releasing methane also from clathrates, and forest fires especially in the Amazon. These 80 pages remain supremely relevant one decade later.
The solution second 2/3rds are frustrating. His solutions haven’t come, and they are insufficient to the challenge.
Michael Crichton and the GOP are absolutely terrorists, conspiring with the economic motivations of the fossil fuel industry to devastate the world. The evidence is damning. And the terrorist activity still continues, even more detached from reality under Trump.
October 20, 2009
This was the sixth book I have read that was exclusively about global warming. The others were The Weather Makers, Field Notes From a Catastrophe, The Hot Topic, Storm World, and With Speed and Violence. All have been good and educational. Of these six, Hell and High Water is the best at explaining the underlying reasons why America refuses to pull its weight in the fight to combat what will undoubtedly be the major topic of the 21st century. The science of global warming is not covered extensively (the author asserts, correctly, that the scientific case has already been made and can be easily referenced by anyone who really wants to know), but the author makes up for that in his excellent coverage of the politics, probable consequences, and possible solutions.
May 4, 2007
This book deals with all the major issues related to the question of the day :'Global Warming and what we can do about it'.
Sometimes, I wonder whether this issue is also a conspiracy by special-interest groups, this time on the liberal and left, to push their agenda on a gullible public with a lot of scientific data. Very few of us have the expertise to dissect the scientific arguments of both the protagonists and the antagonists of global warming and then make a reasoned decision as to what we must do. This book presents the case for putting the breaks on global warming with many practical suggestions. Particularly, it shows that California has been a shining example to the US and the world in energy efficiency and we might do well to duplicate this model in all the states of the US. It also debunks the hydrogen fuel approach giving arguments that it can be a viable alternative only after scientific breakthroughs which may take another fifty years to achieve.
It is a good book to read for one interested in the subject and wants to know the key arguments in this question. Joseph Romm himself is an expert on the subject and has done many years of work in the Clinton administration towards working on this problem.
Sometimes, I wonder whether this issue is also a conspiracy by special-interest groups, this time on the liberal and left, to push their agenda on a gullible public with a lot of scientific data. Very few of us have the expertise to dissect the scientific arguments of both the protagonists and the antagonists of global warming and then make a reasoned decision as to what we must do. This book presents the case for putting the breaks on global warming with many practical suggestions. Particularly, it shows that California has been a shining example to the US and the world in energy efficiency and we might do well to duplicate this model in all the states of the US. It also debunks the hydrogen fuel approach giving arguments that it can be a viable alternative only after scientific breakthroughs which may take another fifty years to achieve.
It is a good book to read for one interested in the subject and wants to know the key arguments in this question. Joseph Romm himself is an expert on the subject and has done many years of work in the Clinton administration towards working on this problem.
January 4, 2019
Really good. The first half, which is Romm basically explaining global warming, is a bit dull: not only does he say that he won't do that (because there are many other resources to find out how global warming works, and this book is about the politics of it), but he gets very repetitive. I remember a few ideas that he just repeats, almost word for word, in different parts of this first half (like his bathtub metaphor, or explaining hurricanes). The second half was very enlightening. It explained, in detail, how we got to where we are, how politics and the twisted rhetoric has warped this country's view of global warming, and what to do now. Definitely recommended for anyone who is remotely interested in global warming politics.
May 15, 2008
I don't know how to say this succinctly without sounding overly dramatic, so I'll just risk being overly dramatic. Anyone who cares about the quality of life on this planet for the next fifty generations should read this book. If I say any more, I'll have to get back up on my high horse and I've been there so often lately that I'm getting a nose bleed.
June 24, 2009
It is a good summary of the science and policy implications for global warning. It is very dated in terms of the politics since it was written in the context of the Bush admin & Republican Congress. Otherwise, it still is a thoughtful exploration of the dangerous years ahead if we don't make serious changes.
June 27, 2007
Very useful and well written primer on the state of the planet, the desparate situation we will be in if we don't make very dramatic changes NOW, and some of the alternatives, both politically and technologically, that may be available to us.
April 2, 2008
A scary look at what's happening to the planet. A definate wake up call, although maybe one that seems too late. Very American focused, although maybe not surprising.
Want to Read
December 25, 2009I own the paperback version (2008).
June 15, 2010
I still have quite a bit to read in this book, but Romm nails the political challenges of climate change. I highly recommend his blog on climate change and its politics at www.climateprogress.org
November 11, 2010
We are so thoroughly screwed.
December 2, 2012
too dry but a disturbing and data-driven discussion of where we are in the mind of Joseph Romm. we'll see if he's right. too bad it will be too late then
January 26, 2011
The scariest book ever! Must read!
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews