Robert Bryce

The promise of "green jobs" and a "clean energy future" has roused the masses. But as Robert Bryce makes clear in this provocative book, that vision needs a major re-vision. We cannot—and will not— quit using carbon-based fuels at any time in the near future for a simple reason: they provide the horsepower that we crave. The hard reality is that oil, coal, and natural gas are here to stay.

Fueling our society requires more than sentiment and rhetoric; we need to make good decisions and smart investments based on facts. In Power Hungry, Bryce provides a supertanker-load of footnoted facts while shepherding readers through basic physics and math. And with the help of a panoply of vivid graphics and tables, he crushes a phalanx of energy myths, showing why renewables are not green, carbon capture and sequestration won't work, and even—surprise!—that the U.S. is leading the world in energy efficiency. He also charts the amazing growth of the fuels of the future: natural gas and nuclear. Power Hungry delivers a clear-eyed view of what America has "in the tank," and what's needed to transform the gargantuan global energy sector.

Robert Bryce has been producing industrial-strength journalism for two decades. His articles on energy and other subjects have appeared in dozens of publications ranging from the Wall Street Journal to Counterpunch and Atlantic Monthly to Oklahoma Stripper. He is the author most recently of Gusher of Lies: The Dangerous Delusions of "Energy Independence." Bryce is also the managing editor of Energy Tribune. He lives in Austin.