Power Trip

by Little, Amanda

• ISBN13: 9780061885143
• ISBN10: 0061885142
• Edition: Large
• Format: Paperback
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publications

Summary

After covering the environment and energy beat for more than a decade, Amanda Little decided the only way to really understand America's energy crisis was to travel into the heart of it. In a vivid cross-country power trip-from an off-shore oil rig, the Talladega Superspeedway, and New York City's electrical grid to the Pentagon's fuel-logistics division and laboratories creating the innovations of America's clean-energy future-Little illustrates just how oil permeates our daily lives: growing our crops, fighting our wars, making our plastics and medicines, warming our homes, and animating our cities.

Author Biography

Amanda Little has written about energy, technology, and the environment for numerous publications, including the New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, Salon.com, Wired, and the Washington Post. She lives with her husband and daughter in Nashville, Tennessee.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Confessions of a Petroleum Addict	p. ix
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Oil: The Story of the American Century
Over a Barrel: The Boom and Bust of America's Domestic Oil Empire	p. 3
War and Grease: How Oil Built and Sustains a Military Superpower	p. 71
Road Hogs: Why a Hundred Years of Joyriding Has Us Running on Empty	p. 129
Plastic Explosive: From Baggies to Boob Jobs-Our Love Affair with Synthetics	p. 179
Cooking Oil: How Fossil Fuels Feed the World (and Energy Shortages Could Starve It)	p. 237
Chain of Fuels: The Story of a 20,000-Mile Spinach Salad	p. 289
Short Circuits: Why a High-Tech Superpower Has a Third-World Grid	p. 333
Greener Pastures: The Dawn of the New Energy Era
Earth, Wind, and Fire: How Renewable Energy Will Dethrone the Powers That Be	p. 391
Autopia: Detroit Does the Electric Slide	p. 455
City, Slicker: Building Energy-Smart Homes and the Cities of Tomorrow	p. 509
Fresh Greens: Not Your Grandma's Eco-Movement-Meet the New Pioneers	p. 561
Acknowledgments	p. 607
Notes	p. 613
Bibliography	p. 713
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