The following are recent reviews of The End of Energy.
“I absolutely loved that the first chapter began with President Nixon’s decision to impose wage and price controls on August 15, 1971. If you think that wasn’t energy-policy relevant, then read that chapter (the publisher will let you read it free). Just note that the Arab oil embargo just over two years later caused barely a hiccup in U.S. oil imports; the gas lines and shortages were mostly due to the remaining Nixon oil price regulations. (Yet, 40 years later we still blame OPEC!)”
-From The Energy Collective review of The End of Energy
“Mr. Graetz takes us through the rise of environmentalism and consumerism, nuclear-plant cost overruns and protests, and the synthetic-fuels misadventure. His tightly organized history aligns causes with effects. His expertise in government finance separates techniques that might have worked from those that invited trouble. This expertise is particularly useful when Mr. Graetz discusses the credit-swapping antipollution policy known as cap and trade. His section on the ways in which cap-and-trade permits are likely to be misallocated is especially compelling.”
- Excerpted from a review in the Wall Street Journal, May 18, 2011
“A winner – and quite possibly the best and most important book from this outstanding political writer. The End of Energy is a beautifully written book on a fascinating and vital topic. Each chapter offers a gripping story, a history lesson, and a public policy moral. It sounds an alarm that we ignore at our own peril; we keep ducking this problem, searching for easy answers (a technological fix) and doing foolish things (low prices). Graetz is out to wake us up.
-James Morone, Professor of Political Science and Urban Studies, Brown University, and author of Hellfire Nation
“The End of Energy is required reading for anyone interested in energy politics. Graetz tells a spellbinding story of how we’ve gotten to where we are today with our confused collection of federal policies. This book should be on the bookshelf of everyone working on energy policy both in and out of government.”
-Gilbert E. Metcalf, Professor of Economics, Tufts University
“The End of Energy is a tour de force, carrying the reader through four decades of U.S. energy policymaking. With scholarly care and policy insight, Michael Graetz shows step by step – and misstep by misstep – how we’ve ended up with greater dependency on fossil fuels than ever despite constant calls for a changed energy path that would cut emissions, reduce the threat of climate change, and end the national security burdens that come with vast quantities of imported oil. This book is a must-read for students, policymakers, business leaders, and anyone interested in the sorry story of U.S energy policy.”
-Daniel C. Esty, Hillhouse Professor of Environmental Law and Policy, Yale University, and coauthor of Green to Gold.
Read the Books-in-Brief review of The End of Energy in the journal Nature here.
