Hot, Flat, and Crowded

Thomas L. Friedman's phenomenal number-one bestseller The World is Flat has helped millions of readers see the world in a new way. In this essential new book, Friedman takes a fresh and provocative look at two of the biggest challenges we face today: the global environmental crisis and America's surprising loss of focus and national purpose since 9/11. It is a groundbreaking account of where we stand now, and he shows us how the solutions to these two big problems are linked - how we can restore the world and revive America at the same time.

Friedman explains how global warming, rapidly growing populations, and the astonishing expansion of the world's middle class through globalization have produced a planet that is 'hot, flat, and crowded'. In just a few years, it will be too late to fix things - unless there is a worldwide effort to replace our wasteful, inefficient energy practices with a strategy for clean energy, energy efficiency, and conservation that Friedman calls Code Green. This is a great challenge, Friedman explains, but also a great opportunity, and one that we cannot afford to miss. He argues that this cannot happen without American commitment and leadership.