“Hot, Flat, and Crowded” (2008) is a polemic that predominantly concerns climate change as a result of carbon dioxide emissions. These carbon dioxide emissions are a direct consequence of the world’s dependence on fossil fuels for energy. Thus, Friedman utilizes the beginning of his book to establish the enormous challenge facing the world, but he charges America with the burden and opportunity to solve it. Friedman believes that America has the ability to provide the solution to fossil fuel dependence and related problems. Friedman cites America’s complacent, lazy attitude as the potential root cause of problems like carbon dioxide emissions, which have been allowed to grow to such an ominous extent.
Friedman also provides a thoughtful, workable solution. He calls for mankind to invent an energy system that will provide clean, cheap, and renewable electrons and develop an “ethic of conservation.” Friedman intends to motivate Americans or any other country that is willing to take on the challenge to solve the energy crisis and the global climate change crisis. “Hot, Flat, and Crowded“ is critically important to the quality of our lives, the assumptions of our culture, and our subsistence as a species on Earth.
The “Hot, Flat, and Crowded“ Argument
Friedman’s intent and the importance of his work itself are realized in the arguments he makes throughout the book. Friedman avers that the age we live in should now be called the “Energy-Climate Era” and then explains the meaning behind the terms “Hot, Flat, and Crowded.”
Hot” refers to the rapid warming trend that is being observed by scientists all over the world as a result of the massive carbon dioxide emissions since the industrial revolution in America; “Crowded” refers to the rampant population growth occurring throughout the world; and “Flat” refers to the rapid trend of globalization that has swept over the world because of advancements in technology, which have given us so many more capabilities and more connectedness but have also estranged a large group of people who do not have access to energy and technology.
By asserting these things about our current world Friedman is eloquently able to establish that the central problem facing us is global climate change as a direct result of the energy crisis. He makes it clarion clear that if global climate change is ignored it will drive “global weirding”, meaning that carbon dioxide emission will not only make the world hotter, melt the polar ice caps, and cause major landmasses to be engulfed by the ocean, but it will probably cause unpredictable climate changes in a variety of places on the globe at an unpredictable rate. Friedman preserves this central claim adeptly throughout his book, using arguments and evidence that all contribute back to it.
Friedman’s Style
Friedman makes his assertion about global climate change very convincingly and persuasively because he provides a great deal of credible evidence in a simple, straight-forward, and generous way. He ingeniously inserts scientific statistics, political science theories, and anecdotal evidence together in a format that is understandable and is intriguing to laymen. This simultaneously straight-forward yet creative style allows Friedman to be very serious about a very serious issue and even admonish his audience without losing his audience.
Friedman’s audience has been captivated by the fresh, startling, and concerning snapshot of the current paucity of energy for our ever-growing world and the bleak future that could be ahead of us. Friedman does not lament about how horrible the future could be or belabor the audience with criticisms like other authors in his position might be prone to do, which also allows Friedman to maintain the audience’s attention. However, Friedman does frame this daunting challenge as a positive opportunity, which is a very optimistic and encouraging perspective.
Critical Evaluation
Although “Hot, Flat, and Crowded” is an excellent and persuasive book in numerous ways, it is not perfect. Friedman falters in a few areas of the book. For instance, Friedman is very scientific and offers a great deal of evidence when he discusses the problems that fossil fuel dependence creates, the energy crisis, and global climate change, but he strays from his using evidence or scientific research to support his proposal for a solution.
He makes a great argument for what the solution should be, but it is not a solution that is entirely based in science or supported without ample evidence. However, he could scientifically examine the currently proposed solution in greater depth and evaluate which technologies have the greatest chance of solving our energy crisis and preventing future climate change. Instead he prematurely dismisses most alternative energy initiatives as not having enough potential to truly be worth investing the time and effort into developing. He asserts that we should focus on making cars all-electric systems and find a way to making the burning of coal “clean.”
Ultimately, Friedman has the right ideas about solving global climate change and the energy crisis. He also presents these ideas in a persuasive, interesting, and understandable manner. This is virtually a mandatory read for us all because of its excellent ideas that will directly affect our future, but Friedman’s ideas — especially concerning the solution to global climate change — should not be viewed as absolute because creative thinking may uncover even better solutions.
Sources
- Friedman, Thomas L. “Hot, Flat, and Crowded.” Detroit: Gale Cengage Learning, 2008. Print.
