Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution—and How It Can Renew America

Christian Century, Feb 24, 2009 by Cindy Crosby

An additional chapter will be added to a forthcoming second edition of Hot, Flat, and Crowded. In an interesting integration of Internet and print, Friedman has invited readers to suggest what is missing from the book by leaving a note at the publisher's Web site. More than 200 ideas have already been suggested.

Toward the end of the book Friedman reminds us, "Green is a value that needs to be preserved in and of itself, not because it is going to make your bank account richer, but because it makes life richer and always has." Later he adds, "An ethic of conservation declares that maintaining our natural world is a value that is impossible to quantify but also impossible to ignore, because of the sheer beauty, wonder, joy, and magic that nature brings to being alive.... Without an ethic of conservation we will lose that which is priceless but has no price tag." Amen.

Reviewed by Cindy Crosby, who is author of several books, including By Willoway Brook: Exploring the Landscape of Prayer (Paraclete), and coeditor of Ancient Christian Devotional (InterVarsity Press).