
today
8:30 a.m. Audubon Society Field Trip See Event Description
read >9 a.m. Arcata Farmers' Market Arcata Plaza
read >9:30 a.m. Discovery Walk: Unknown Waterfront See Event Description
read >9:30 a.m. Manila Dunes Restoration Manila Community Center
read >10 a.m. Manila Dunes Guided Walk Manila Community Center
read >10 a.m. Library Book Sale Humboldt County Library
read >10 a.m. Dia de los Muertos and Mexican Folk Art Sale Private Eureka home
read >10 a.m. Final Arcata Farmer's Market Arcata Farmers' Market (off the plaza)
read >11 a.m. Donlin Foreman Dance Workshop Dell'Arte
read >2 p.m. Humboldt Coastal Nature Center Draft Trails Plan Walk Stamps House
read >5 p.m. Bati Zado and Show Redwood Raks World Dance Studio
read >6 p.m. The Tumbleweeds Chapala Cafe
read >6 p.m. Ali Chaudhary (jazz duo) Libation
read >6:30 p.m. Not Evil, Just Wrong Humboldt Area Foundation
read >7 p.m. Guitar Stan (country) Old Town Coffee & Chocolates
read >8 p.m. Guitar Orchestra of Barcelona Arkley Center for the Performing Arts
read >8 p.m. Stones in His Pockets Arcata Playhouse
read >8 p.m. A Christmas Carol North Coast Repertory Theater
read >8 p.m. Donna Landry Swing Dance Moose Lodge
read >8 p.m. North Coast Wind Ensemble Fulkerson Recital Hall at HSU
read >8:30 p.m. The Last Minute Men (international) Cafe Mokka
read >9 p.m. Ian McFeron Band (folk rock) Six Rivers Brewery
read >9 p.m. The Michael Paul Band WAVE @ blue lake casino
read >9 p.m. The Generatorz (classic rock) Central Station Cocktail Lounge
read >9 p.m. Taxi Bear River Casino
read >9 p.m. VJ Itchie Fingaz Pearl Lounge
read >9 p.m. Jack Ruby Presents + Blue Street + Acufunkture (DIY rock) Jambalaya
read >9 p.m. 2nd Annual Scorpio Bash The Red Fox Tavern
read >10 p.m. Music by DJ Sidelines
read >10 p.m. DJ Icy Hot Aunty Mo's Lounge
read >10 p.m. Jemimah Puddleduck (rock) Humboldt Brews
read >10 p.m. White Manna + Midday Veil + The King Salmon Duo (rock) Jambalaya
read >11 p.m. Radio Moscow (psychadelic blues) + Mosquito Bandito (one-man surf/garage) The Alibi Lounge and Restaurant
read >previous columns
Jan. 1, 2009
Earthrise: How We First Saw Ourselves
By Robert Poole. Yale Press.
read >Dec. 18, 2008
Top Five (+5)
Girl on the Fridge. Etgar Keret (Farrar Straus Giroux). Israeli ...
read >Photos
Hot, Flat and Crowded
By Thomas Friedman. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
By Lucas Garcia
In Hot, Flat and Crowded, Friedman provides his readers a broad set of ideas for an energy-climate revolution in which nations will develop renewable energy, preserve biodiversity and, quite literally, save the world. In an ambitious and important book, Friedman moves the conversation from what we can do as individuals to what we can do as citizens of the world.
Many Humboldt citizens have probably heard the calls for renewable energy, have seen Al Gore's movie or are actually working to make the needed changes. From the CCAT house at HSU to the hydrogen fueling station in Arcata, from the proposed wave-power generators to the Arcata wastewater treatment plant, the community is trying to move toward the new energy solutions that Thomas Friedman heralds. But more needs to be done, from governments, markets and grassroots. And, he argues, America needs to lead this effort.
Friedman has put so much information into his book that he precipitously walks on a path of flooding his readers' senses, sifting through problems that seem impossible to solve. However, he skillfully leads us on this path by providing facts, stories and conversations from all parts of the globe and writing in a simple, easy-to-follow style.
The world, according to Friedman, is becoming hot (because of climate change) flat (because of the rise of a worldwide middle-class) and crowded (from increased population). This starting point may seem like common sense, but Friedman uses it to launch an ambitious blueprint of how America and the world could and should operate. The United States needs to stop having a "green party," thinking that windmills and vegan condoms are going to solve our problems -- instead we need to have a real green revolution.
In the first half of the book, Friedman, a New York Times columnist, delineates the problems in the world through chapters that cite scientific evidence, statistics, scholarly wisdom and anecdotes from remote locations to illustrate how this hot, flat and crowded world is affecting us. He makes another case against oil -- how it not only pollutes but provides wealth to "petrodictators" and reverses democratic trends all over the world.
Friedman has done a masterful job in showing the breadth of the needed changes and in doing so has made the book applicable for everyone. In the second half of the book, he begins laying down strategies, goals and direction for the green revolution. The American government needs to create a market for green technologies. We need to invest in a new power grid and rethink the way we generate and spend our energy resources. All citizens of the world will benefit if America becomes the leader in the Energy Climate Era, and we need to head in that direction now.



















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