What One Book Would You Make Mandatory?

Good asks this question.  It is painful for a bibliophile to be limited to one, but it is kind of fun to list one and see what other people list.  I'll share mine and then anyone who wants join in with theirs.

For right now, and in the current state of the world, I'd make the following book mandatory... am reprinting the review I published over the weekend.  You don't have to review your book, just list why you'd make it mandatory.

Title	Crossing the Energy Divide: Moving from Fossil Fuel Dependence to a Clean-Energy Future
Author Ayres, Edward H.	Robert U. Ayres
Rating
Tags	non-fiction, energy, global warming, city planning, water, public policy, energy economics
	This is perhaps one of the most important books published in this decade, and it is a book that addresses and offers solutions at this critical time of global warming and dwindling supplies of energy. The senior author, Robert Ayers, is a physicist and economist. The book explains some of the background of energy economics, and why so many economic models are inadequate because they don't address energy production and use. The book explains the difference between energy produced and energy services - the work the energy does. The authors show that much energy produced now is wasted, and that much of what is currently wasted can be captured and used, and that this can reduce carbon dioxide output while costing the energy consumer little, because the return on investment is so high. Moreover, it is being done now, mostly in other countries, though it is being done in a few plants in the U.S. So investments now in increased energy service efficiency can be the necessary bridge to meet our energy needs until it is possible for renewable energy sources to do so. Renewables will not be able to meet the needs for several decades. The authors also discuss other critical issues such as urban planning, transportation, water use, and more. For all the issues, they clearly lay out the issues, the needed solutions, the policy and business management changes needed to reach the solutions. The biggest problem will be that the solutions require policy changes that end the monopolies currently enjoyed by the electric utility companies, who are major political donors. Read this book. Give copies to your Congrssman, your Senator, and any CEOs you happen to know. I plan to suggest the Daily Show have the authors on, and that the Secretary of Energy read it. THIS BOOK NEEDS TO BE PUBLICIZED.
Other authors	Author – Ayres, Edward H.
Publication	Wharton School Publishing (2009), Edition: 1, Hardcover, 256 pages
Publication date	2009
ISBN	0137015445 / 9780137015443

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