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Latest read: Hot, Flat and Crowded

Over the long holiday I finally finished Tom Friedman’s book Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution–and How It Can Renew America. The book is a mixed blessing.  Friedman has written one of the best books to understand the emergency need for a global environmental revolution.

hot, flat and crowded

Friedman provides detailed examples of how the world has been wasting energy resources since the industrial revolution. Sadly I am convinced we are (environmentally speaking) screwed.

Friedman provides well written pages that will awaken those still asleep on the environment’s impact on the human race.  If you think “green” is a movement to replace your light bulbs with Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs your WAY off base.  Its about re-educating how we waste energy and in today’s global economy risk losing more industries to countries around the globe.

The major challenge?  This issue is no long America’s alone to fix. Thanks to globalization its now a problem for the entire world.  Mother Earth needs assistance from China and India. Both must engage in green technologies to ensure planet earth’s health for the long term.

For China and India that includes all 3.5 Billion of their citizens who are just coming out of poverty.  Their governments cannot permit new coal plants to dominate their air pollution.  China alone brings coal-fired (dirty) power plants online every two weeks and will continue to do so for the short term future.

The Beijing Olympics was a perfect example of population and industrial pollution impacting the Chinese environment … and their economy.

Why China and India are causing the price of gasoline to rise.
When I was born in 1966 the earth’s population stood at 3.4 billion.  When my son was born in 2007 the population doubled to 6.7 billion.  What does our future hold when the earth’s population reaches 9 billion in 2050?  Forget fuel costs for a moment.  How much will it cost to feed your family?

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One Laptop Per Child: John Lennon

Get a laptop and give one to a child in a developing nation

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Hot, Flat and Crowded

Finally I am pushing my way through Tom Friedman’s Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution–and How It Can Renew America. If your a fan of his The World Is Flat series you’re in for a fast, real-world update about the state of the environment.  Its safe to say our global carbon footprint is ruining the planet.

hot, flat and crowded

I was very impressed with his chapter on energy poverty was very well written.  Energy is the capacity to do work:  1 in 6 people do not have access to energy.  Even in India almost 700,000,000 citizens are not on any energy grid.  There has not been a power plant built in over 30 years anywhere across Africa … with the exception of white South Africa.  I never really considered Africa’s real problem has been an energy problem all along. Fighting AIDS, hunger and the other noble causes are quite restricted when you cannot even turn on a lamp at night.

But as Friedman outlines in the book Africa needs green energy. Coal burning solutions that would only contribute to the world’s global warming problems.  And China is bringing on new coal burning plants every other week?

For the health of the planet we need to place as much green energy as possible – Friedman acknowledges that many green solutions cannot yet scale to cover Africans, Indians, Chinese AND Americans – at the base of every country’s economic pyramid.

Looking forward to the remaining half of the book.

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Latest read: Competing in a Flat World

Searching for the next emerging career in business?  Its Network Orchestrator and this does not refer to computer networks or chamber music.  If you understand fluid, globalized supply chains your on the right track.  Competing in a Flat World: Building Enterprises for a Borderless World proves success is less about what a company can do itself and more about what it can connect to in the global world in order to succeed.

Enter Globalization 3.0 and now business must be in a position to take advantage of a Network Orchestrator.

This book follows Li & Fung, a garment company which produces annual sales over $8 billion for some of the most respected brands in the world.

What may surprise you is that Li & Fung do not own any factories.

This book may be crafted for business schools but its larger impact is for educators.

More importantly parents should read this to see how the world has already changed and learn how their children (regardless of profession) will enter a vastly different marketplace.  The changes from their generation are drastically different.  Li & Fung’s message is quite simple: evolve or die.

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Latest read: Planet India

India is the second fastest growing economy in the world, second only to their Asian neighbor China.  Both have embraced globalization yet are racing to secure resources as their economies, populations, markets and environments grow out of control.  India has the second largest population with almost 1.5 billion citizens.

Planet IndiaMy understanding of India’s impact on the global market continues to grow after reading Planet India: How the Fastest Growing Democracy Is Transforming America and the World.  Mira Kamdar’s has hilighted both positive and negative (poverty, piracy and global warming) developments in India.

I’m very impressed by India’s innovation in creating the world’s next motion picture industryBollywood will not compete with Hollywood in America, it will simply run it over as India’s youth overtakes America.  Remember their population is growing and has acquired new-found wealth as a result of globalization.  It is a safe bet their children will be interested in watching movies like American teenagers.