Includes bibliographical references and index.

Power tripping 101 -- Happy talk -- Watt's the big deal? (Power tripping 102) -- Wood to coal to oil : the slow pace of energy transitions -- Coal hard facts -- If oil didn't exist, we'd have to invent it -- Twenty-seven Saudi Arabias per day -- Myth : wind and solar are "green" -- Myth : wind power reduces CO[subscript]2 emissions -- Myth : Denmark provides an energy model for the United States -- Myth : T. Boone Pickens has a plan (or a clue) -- Myth : wind power reduces the need for natural gas -- Myth : going "green" will reduce imports of strategic commodities and create "green" jobs -- Myth : the United States lags in energy efficiency -- Myth : the United States can cut CO[subscript]2 emissions by 80 percent by 2050, and carbon capture and sequestration can help achieve that goal -- Myth : taxing carbon dioxide will work -- Myth : oil is dirty -- Myth : cellulosic ethanol can scale up and cut U.S. oil imports -- Myth : electric cars are the next big thing -- Myth : we can replace coal with wood -- Why N2N? and why now? (the megatrends favoring natural gas and nuclear) -- A very short history of American natural gas and regulatory stupidity -- It's a gas, gas, gas : welcome to the "gas factory" -- America's secret google -- Gas pains -- Nuclear goes beyond green -- A smashing idea for nuclear waste -- Future nukes -- Rethinking "green" and a few other suggestions -- Toward cheap, abundant energy.