Leading by Example - by Bill Richardson (Hardcover)

About the Book

Richardson, the governor of New Mexico, points out that since 1985, Americas consumption has climbed, fuel efficiency has stagnated, and our crippling dependence on foreign oil is as big as it has ever been. He now issues a call to action, for Congress, the energy industry, and the public, and calls for a new American revolution--an energy and climate revolution.

Book Synopsis

Global climate change?

We can stop it.

Addiction to oil?We can replace it.

Technological innovation?

We can create it.

But we can't wait twenty, thirty, or fifty years.

Bill Richardson launched his campaign for the presidency to remind the American people--and their representatives in Washington--that we know how to get things done. We need to end our dependence on oil, and we need to do it yesterday.

This isn't something that's going to happen only in Washington, or Detroit, or even Hollywood or Tokyo. It's going to take all of us, a united United States. We have the opportunity, perhaps for only a few years, to make dramatic but beneficial changes in the way we run America.

As Leading by Example makes clear, if we succeed, with strong presidential leadership and the support of the American people, we will restore America's role in the world--a source of moral leadership, a source of astonishing technology, and a source of optimism to be admired.

From the Back Cover

Global climate change?

We can stop it.

Addiction to oil?We can replace it.

Technological innovation?

We can create it.

But we can't wait twenty, thirty, or fifty years.

Bill Richardson launched his campaign for the presidency to remind the American people--and their representatives in Washington--that we know how to get things done. We need to end our dependence on oil, and we need to do it yesterday.

This isn't something that's going to happen only in Washington, or Detroit, or even Hollywood or Tokyo. It's going to take all of us, a united United States. We have the opportunity, perhaps for only a few years, to make dramatic but beneficial changes in the way we run America.

As Leading by Example makes clear, if we succeed, with strong presidential leadership and the support of the American people, we will restore America's role in the world--a source of moral leadership, a source of astonishing technology, and a source of optimism to be admired.

Review Quotes

"In his writing, he clearly demonstrates his knowledge of and familiarity with energy politics."" (The Boston Globe, January 6, 2008)

""In a book that is easy to read for people not well versed with energy issues, his laid-back yet direct personality shines through the book..." (MSNBC.com, November 16, 2007)

Coinciding with Governor Richardson's campaign for the Democratic Party nomination for president, his proposals for reducing our dependence on foreign oil is substantial, despite their transparent vote-getting tenor. Drawing on his 15 years in the U.S. Congress, as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and as energy secretary in the Clinton administration, as well as his New Mexico governorship, Richardson provides useful insights into the resistance of powerful entities such as the automobile industry, coal industry and, of course, the oil industry to alternative energy sources. Writing in a folksy style, with personal anecdotes that leaven his wonkishness, Richardson is not shy about trumpeting the breadth and depth of his experience; at times he's almost insufferable, but his battles with those who care more about quick profit than about clean air, clean water and energy-related national security suggest he has earned the right to say, ""I told you so."" Richardson is critical of Republicans, including George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, yet manages to lift portions of the book above partisan politics. Knowing that Congress will often be inhibited by powerful special interests, Richardson would use the bully pulpit of the White House to initiate change, hoping, for example, that calling for automakers to produce plug-in electric cars will drive private markets to do right by the environment. (Nov.) (Publishers Weekly, September 3, 2007)

About the Author

Governor Bill Richardson (D-NM) has served as Secretary of Energy and Ambassador to the United Nations. Now, as the only candidate with executive and foreign policy experience, he presents an action program to sharply reduce America's oil dependence, build foreign policy on our principles instead of our addictions, and lead the world with energy and climate solutions that might just save millions of American jobs--and the planet.