Rifkin is too busy geeking out on technology and economic theory to mess around with social justice or moral outrage ... his writing is so clotted with numbers and stats and technological jargon that it’s not easy to figure out exactly what he thinks this revolution would look like, beyond the usual futuristic shout-outs to renewable power, smart buildings and Big Data ... [Rifkin] says little about the dark sides of technological progress ... Rifkin’s insights about potential revenue sources for new green infrastructure aren’t new ... He’s best at articulating the huge financial risks the oil, coal and natural gas industries face from stranded assets.
Rifkin delivers a passionate vision and practical narrative, based on his extensive experience implementing pioneering changes throughout the European Union and People’s Republic of China.
A little hectoring alternating with wishful thinking goes a long way, but Rifkin’s point that something needs to be done—immediately—is well taken. Better a Chicken Little than a Pollyanna any day of the week ... An urgent endorsement of efforts to remake a doomed fossil-fuel economy before it’s too late.
