Green Illusions: The Dirty Secrets of Clean Energy and the Future of Environmentalism

Green Illusions: The Dirty Secrets of Clean Energy and the Future of Environmentalism (ISBN 978-0-8032-3775-9), by Ozzie Zehner, was published in 2012 by the University of Nebraska Press. It discusses various approaches to "clean energy", and why they do not provide the desired benefits. In successive chapters, it discusses (1) solar cells, (2) wind power, (3) biofuels, (4) nuclear power, (5) hydrogen power, (6) coal power, (7) hydropower, (8) alternative energy, (9) green investment, (10) population control, (11) consumption, (12) architecture, (13) carbon taxes, and (14) environmental education.

The author writes: "We don’t have an energy crisis. We have a consumption crisis."

Writing in the Huffington Post, Tom Zeller Jr. calls the author a provocateur. He cites Chris Meehan, who called his view of photovoltaics "alarmist" and "misleading", and he cites Nick Chambers, who called his view of electric vehicles "ridiculous". However, Zeller writes that Zehner cites a "2010 lifecycle analysis" by the National Academy of Sciences as a basis for evaluating the "aggregate environmental damage" from an electric car.

Writing for The Tyee, Justin Ritchie points to a fundamental question: "in a world of limited decisions, is it really smart to subsidize marginally effective mitigation strategies of our car culture, suburbia and overpopulation without addressing the root causes?"