I'm a reluctant, first-time author.  I only wrote this book because nobody else stepped up.  Many could have, but I don’t think any of them wanted to be the bearer of bad news. 

 

I’m an optimist, which may seem to be at odds with the central premise of this book, i.e., that we’re not going to “beat” global warming, but on this issue, my inner optimist concedes to the realist in me. 

 

I had the great good fortune of attending a terrific public high school (Bethesda-Chevy Chase HS, Class of ’65) and the privilege of attended some outstanding universities (Cornell, B.S., Engineering Physics, 1969; MIT, M.S., N.E., PhD, Nuclear Engineering, 1974; Pepperdine University, MBA, 1996).   

 

I'm an engineer and an "energy guy" - by profession and avocation.  I worked on a reactor design project at General Atomics, taught nuclear engineering at Texas A&M University, was part of a reactor research team at Argonne National Laboratory (West), worked for two electric utilities (Arizona Public Service and Southern California Edison), managed an Advanced Electric Transportation program in the Research Department at SCE and was part of the Electric System Planning division.  Along the way I returned to graduate school, earned an MBA, and finished my career with the California State University.   

 

Notably missing from this short bio is mention of any training in the atmospheric sciences or work experience in weather, climate modelling, biology, oceanography or anything similar.  Nevertheless, in the course of this book I have something to say about matters that touch on all these subjects. 

 

While I am not and don't claim to be an expert in any of these “climate” fields, the global warming debate no longer centers on the question: “Is it real?”  That question has been settled.  Instead, the question is: “What can we do about it?”  The latter is much more a question about transforming the world energy economy than it is about atmospheric physics.  Hopefully, my  experience in energy R&D, the electric utility industry, electric generation planning, my inclination to ask questions and an MBA give me a unique platform from which to add something of value to the global warming conversation.