Go Green

By John Sutter

Sorry for the last-minute notice on this, but I thought you all might like to know that Thomas Friedman — the New York Times columnist and globalization writer — is speaking this afternoon in Oklahoma City. Friedman is on a tour to promote his new book, “Hot Flat and Crowded: Why we need a green revolution — and how it can renew America.”

The details:  Today (Wednesday) 4 to 5:30 p.m. at the Cox Convention Center, downtown. He’ll be in Tulsa tomorrow at 9:30 p.m. at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center.

I’ll be attending the Oklahoma City meeting. I heard Friedman on NPR’s “Fresh Air” a couple of days ago. He spoke with a lot of passion, so hopefully the lectures here will prove to be good food for thought. If you haven’t read his earlier books, Friedman is known for his ability to create really simple metaphors for complex global issues. He’s a proponent of the idea that global connectedness and innovation will better humanity. Some scholars oppose his views, saying globalization takes advantage of the world’s poor, who can’t complete in the global economy the way it’s set up now.

He goes after a green twist on those topics with this book, which calls on America to lead a “green revolution.” [so far, this country has taken a backseat to those in Europe.]

Let me know if you’ll be going, and feel free to post comments here after the talk.