Friedman drives home the interconnectedness of existence many times and in many ways. For some authors, this might be a philosophical point, and a fairly abstract one. Friedman argues, however, that in the contemporary world this interconnectedness is very concrete, very pressing, and absolutely essential to acknowledge. This interconnectedness applies in the conceptual, economic, biological, and all other realms. When humanity lived in small, isolated groups of hunter-gatherers or sustenance farmers, one group's ideas or pollution, no matter how toxic, couldn't really harm another.

Those days are gone. Because the planet has exceeded its carrying capacity, at least using our current technologies, one group's poisons are continually spilling over onto another's space. When one group cuts down a rain forest for money, it kills rare species that would benefit everyone and diminishes the biosphere's ability to deal with the excess carbon dioxide we're pumping into the atmosphere. All technological activity everywhere contributes to global warming. This produces climate change, not just locally, but everywhere.

Many of the actions Friedman describes in his book are thought of as local or at best national: people think about what they want to do, or what their nation (whatever that may be) should do. While local action is absolutely crucial, it is no longer enough. Instead, we must have global action if we have any hope of dealing with the problems we're facing, and this action must likely be coordinated global action. It is extremely unlikely that independent actions will be enough. At the very least, someone will have to lead the way to the new technologies and social patterns we must all adapt; more likely, a variety of social tools ranging from laws to international pressures will be needed.

These tools will be applied to guide and in some cases force radical changes. These changes will at the least be technological, social, and economic; it is likely that political changes will accompany these changes. These changes must happen because of the changes that have already been introduced into the natural environment. Essentially, Friedman argues that if the human race is going to survive without producing a radical catastrophe, a massive green revolution must occur. Humanity must switch from using fuels that contribute to global warming (such as oil and gas) and instead use clean, green fuels (such as solar, wind, and geothermal energy). This must be accompanied by a new, intense, and universal ethic of conservation so that we preserve as much of the planet's varied biosphere as possible. This green revolution must be absolute and address everything from where power comes from to how lights are turned off and on. Literally everything we use and everything we do must be re-examined to make it more efficient in energy and resource use. Right now, our economy treats the price of pollution as an externality that can be ignored or passed on to others or future generations. That, too, must change: the new economic system must take all costs into account.

Friedman is absolute in his call for a shift to green industries. He sees it as incredibly important for humanity's future on this planet. However, he's not willing to surrender a generous standard of living. In fact, he assumes that we'll have to do several things at once: preserve the environment by reversing global warming, grow the economy, and continually raise the standard of living—not just for the privileged few but for everyone in the world. Doing all this at once will require not just balancing one thing against another but coordinating all aspects of social and economic action with one another. The...

Given the global nature of the challenge Friedman sees humanity facing, one might expect him to call for universal action. He does—but he balances this with ongoing calls to do what is best for America. Repeatedly throughout this work, and explicitly in Chapter Fourteen, "Outgreening al-Qaeda," and others, Friedman labors to portray the green movement as patriotic. When he discusses what petropolitics have done to American foreign policy, or how they endanger American troops, Friedman is quite convincing. When he casts the need to become energy efficient as another challenge for American innovators, he sounds idealistic but somewhat less convincing. Nevertheless, Friedman makes the pitch from start to finish, arguing that the green revolution is necessary if the American ideal is to survive into the twenty-first century and beyond.