The Green and the Black

January 4, 2016
A much-maligned energy technology gets a thorough vetting in this sharp-eyed, wised-up primer. Sernovitz, a novelist (Great American Plain) and executive at a hydrocarbon-focused private equity firm, explores from several angles the revolution in hydraulic fracturing, aka fracking, that has unlocked huge deposits of American oil and gas. He argues that these advances will boost energy supplies and lower prices, wrestles with environmental impacts (the ballyhooed threat to groundwater, he concludes, is virtually nil, while problems with surface contamination, noise, and obnoxiousness are real but manageable), and notes that using fracked gas has substantially lowered U.S. carbon emissions. He also discusses recent collapses in both natural gas and oil prices, as well as the effect of fracking on Canadian tar sands. Sernovitz revels in the entertainment value of the fracking boom, with its manic drill-or-die entrepreneurs, dogged engineers steadily improving the art, euphoric land rushes, and frantic retreats. He has pointed opinions and a sardonic wit, but his evenhanded treatment—he discloses his own biases and stake in the industry—debunks both the hype and the panic. Sernovitz’s deep insider’s knowledge and scintillating prose make this one of the best treatments of this very contentious subject. Agent: Gillian Mackenzie, Gillian Mackenzie Agency.

December 15, 2015
An account of the boom in oil and gas production in the United States. Sernovitz, managing director of Lime Rock, a private equity firm focusing on the oil and gas industry, a novelist (The Contrarians, 2002, etc.), and a journalist, calls this boom "the shale revolution." At work, he writes, his job is to convince investors to put their money into that industry; with this book, he hopes to educate readers about the realities and the possibilities of the revolution. He takes both a close-up view and a broad one, looking at challenges from local, national, and global perspectives as well as the financial considerations. Drilling for gas and oil, Sernovitz acknowledges, is "loud, dirty, and complicated," and "the shale revolution...is causing the world to double down on fossil fuels," a serious problem for a planet facing climate change. On the positive side, he writes, the revolution is lowering America's carbon dioxide emissions, creating jobs, freeing us from foreign dependency, and improving lives by spreading cheaper energy everywhere. The author pays close attention to fracking, explaining clearly just what it is and what it is not (when done properly), and he takes to task the 2010 documentary film;Gasland for alarming the public about its hazards. Sernovitz, who writes with flair, humor, and assurance, includes some recent history of the industry, some big personalities, a little technology and geology, arguments of environmentalists (the "Green" of the title) and of oilmen ("Black"), and a wealth of statistics. While the bulk of the book is essentially a song of praise for the shale revolution, the final chapter, "Conclusions," indicates that there are still problems to be solved and questions to be answered. An insider's cheerful, energetic examination of an industry that has changed dramatically in the last decade.

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February 1, 2016
Sernovitz, managing director at an oil-and-gas private equity firm, shares his inside perspective on the controversial shale oil industry. During the past decade, thanks to many small but important technological advances, the extraction of fossil fuels from low-permeability rocks (fracking) ushered the U.S. into a fossil fuel renaissance, lowering prices, stimulating our economy, and changing our international political landscape. The new abundance of oil and gas has lead to the decline of coal, too, helping us cut carbon emissions by impressive amounts. Sernovitz writes passionately, even lovingly of the industrythe remarkable human ingenuity constantly at play, the American-dream tenacity of its leadersa surprising point of view for those mired in doomsday rhetoric. But a tendency to rant and clunky humor slow the narrative, and readers who question the capitalism as a moral good imperative may feel that Sernovitz too quickly resolves some of the more difficult dilemmas. Ultimately, The Green and the Black is more black than green, but it offers a necessary perspective all the same.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)