Inslee’s goal: to get on ‘Oprah’

Published 8:00 pm Friday, March 9, 2007

Congressman writing book promoting ‘clean energy.’

It’s become almost a prerequisite for a presidential run.

John Edwards just wrote one, Barack Obama’s is a bestseller, Hillary Clinton has penned four, John McCain seven.

Now Congressman Jay Inslee’s putting out a book, but he isn’t trying to scribble his way into the Oval Office. He’s got his eye on the cozy couch next to the high priestess of the daytime faithful.

“My highest ambition is to get on Oprah,” said the Bainbridge Democrat on Wednesday.

Inslee, with his tentatively-titled “Apollo’s Fire: Igniting America’s Clean Energy Revolution,” is seeking the widest audience possible to promote his plans for fighting global warming and jumpstarting a domestic alternative fuel industry.

Getting his book listed on Oprah’s coveted book club would be a boon for the book and Inslee’s related efforts in Congress.

“One purpose for this book is to advance my legislative goals and get people more optimistic about improving our economy while dealing with global warming,” he said.

Set for release this fall, Inslee is putting the final touches on the 250-300 page book with co-author Bracken Hendricks.

A former Clinton Administration staffer, Hendricks has published numerous articles in The Nation, American Prospect, Yes! Magazine and other publications. He currently heads the Apollo Alliance, a group aimed at rejuvenating the national economy with a new generation of industrial jobs in solar, wind and other renewable energy sources.

“There’s a lot of insecurity around oil and we’re at a major economic transition period,” Hendricks said. “We want to show people that we can have good jobs, (improve) our national security and do something about the impact of climate change.”

The book is based on phone interviews and site visits with entrepreneurs, inventors and scientists on the cutting edge of “clean energy” field.

“It’s a wholesale review of new development,” Inslee said. “There’s a whole universe of technology out there that we wanted people to know about.”

The book will tell the stories of ethanol producers in the Heartland and biodiesel manufacturers in Grays Harbor. Inslee aims to also touch upon emerging innovations in lithium ion batteries, solar cell nanotechnology, solar thermal plants and efforts to harness wave energy.

Inslee and Bracken began work on the book about a year ago. They’ve swapped drafts and edited each other’s work, with both sharing equal duty in the book’s production.

“It’s been tremendously collaborative,” said Inslee. “We’ve each had a hand in every chapter.”

Bracken said the book should appeal to readers interested in the intersection of politics, economics and the environment. Fans of Jared Diamond’s “Collapse” should find “Apollo’s Fire” an interesting read, Inslee said.

“This is for people interested in climate change, but not necessarily steeped in it,” he said.

Inslee has worked for more than two years on the related New Apollo Energy Act, which would use tax incentives and energy performance standards to create more clean energy manufacturing jobs, decrease dependence on foreign oil, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The effort was inspired by Project Apollo, John F. Kennedy’s ambitious goal in 1962 to marshall the country’s resources to put an American on the Moon.

“Kennedy rallied the nation to win the space race in the 1960s,” said Inslee. “Now we need national leadership to rally and unify us toward a solution to climate change and the health of our communities and economy.”