We traveled to the Popular Mechanics Breakthrough Conference in New York, and talked to energy efficiency guru Amory Lovins of the Rocky Mountain Institute, MacArthur Genius Award winner and science educator Shawn Carlson, and appropriate-technology entrepreneur Shawn Frayne. It’s a fascinating discussion of everything from how America can save energy and protect the environment without sacrificing our lifestyle, to ways of helping the third world, to techniques for energizing American students’ interest in science and technology.

Amory Lovins’ website: Winning the Oil Endgame. Shawn Frayne’s website: Humdinger Wind Energy, LLC. Shawn Carlson’s website: Labrats.org. And there’s much more background on all of them at the Popular Mechanics Breakthrough page.

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