Ted Nace

This article is part of the Coal Issues portal on SourceWatch, a project of Global Energy Monitor and the Center for Media and Democracy. See here for help on adding material to CoalSwarm.

Ted Nace is the author of Climate Hope: On the Front Lines of the Fight Against Coal and Gangs of America: The Rise of Corporate Power and the Disabling of Democracy. According to the website for Gangs of America:

"While working for the U.S. Forest Service during high school, Ted Nace learned about the plans of several major corporations to develop coal strip mines and other energy projects near his hometown of Dickinson, North Dakota. During graduate school, Nace worked for the Environmental Defense Fund, where he helped develop computerized simulations that demonstrated the investor and ratepayer benefits of replacing coal-fired power plants with alternative energy programs. The EDF simulations led to the cancellation of the Allen-Warner Valley Energy System, a coal-based power complex proposed by two California utilities." After completing his graduate studies, Nace worked for the Dakota Resource Council, a citizens’ group concerned about the impacts of energy development on agriculture and rural communities.

"Nace moved to California, where he wrote and edited for PC World, Macworld, and other computer magazines and book publishers. Hoping to create a more supportive environment for authors like himself, he founded Peachpit Press. Under Nace’s leadership, Peachpit developed a number of innovative book series, including Little Books, Visual QuickStart Guides, and Real World Guides. The company won renown for its harmonious and creative arrangements with authors, and it produced dozens of best-sellers. Peachpit outpaced older and larger publishing companies to become the world’s leading source of books on computer graphics and desktop publishing."

"After eleven years as publisher, Nace sold Peachpit Press to British conglomerate Pearson Plc, and he returned to freelance writing. In seeking to understand the institutional structure of power in America, he investigated the historical roots of the corporation, as well as reflecting on his own experiences as a community organizer and a publishing entrepreneur. Gangs of America is the result of that research and reflection."

In December 2007 Nace launched CoalSwarm in partnership with the Center for Media and Democracy as a portal on SourceWatch.

• Director, CoalSwarm

Resources and articles

Related Sourcewatch articles

• Coal Moratorium Now!

Articles

• "Breadbasket of Democracy," Orion Magazine, May/June 2006
• "Stopping Coal in Its Tracks: Loosely affiliated activists draw a hard line -- and hold it," Orion Magazine, January/February, 2008
• "Meet the Boomers: What's the best way to phase out the huge fleet of aging coal plants?", Grist, November 11, 2008.
• "Corporations Unleashed: Landmark supreme court decision to allow unlimited spending in federal elections," The Indypendent, February 19, 2010
• "Death of a Thousand Cuts: A Messy But Practical Strategy for Phasing out the U.S. Coal Fleet," Grist, March 20, 2010.
• "Ready to Rumble: A Global Movement is Bringing Down King Coal - One Power Plant at a Time," Earth Island Journal, Summer 2010
• "Does Activism Work in Combating Climate Change?" CSRwire Talkback, March 28, 2010
• "Cash for Coal Clunkers: We Should Pay to Shut Down Dirty Old Coal Plants," Grist, August 31, 2010
• "The Myth of 'Concentrated Energy:' Which has a bigger footprint, a coal plant or a solar farm?" Grist, November 17, 2010

Books

• Climate Hope: On the Front Lines of the Fight Against Coal (CoalSwarm, 2010)
• Gangs of America: The Rise of Corporate Power and the Disabling of Democracy (Berrett-Koehler, 2003, 2005)

Interviews

• Joshua Frank, "Calling for a Coal Moratorium: An Interview with Ted Nace," CounterPunch, April 24-26, 2009
• Cameron Scott, "The Anti-Coal Movement's SF Nerve Center," Thin Green Line, March 23, 2009
• Christine Shearer, "The Coal War: Interview with Climate Hope Author Ted Nace," Conducive, January 14, 2010
• Martha Baskin, "Climate Hope: On the Front Lines of the Fight Against Coal," Green Acres Radio, April 8, 2010
• Lester Graham, "Coal Power Plants Go Up in Smoke," The Environment Report, May 28, 2010
• Sue Supriano, "Ted Nace: Interview with Author of Gangs of America: The Rise of Corporate Power and the Disabling of Democracy," Steppin' Out of Babylon, January 1, 2004
• Alex Smith, "Hot Climate Activism," Radio Ecoshock, February 23, 2010
• Alex Rheannon, "Coal Wars in the Mines and the Streets," Writer's Voice, April 14, 2010
• "Against the Grain Radio Interview," KPFA, December 23, 2009

Op Eds

• "Time for Washington State to Move Beyond Coal," Seattle Times, May 21, 2010

Other

• Mark Engler, "Climate Hope: On the front lines in the fight against coal," Yes! Magazine, September 29, 2010

General Resources

• "Constitutional Laws and Criminal Procedures," Aizman Schiffman