. >> host: next question from steve mufson. >> of course, we talk about the economic basis a lot, and one of the things is you start to think about the climate and environmental dimension. this is different than what was in "the prize" of course which was focused on oil, but it does seem as though it's hard to separate that from the climate issue now and environmental issues. >>ing right. >> host: so this is, of course, not something that's calculated into the price of oil or coal or whatever fossil fuels. and yet also seems to be something we need to think about. what do you tell people when they ask about -- >> guest: well, i think -- >> host: -- expansion versus the new err, era of limit? >> guest: i tell the story of smog in los angeles which was an unsolvable problem. it got solved. it took regulations pushing technology. climate is just a bigger cement, global issue. and i was going to write one chapter on it because i wondered how did climate become such an issue, and i found myself writing six because it was so interesting, and it started with a small band of scientists in the

words" show, we bring an expert along to interview an author, and we're pleased to be joined by steve mufson of "the washington post," the energy reporter. mr. mufson, it's your show -- by the way, you'll see the numbers up on the screen if you would like to talk with daniel yergin as the show goes on. mr. mufson. >> host: thanks, good to be here. good to be with dan since i've known him, knowing dan haseen great,m covering energy again now for "the washington post," and there are very few people who, like dan, can really help frame a lot of the big issues in energy and who can tell the narrative of what's really happened. i think that's part of what makes him unusual. and also he has a sort of holistic approach. there are a lot of energy books out there. people often ask me what kind of book to read, and not that many of them are covering all the geopolitics in a broad way like dan is. but there are a couple of questions i wanted to ask. one, a kind of relatively simple one about the book because i know originally you were interested in history, and you wrote your first book was actually ab