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SmartReads is your weekly guide to all things green. This week, you'll find a special Huffington Post book review written by SmartPower president Brian Keane, who has his own book, Green Is Good, arriving in October.

GENERAL GREEN

The Huffington Post: Green Is Good: It's Not an Illusion — I've read several reviews of Ozzie Zehner's book, Green Illusions: The Dirty Secrets of Clean Energy and the Future of Environmentalism, and I must say, they've all been too kind. [August 23, 2012]

Columbia Journalism Review: Candidates clam up on climate — Nary a word has been spoken about climate change on the presidential campaign trail, and it’s a silence that some journalists find deafening. [August 21, 2012]

Cheshire Patch: Cheshire’s Temple Beth David Earns $500 in Energy Efficiency Rewards — With the $500 reward money, Temple Beth David replaced 32 incandescent light bulbs with more efficient compact fluorescents (CFLs) and light emitting diodes (LEDs), leading to an overall wattage reduction of nearly 77 percent. [August 22, 2012]

The Washington Post: Bush Administration 2012 climate emissions goal met — In 2002, the Bush Administration unveiled its climate policy centered around the goal of reducing greenhouse gas intensity 18 percent by 2012. Ten years later (long after most have probably forgotten about it), data indicate the goal has been achieved, at least to an approximate degree. [August 21, 2012]

CLEAN ENERGY

The Boston Globe: Mayor Menino to install solar panels on his house — Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino has been pushing real estate developers and property owners to make their buildings more energy efficient and environmentally friendly. Now he’s going green at home, too: Menino is installing solar panels on the roof of his home to help promote a state program that makes it cheaper for residents to go solar. [August 23, 2012]

Durham Patch: Solarize Durham - Why not? — Why not solar? Views of mountain top mining, fracking disasters and oil spills make this technology look pretty darn good. [August 16, 2012]

EIA: Natural gas, renewables dominate electric capacity additions in first half of 2012 — During the first half of 2012, 165 new electric power generators were added in 33 states, for a total of 8,098 megawatts (MW) of new capacity. Of the ten states with the highest levels of capacity additions, most of the new capacity uses natural gas or renewable energy sources. [August 20, 2012]

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

NPR: Don't Charge That Electric Car Battery; Just Change It — It looks like a bright new car wash, but it's a battery swapping station for electric cars in Israel. When a vehicle pulls up, it is slowly pulled through a conveyor. The spent battery is taken out and replaced with one that is fully charged. The entire process takes less than five minutes. [August 21, 2012]

From Romney running against the wind in Iowa to a solar opponent's lost election in Florida, clean energy has overcome some heated political battles this week. Send us your favorite stories on Twitter using the hashtag #SmartReads.

NPR: Obama Backs Wind Energy, Romney Favors Coal — President Obama was in Iowa Tuesday, touting the electric potential of wind power. Republican rival Mitt Romney was in Ohio, talking up coal. Each candidate accused the other of standing in the way of the rival energy source. [August 15, 2012]

POLITICO: Cliff Stearns Concedes in GOP Primary — The outcome in Tuesday’s election was an unexpected fall from power for Stearns, who had used his chairmanship of a key House Energy and Commerce subcommittee to put the White House on the hot seat over Solyndra and help trigger this year's Komen-Planned Parenthood blow-up. [August 15, 2012]

The New York Times: Mine Plan Puts Two Kentucky Fixtures on Collision Course — The signs begin around Girl Scout Road, yellow placards dotting yards and affixed to trees along Route 231 here. “No Coal Trucks” they say, or, more to the point, “Stop Strip Mining.” [August 14, 2012]

Bloomberg: Solar Company to Create More Than 300 Jobs in NC — A designer and manufacturer of solar power mounting systems plans will set up its U.S. headquarters in Shelby, N.C. and create more than 300 jobs at a production and distribution facility.[August 14, 2012]

We're in the heat of summer and SmartReads is keeping it cool with the latest clean energy and energy efficiency news. Take a look at this week's top energy stories and tweet your favorites to @SmartPower_org using the hashtag #SmartReads!

CLEAN ENERGY

Fairfield Daily Voice: Program Offers Solar Power Discount To Fairfield - Fairfield homeowners now have the chance to add more solar-powered electricity to their homes for cheaper prices. Fairfield is one of four towns chosen to test-run Solarize Connecticut, a new green energy program. [July 24, 2012]

Westport News: Westport Chosen for Solar Program - "This is to bear proof to the markets that aggregating customer demand for residential PV installation will result in real cost savings," authority spokesman David Goldberg said. [July 26, 2012]

Department of Energy: All Eyes on Eastport: Tidal Energy Project Brings Change, Opportunity to Local Community - In Eastport, Maine, people are gathering to celebrate a project that will harness the power of the massive tides of Cobscook Bay to generate clean electricity. [July 24, 2012]

Knovel: Transparent Solar Cells Could Make Windows Into A Power Source - Over the past few years, the U.S. has already become a growing player in the solar energy industry, with states like New Jersey and California seeing solar panels cropping up on rooftops from houses to warehouses. [July 24, 2012]

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

POLITICO: Things Are Looking Up for EVs — "Plug-in electric vehicle sales continue to increase, with sales growth outpacing that of gasoline hybrid electric vehicles when they were first introduced. We expect to see this trend continue, as several new vehicle models were introduced earlier this year, providing additional choices for consumers considering electric drive vehicles." [July 26, 2012]

GENERAL GREEN

The New York Times: Money Helps Miss. Colleges Cut Energy Usage - Three Mississippi universities will share in a $725,000 Department of Energy grant to develop programs to reduce energy consumption 20 percent by 2020. [July 26, 2012]

The Wall Street Journal: EU Solar Firms Seek Tariffs on China - European solar-panel makers on Tuesday filed a confidential complaint with European authorities seeking import tariffs on Chinese-made panels, opening a new front in the battle between the West and China over trade in renewable-energy products. [July 24, 2012]