The English middle class is scrutinized in this sprawling account of two families on an affluent Sheffield housing estate. The Sellerses, carried north by a job transfer with “the Electricity,” arrive on Rayfield Avenue in 1974, just as Katherine Glover is stamping to death her youngest child’s illicit pet snake . . .

Obamas environmental policies are designed to make electricity more expensive.

Occasionally it is a treat to remind ourselves how remarkable some of our most common gadgets are. A typical microwave oven ramps up the electricity from a 120-volt wall outlet to an incredible 3,000 volts or more and safely cooks food in just a minute or two, yet it costs less than a pair of good shoes. And we can watch the show through the handy window.

Coal-fired power plants produce more than 70 percent of China’s electricity--and its infamous smog and child health issues--recently vaulting China past the U.S. as the world’s largest carbon dioxide emitter. In response, the government has launched work on a pilot plant dubbed GreenGen that would eventually capture and permanently store CO2 emissions.