The Precipice by Ben Bova (Review).

Where the moon is considered to be another liveable planet, and the Earth struggling with greenhouse gas issues, Ben Bova has put together a book about the struggle for economic stability, environmental efficiency at the cost of the struggles of the characters in this book. Mr. Humphries, the villain... inheritably rich, the struggling, pretentious billionaire that doesn't know his limits, where greed justifies everything battling the Mr. Randolph, an entrepreneur for the Astro Corporation has developed a nuclear-propulsion spacecraft that would help him reach the Asteroid Belt which would help the earth gather necessary resources to save the earth. Precious metals to keep the steel industry in full swing, finding himself an his crew at the mercy of nanotechnology, the idea that you can deteriorate a metal with a bug goes beyond the imagination. The crew finds refuge at an asteroid that provides protection for some kind of meteor shower, where they get queasy either from low-gravity or radiation, finding them swimming in vomit in their spacesuites. The story goes beyond the possibilities, as the other books I have read by Bova. The whole idea of the earth losing its structure through greenhouse gases is a bit out there for me, but using the science fiction frame-of-mind, makes the book relatable from an Al Gore standpoint. Science Fiction is the key to the imagination, and Ben Bova delivers a good dialogue in the midst of what you learn in this book.