This Moment on Earth: Today's New Environmentalists and Their Vision for the Future

Book Description

An inspiring celebration of courageous American innovators who are transforming the way we protect and care for the world we live in.

The environment, and the movement that grew up to protect it, is under attack--concerted and purposeful. Yet the need for solutions to pressing environmental problems grows more urgent each day. Teresa Heinz Kerry and Senator John Kerry traveled across the country in a national campaign to see at first hand how these issues unite people across party and ideological lines. From the San Juan Basin to the Gulf of Mexico to the South Bronx, from mothers on Cape Cod to Colorado ranchers, they found a vibrant coalition of people and communities deploying ingenuity, technology, and sheer will power to save the world they know and love. Now, in this passionate and personal book, Senator John Kerry and Teresa Heinz Kerry shine the spotlight on an inspiring crosssection of these new environmental pioneers.

The book combines intensive research with keenly observed personal experiences to present a portrait of Americans devoted to the natural diversity and spectacular uniqueness of our country. It also includes an extensive guide on where and how readers can get involved.

Customer Reviews:

May A Republican Say Something?.......2007-10-06

Senator Kerry, this is one of the best books I've read in a long time, and I read a lot of books. The common sense, lack of passion, and optimism did my old heart good. Since I'm not as optimistic as you, I believe if we're to come out of this tailspin that my party has put us in, your approach, not mine, is the key. As a Vietnam veteran who was shot down twice in Vietnam 1968-69, I hope you understand that the Swift Boat guys were exploited by sociopaths. The weak minded simply cannot refuse even the briefest moment in the limelight. They well forsake God and country without hesitation. Supporting you in 2004 has turned out to be one of the smartest things I have ever done. Believe me, it wasn't easy. It temporarily cost me the goodwill of friends and family. Thousands of Americans are still cheering Bush and Cheney not even aware that all their savings may be wiped out before these two leave office. Saudi Arabia on this very day--10/06/2007--has refused to cut interest rates in lockstep with the US Federal Reserve for the first time, signaling that the oil-rich Gulf kingdom is preparing to break the dollar currency peg in a move that risks setting off a stampede out of the dollar across the Middle East. As you know, Israel has already refused aid (free money) in Dollars. When Americans turned their backs on International laws, they turned their backs on God's laws as well. The price for doing so will be incomprehensible for most. Another book, please.

Required Reading.......2007-08-08

The material in this book should be put in the public's face daily via media, billboards, etc. It should be required reading. Every mother should understand that a disposable diaper takes 500 years to biodegrade (and as those chemicals in the diaper biodegrade, they pollute and cause potential carcinogens).

I would not call the book "bipartisan" as per some of the other reviews, and I think its bashing of the Bush administration (even though I am not a fan) detracted from the overall book. However, it is important reading; it had an impact on my behavior.

Stories of Hope.......2007-08-02

I was a little skeptical with this book being written by John Kerry. I wasn't sure what to expect. It gives some really good stories of everyday people who just wanted to make a change for the better. They weren't any sort of extremists or hippies. Just people with common sense and the determination to stand up for their right to live in a clean world.

KERRY gETS IT RIGHT.......2007-06-18

Kerry analyzes today;s environmental experts and gets it right. The book is passionate, well researched, spot on and well written. I was pleasantly surprised.

I think Kerry was at his best early in the book when he evaluated some of the current plans for saving the Earth. He got a little off track as the book progressed, then veered back on track in the last 100 pages.

I highly recommend this book for anybody who cares about the planet. Also recommended: "Earth In The Balance" by Al Gore. Earth in the Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit

Encouragement for activism.......2007-06-09

This book is both inspiring and upsetting. Inspiring for the stories of success in opposing pollution and degradation of the environment and restoration to a more healthy one. It is upsetting to read of the abuses and pollution creating dangerous places to live.

It is a call to action that we all need to consider. I got many good ideas about issues I hadn't thought about and it made me think about my local situation. It's good to know people have won battles and corrected abuses.

The Politically Incorrect Guide to Global Warming (and Environmentalism)

Average customer rating:

Trolls
Good Book
Exceedingly one-sided attempt to suggest warming is beneficial and/or not man-made
What the media won't tell you about this farce called globla warming
Politically Incorrect Guide to Global Warming is Well Written

The Politically Incorrect Guide to Global Warming (and Environmentalism)
Christopher C. Horner
Manufacturer: Regnery Publishing, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Popular Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

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Unstoppable Global Warming: Every 1,500 Years
The Politically Incorrect Guide to Darwinism and Intelligent Design
America Alone: The End of the World as We Know It
The Politically Incorrect Guide(tm) to Capitalism (Politically Incorrect Guides)
The Truth About Muhammad: Founder of the World's Most Intolerant Religion

ASIN: 1596985011

Book Description

This latest installment in the P.I.G. series provides a provocative, entertaining, and well-documented expose of some of the most shamelessly politicized pseudo-science we are likely to see in our relatively cool lifetimes.

Customer Reviews:

Trolls.......2007-10-12

This book is not only false, but completely irresponsible. The people who wrote this book are probably just a bunch of trolls who are in a tizzy because they don't want to give up their SUV's or their money they are earning from oil.

Good Book.......2007-10-01

It's about time someone brought to light the other side of the story. A must read for liberals.

Exceedingly one-sided attempt to suggest warming is beneficial and/or not man-made.......2007-09-23

The issue of global warming has long been in the news. From the perspective of Australia the issue is critical, as rainfall in my home city of Melbourne has declined by forty percent in the past eleven years. Such a decline is totally unparalleled in the 150 years of instrumental record.

At the same time, the northwest of Australia has seen dramatic increases in rainfall ever since the late 1960s, so much so that seven of its eight wettest years (since 1885) have occurred since 1995.

In this context, even though able usually to listen to anybody (actually, I generally dislike moderate views because they tend to be wishy-washy) it is not possible for me to take most of the claims made by Horner seriously.

Horner's contention, basically, is that global warming is either not man-made or will in the long-term benefit human society. As to the first point, he greatly exaggerates the proportion of greenhouse gases that is naturally occurring. For instance, my prior knowledge of science tell me that it impossible that more than minute quantities (like, say, a few grams per year) of sulfur hexafluoride or other exceedingly potent fluorine-containing greenhouse gases could be naturally produced each year. Because there is no natural sink for them, natural production of fluorine-containing greenhouse gases in the quantities asserted by Horner would inevitably turn the Earth into an inferno with temperatures hot enough, say, to melt copper. He also understates the proportion of other greenhouse gases that are man-made, notably carbon dioxide where emissions from combustion are far greater than those from biological decay, fires, volcanoes and oceanic release.

Horner's viewpoints about the extent and effects of global warming are also very poorly done. For instance, he suggests that increases in global temperatures have been due to closures of stations in the Russian Arctic. As a person with knowledge of how mean temperatures for an area are calculated, I know well that is unlikely unless every single station in Arctic Russia was closed (which is not what he says): the few that remain would be always given greater weight owing to the large areas they represent and the closures would not affect the average. Although he rightly asserts that the Southern Hemisphere is warming much less than the Northern, my knowledge of Australian climatology suggests this is almost certainly due to the large increases in rainfall that have occurred not only over pastoral areas of Western Australia but also in similar latitudes of South America. Large increases in rainfall naturally lead to reduced temperatures because it has become much cloudier. For example, 2000, whilst the fifth warmest year on record globally, was one of the coolest on record in pastoral areas of Western Australia owing to general record-breaking annual rainfall. In areas of Australia that have dried out, there has been as much warming as in the Northern Hemisphere.

Horners' idea about the question of "global cooling" is similarly weak. The issue rose form the fact that it was thought upon studying previous glacial-interglacial cycles where 10,000 years of interglacial were followed by 90,000 years of glacial that we were near the end of the Holocene and that the next ice age was due to begin soon. Recent data show that we are moving towards an era of longer - but cooler - interglacials (and relatively shorter, less cold glacial periods).

Horner's other chief thesis is that warming always benefits civilisations. He cites the effects of the Medieval Warm Period upon European civilisation as an example - for instance the settlement of Greenland by the Norse and its ending with cooling and the Little Ice Age. However, there is little evidence that this rule holds in hotter and more fragile environments. For instance, the Hohokam of Arizona declined after reaching a peak in the eighth century just before the Medieval Warm Period, and some Mesoamerican societies also declined from the ninth century, apparently due to climate change. In any case, because many areas that are major agricultural regions today were not farmed in the Middle Ages, comparisons are not possible.

Horner's viewpoint that reducing greenhouse emissions would be immensely costly is also impossible to accept. Government welfare to polluting corporations is extremely large, as are budgets for building utterly unnecessary freeways. These could easily be completely redirected to supporting renewable energy and public transit at great benefit to everybody except some exceedingly powerful vested interests in car and fossil fuel corporations. Although Horner is actually right in saying the US' per capita emissions show greater decline than Europe's, the difference is not significant and if it reflects anything at all, it is probably the greater willingness of Americans to accept less comfortable lifestyles.

The way in which Horner accepts only the evidence that suits his viewpoints is really the worst kind of science you will ever see. It recurs time and time against throughout this book and for this reason alone I would not recommend "The Politically Incorrect Guide to Global Warming".

What the media won't tell you about this farce called globla warming.......2007-09-22

This book covers all the stuff you need to know to become informed about so called global warming. Yes the climate does change but it is cyclic not due to man made causes!!!! The powers that be that worship this religion are only in it to pick your pockets and gain power!!!

It is a fallacy that man is causing this to the degree that the greens and the great Goreacle want you to believe.

Read this and become informed to put to rest the misinformation that they want you to believe.

Politically Incorrect Guide to Global Warming is Well Written.......2007-09-22

The Politically Incorrect Guide to Global Warming answers the unscientific and alarmist notions by Al Gore and the environmentalists. The book proposes reasoned thought instead of arm-waving and rhetoric. It proposes that no science is "settled" and everything is still open to question and should be studied in order to improve the human condition. The human condition can be improved by studying the previous history of the planet,finding out how the environment changed and adapted through time and various challenges. Tne human condition cannot be improved by adopting some apocalyptic measures thought out at 2 A.M. and not reexamined in the light of day.

Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed

Average customer rating:

Collapse
A Life-Changing Book
Brilliant. Engaging. Informative..
Mostly on the mark
Collapse review

Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed
Jared Diamond
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Early Civilization | Ancient | History | Subjects | Books

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Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies
The Third Chimpanzee: The Evolution and Future of the Human Animal (P.S.)
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The World Is Flat [Updated and Expanded]: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century

ASIN: 0143036556

Amazon.com

Jared Diamond's Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed is the glass-half-empty follow-up to his Pulitzer Prize-winning Guns, Germs, and Steel. While Guns, Germs, and Steel explained the geographic and environmental reasons why some human populations have flourished, Collapse uses the same factors to examine why ancient societies, including the Anasazi of the American Southwest and the Viking colonies of Greenland, as well as modern ones such as Rwanda, have fallen apart. Not every collapse has an environmental origin, but an eco-meltdown is often the main catalyst, he argues, particularly when combined with society's response to (or disregard for) the coming disaster. Still, right from the outset of Collapse, the author makes clear that this is not a mere environmentalist's diatribe. He begins by setting the book's main question in the small communities of present-day Montana as they face a decline in living standards and a depletion of natural resources. Once-vital mines now leak toxins into the soil, while prion diseases infect some deer and elk and older hydroelectric dams have become decrepit. On all these issues, and particularly with the hot-button topic of logging and wildfires, Diamond writes with equanimity.

Because he's addressing such significant issues within a vast span of time, Diamond can occasionally speak too briefly and assume too much, and at times his shorthand remarks may cause careful readers to raise an eyebrow. But in general, Diamond provides fine and well-reasoned historical examples, making the case that many times, economic and environmental concerns are one and the same. With Collapse, Diamond hopes to jog our collective memory to keep us from falling for false analogies or forgetting prior experiences, and thereby save us from potential devastations to come. While it might seem a stretch to use medieval Greenland and the Maya to convince a skeptic about the seriousness of global warming, it's exactly this type of cross-referencing that makes Collapse so compelling. --Jennifer Buckendorff

Book Description

In his runaway bestseller Guns, Germs, and Steel, Jared Diamond brilliantly examined the circumstances that allowed Western civilizations to dominate much of the world. Now he probes the other side of the equation: What caused some of the great civilizations of the past to fall into ruin, and what can we learn from their fates? Using a vast historical and geographical perspective ranging from Easter Island and the Maya to Viking Greenland and modern Montana, Diamond traces a fundamental pattern of environmental catastropheÂ—one whose warning signs can be seen in our modern world and that we ignore at our peril. Blending the most recent scientific advances into a narrative that is impossible to put down, Collapse exposes the deepest mysteries of the past even as it offers hope for the future.

Â“DiamondÂ's most influential gift may be his ability to write about geopolitical and environmental systems in ways that donÂ't just educate and provoke, but entertain.Â” Â—The Seattle Times

Â“Extremely persuasive . . . replete with fascinating stories, a treasure trove of historical anecdotes [and] haunting statistics.Â” Â—The Boston Globe

Â“Extraordinary in erudition and originality, compelling in [its] ability to relate the digitized pandemonium of the present to the hushed agrarian sunrises of the far past.Â” Â—The New York Times Book Review

Customer Reviews:

Collapse.......2007-10-17

The author did research into the ancient societies to come up with some lessons for our own future. Very interesting reading.

A Life-Changing Book.......2007-10-13

This extraordinary book will change the way you look at life and man's fate. Unlike Al Gore, Diamond deliberately under-argues his case, which makes it all the more compelling. And unlike Gore, he does not open himself to easy and cheap criticism by focusing on just one factor like climactic warming. He clearly believes in global warming from man-made effects. But what he demonstrates is the full range of our environmental quandary.

Putting aside global warming, how do we deal with the inherent limits on absolutely vital commodities -- sunlight, fossil fuels, fresh water,building materials, clean air, clean water, good land, the productive value of agricultural land? Then he shows the pressure of and irreversible momentum of population growth and the ambition of third world peoples to achieve the standard of living of first world peoples. Then he shows how even the first world cannot continue to sustain that standard.

Combined with this are the examples of past civlizations that failed by not solving their environmental problems. Most chilling is how those societies could remain in denial and do nothing until too late.

Diamond does include examples of successful societies that managed their environmental challenges. And he professes to be an optimist. But I find myself increasingly pessimistic about man's fate after reading this book. The Earth is a jealous mistress, and we cannot afford to take her for granted and to ignore the fragility of the environment and resources on which we depend.

The book is also extraordinary for its exploration of political and cultural issues. One of the most interesting chapters is his comparison of the Dominican Republic and Haiti -- two very different societies on two halves of the same island. He argues quite convincingly that the very different fates of the two societies are attributable to political, historical, and cultural developments. Though there are some differences between each half of the island, each is blessed with the same essential environment. Hence this is a great test case for proving or disproving environmental determinism -- and Diamond comes out against determinism.

Similarly compelling is the Rwanda chapter, which demonstrates that while the small differences and petty resentments between races can be the spark for genocidal conflict, race really doesn't explain the conflict. What explains the conflict is political manipulation of race and the great pressure asserted by declining wealth and resource limitations.

Diamond predicts that wars may well become more common in the new century given the competition for resources. This is a depressing observation for those who hoped that the lessons of the Twentieth Century would make wars far less common.

This is a terrific book and a must-read.

Brilliant. Engaging. Informative.........2007-10-01

Amazing book. He manages to hold my interest while providing a wealth of facts.

Mostly on the mark.......2007-09-28

Diamond hits pretty much on the mark all the way across the board. Weakness: for the most part ignores or minimizes the effect of marketing/advertising/propaganda on human consumption patterns. Strengths: one of the few books on this broad subject that actually deals with over-population; indeed, had he concentrated more on this one most important issue, I would have given "Collapse" 5 stars.

I would strongly recommend this book for anyone concerned with the future of the human race.

Collapse review.......2007-09-24

Another excellent book. I realized when I bought this book that I own and have enjoyed all of Jared Diamond's books. His topics and hypostheses are fascinating and compelling.

Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution

Average customer rating:

Great book. Innovative and still readable.
Great for Green Building...
Excellent environmental analysis, clear direction!
Great solutions to in-depth problems
A more complete view of the economy

Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution
Paul Hawken , Amory Lovins , and L. Hunter Lovins
Manufacturer: Back Bay Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Economic Policy & Development | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

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Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things
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The Sustainability Revolution: Portrait Of A Paradigm Shift

ASIN: 0316353000

Amazon.com

They call their approach natural capitalism because it's based on the principle that business can be good for the environment. For instance, Interface of Atlanta doubled revenues and employment and tripled profits by creating an environmentally friendly system of recycling floor coverings for businesses. The authors also describe how the next generation of cars is closer than we might think. Manufacturers are already perfecting vehicles that are ultralight, aerodynamic, and fueled by hybrid gas-electric systems. If natural capitalism continues to blossom, so much money and resources will be saved that societies will be able to focus on issues such as housing, contend Hawken, author of a book and PBS series called Growing a Business, and the Lovinses, who cofounded and directed the Rocky Mountain Institute, an environmental think tank. The book is a fascinating and provocative read for public-policy makers, as well as environmentalists and capitalists alike. --Dan Ring

Book Description

In Natural Capitalism, three top strategists show how leading-edge companies are practicing "a new type of industrialism" that is more efficient and profitable while saving the environment and creating jobs. Paul Hawken and Amory and Hunter Lovins write that in the next century, cars will get 200 miles per gallon without compromising safety and power, manufacturers will relentlessly recycle their products, and the world's standard of living will jump without further damaging natural resources. "Is this the vision of a utopia?In fact, the changes described here could come about in the decades to come as the result of economic and technological trends already in place," the authors write.They call their approach natural capitalism because it's based on the principle that business can be good for the environment. For instance, Interface of Atlanta doubled revenues and employment and tripled profits by creating an environmentally friendly system of recycling floor coverings for businesses. The authors also describe how the next generation of cars is closer than we might think. Manufacturers are already perfecting vehicles that are ultralight, aerodynamic, and fueled by hybrid gas-electric systems. If natural capitalism continues to blossom, so much money and resources will be saved that societies will be able to focus on issues such as housing, contend Hawken, author of a book and PBS series called Growing a Business, and the Lovinses, who cofounded and directed the Rocky Mountain Institute, an environmental think tank. The book is a fascinating and provocative read for public-policy makers, as well as environmentalists and capitalists alike. --Dan Ring

Customer Reviews:

Great book. Innovative and still readable. .......2007-10-10

This is more than one book's worth of information. Years of research and innovation are woven together tightly and the result is an extremely informative book that is also a page turner.

The book includes enough technical detail to be of use to current experts in the field and the writing makes the data accessible to the newbie as well.

This would be a particularly good read for anyone in business who's looking to improve the bottom line while simultanteously lessoning the negative impact of operations on the planet. The authors show clearly how businesses can reduce costs by implementing eco-friendly practices.

Great for Green Building..........2007-10-05

this is a great resource for anyone wanting to learn more about sustainable building practices and how they can affect your bottom line. I recommend it for architects, designers and developers alike.

Excellent environmental analysis, clear direction!.......2007-10-04

This book provides a wealth of environmental analysis, including well-considered advice for policymakers at every level (from federal down to county). Also there is solid information for residential/condominium owners. The section that describes and designs how low-end residential units can sell energy back to the grid and raise their standard of living was exceptionally well-written. I am still reading the rest of the book and have not stopped since I first picked it up.

Great solutions to in-depth problems.......2007-09-30

I've only read the first two chapters, but its very motivating. The authors creatively give solutions to the environmental problems of the world. They fully understand the problems at hand, analyze them completely and give valuable ideas for probably and realistic solutions.

A more complete view of the economy.......2007-09-19

This book shows how our current view of the environment is flawed. It brings us from viewing the environment as something too vast to be harmed, to understanding that technology has given humanity the ability to profoundly affect the environment. The book presents a good argument as to why we need to see nature as part of the economic cycle and factor its use into how we use and manage the earth's resources.

Resources of the Earth: Origin, Use, and Environmental Impact (3rd Edition)

Average customer rating:

Readable text- odd images

Resources of the Earth: Origin, Use, and Environmental Impact (3rd Edition)
James R. Craig , David J. Vaughan , Brian J. Skinner , and David Vaughan
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Similar Items:

Earth Structure: An Introduction to Structural Geology and Tectonics
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ASIN: 0130834106

Book Description

Extensively illustrated, balanced, broad-based, and up-to-date, this book explores the nature and critical issues of all major types of earth resources--energy, metallic, nonmetallic, water, soil--and the impacts that resource usage has on the earth environment. It provides geologic background of resource formation and occurrence of most of the various types of resources; offers an international perspective; discusses resources not only from the scientific point of view, but also from the point of economic, political, historical considerations; and considers how the extraction and use of the resources creates impacts--local or global, immediate or delayed, visible or invisible, singular or cumulative. Minerals: The Foundations of Society. Plate Tectonics and The Origins of Mineral Resources. Earth's Resources Through History. Environmental Impacts of Resource Exploitation and Use. Energy from Fossil Fuels. Nuclear Power and Alternative Energy Sources. Abundant Metals. The Geochemically Scare Metals. Fertilizer and Chemical Minerals. Building Materials and Other Industrial Minerals. Water Resources. Soil as a Resource. Future Resources. For anyone interested in earth resources.

Customer Reviews:

Readable text- odd images.......2006-10-29

I enjoyed reading about natural resources in this textbook format, and have gone back to re-read chapters repeatedly. I found this text's approach much more enjoyable and enlightening than my prep school or college geology studies. However, the page layout of the images seemed amateurish:some photographs images were distored to fit the page.

Living in the Environment: Principles, Connections, and Solutions (with CD-ROM and InfoTrac)

Average customer rating:

made me angry
Policical retoric and not science
Good Practical Book
Schoolbook review
Reviews, anyone?

Living in the Environment: Principles, Connections, and Solutions (with CD-ROM and InfoTrac)
G. Tyler Miller Jr.
Manufacturer: Brooks Cole
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Sustainable Development | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

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Book Description

Miller's LIVING IN THE ENVIRONMENT, 14th Edition is the most comprehensive and up-to-date environmental science text on the market. It has the most balanced approach to environmental science instruction, with bias-free comparative diagrams throughout and a focus on prevention of and solutions to environmental problems. Tyler Miller is the most successful author in academic writing on environmental science because of his attention to currency, trend setting presentation of content, ability to predict student and instructor needs for new and different supplements, and his ability to retain the hallmarks on which instructors have come to depend. The content in the 14th edition of LIVING IN THE ENVIRONMENT is everything you have come to expect and more. In this edition, the author has added the "How Would You Vote?" feature, which is an application of environmental science-related topics in the news. Students apply their environmental science knowledge from the book to a Web activity, which helps them investigate environmental science issues in a structured manner. They then cast their votes on the Web. Results are then tallied. Also found at the Miller website is the much used "Updates on Line." Updated twice a year with articles from InfoTrac College Edition service, CNNÂ® Today Video Clips, and Web links, instructors can seamlessly incorporate the most current news articles and research findings to support text presentations. This is a time saver for instructors and part-time teachers who can quickly determine what ancillary materials they want to utilize in just minutes. As with the last edition, this text is packaged with a free Student CD-ROM entitled "Interactive Concepts in Environmental Science." Organized by chapter, the CD gives students links to relevant resources, narrated animations, interactive figures, and prompts to review material and test themselves.

Customer Reviews:

made me angry.......2007-09-23

I have not read the whole book yet, and I have the 2004 edition (#13). I truly hope the newer editions are better. This is a review of Chapter 1 only.

The chapter annoyed me. It even made me angry. It is milquetoast, unable to just say we, the human population, is depleting too many resources to be sustainable. Adding the statement "other analysts do not believe we are living unsustainably" to an Environmental Science textbook is like saying "some people believe the earth is flat," in a geography textbook, or, something that unfortunately seems to happen in some biology textbooks these days, "evolution is just one theory, there are other theories as well, some experts believe god created all life on earth as it is today." A similar statement was made in part 1-6, "Is our Present Course Sustainable?." "Are things getting better or worse? Experts disagree..." Experts paid by huge resource exploiting corporations? Experts who like to bury their heads in the sand?

There were a number of interesting facts in the text that the general statements did not reflect. These inconsistencies really got to me. It seemed as if it were trying to write about what was outside the box but writing from inside the box. I particularly disliked the sentence that included: "... how much more we need to do to help make the earth more sustainable..." Wait a second, if you were writing from a viewpoint that "Nature does not exist just for us and we only think we are in charge. We need the earth, but the earth does not need us," how can you talk about "making the earth more sustainable?" The earth is what it is and is bountiful, it is our resource exploitation and pollution that are not sustainable for human survival.

I found the first part of the side bar "Free-Access Resources and the Tragedy of the Commons" quite interesting, but the second part on solutions seemed to missing a lot. The first of the two listed solutions was: "Use free-access resources at rates well below their estimated sustainable yields or overload limits by reducing population, regulating access, or both." It then went on to say how this is rarely used since it means we would have to establish and enforce rules and regulations, and it is hard to figure out a sustained yield. But it doesn't mention that educating people about these resources that they take for granted could go along way. Also not mentioned is that regulating the devices that allow people to exploit these resources (such as clean air, the atmosphere, water and wildlife) so easily and unthinkingly would be much easier than regulating their actual use. A lot of the resources mentioned are being depleted by pollution not use in a strict sense. The other solution listed is: "Convert free-access resources to private ownership," since if someone owns something they will protect it, has so many problems which are not addressed. The books lists the problem with this solution as being that "it is not practical for global common resources (such as the atmosphere, the open ocean, most wildlife species, and migratory birds) that can not be divided up and converted to private property." What about the fact that people do exploit the resources that they do own, and the fact that it would no doubt cause even more problems with poverty, and sharing things in common is what brings people together as a community (e.g. they all go to the park and see each other), and so many other problems that I get overwhelmed just thinking about them.

There was a lot of talk about overpopulation as a major problem, but not so much talk about overconsumption by certain parts of the population, even though there were sections on this. There was a section on ecological foot print and how the people in the USA have such a large one, but this didn't seem to get integrated into the text. There was also the statement: "Thus poor parents in a developing country would need 70 - 200 children to have the same lifetime resource consumption as 2 children in a typical U.S. family," but there was a lot of emphasis on population as a major problem and how in underdeveloped countries populations are growing as such a fast rate, when slight rises in US middle/upper class populations can make so much more difference. It felt to me like too much blame poor people in poor countries when it is people in the US and corporations based in the US enriching people in the US who are causing so much of the problems, even exporting our TV and advertisements to other countries which makes people want our unsustainable lifestyle.

There was also no mention of empowering women as a major tool to deal with high birthrates. There is overwhelming evidence that when you empower women to choses when they want to get pregnant and give them education and job skills birthrates do down. The paragraph on why poor people have so many children basically says the reason is to have their labor, with no mention of lack of birth control or power of women to make choices. It also seemed racist and disrespectful.

While we are on the subject of racist and disrespectful, what is with the developed and developing labels? The societies in all countries are developed, it is just industrial manufacturing and certain kinds of resource exploitation that are not as developed.

One last perhaps picky complaint. Figure 1-13 mentions "Traditional decision making" and "traditional societies" but it really does not mean traditional, it means modern industrialized hierarchical societies. This may seem picky but I feel it really does matter, we need to keep remembering that these societies we are living in are new, not traditional. True traditional societies did merge social, economic and environmental issues when making decisions, in fact, they did so in all aspects of living their lives. What we need to do is get back to them.

Policical retoric and not science.......2007-04-29

The state of Washington mails each registered voter a "Voter's Pamphlet" with statements for and against each initiative and candidate.

This book has the same format as a page for initiative X complete with rebuttals, but no page against initiative X.

This is completely one sided political rhetoric.

Why are high school students being given 815 pages of brainwashing?

I can understand some political extremest writing this book, but why would the Mercer Island school district buy this book?

I know science.
This ain't science.
Maybe political science.

Good Practical Book.......2007-04-20

Being a chemistry student, I've read this book as part of my classes. I've got to say, it's an excellent book, definitely worth reading by itself. It offers concrete, pragmatic solutions and an unbiased collection of scientificly supported descriptions of environmental problems and how to deal with them. It's also almost completely devoid of gloom and doom, as opposed to some of today's green movements. Very much recommended.

Schoolbook review.......2007-01-03

I found this book to be fairly well written with only a little bias toward evolution, an unproven scientific theory.

Reviews, anyone?.......2006-01-18

This is an excellent textbook, one that I have used in two of my Environmental Science classes (namely, Environmental Problems of Man [Bio 11], and Energy for the Future [Envi Sci 1].) While not completely without bias (which is mostly subtle, and not totally incorrect), the book offers a solid introduction to many environmental issues. The introduction chapter of the textbook states that environmental science is interdisciplinary, and the book is laid out accordingly. Chapters run the gamut from biology, chemisty, simple physics, and pure ecological common sense. An excellent purchase for any serious scientist and/or conscientious environmentalist.

Shattered Consensus: The True State of Global Warming

Average customer rating:

The inconvenient truth about An Inconvenient Truth
Consensus? Right.
Down with Globaloney
Sample of Scientific Discussions
religion of enviromentalism challenged

Shattered Consensus: The True State of Global Warming
Patrick J. Michaels
Manufacturer: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
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ASIN: 0742549232

Book Description

Shattered Consensus: The True State of Global Warming convincingly demonstrates the remarkable differences between what we commonly read about global warming and what is really happening. Nine chapters describe major problems with computer simulations of future climate that are the basis for wrenching policies being proposed by world leaders. Anyone who reads this book will come away with a new appreciation of the complexity of the climate issue and will question the need for expensive policies that are likely to have little or no detectable effect on the planet's temperature. Published in cooperation with the George C. Marshall Institute.

Customer Reviews:

The inconvenient truth about An Inconvenient Truth .......2007-08-06

I highly recommend this book. But I suspect that this book will not appeal to most readers. There's none of the intense hyperbole that infects both global warming fanatics and many of their deniers. There are no grand apocalyptic scenarios that garner such strong public appeal. No terrifying future, no living on the brink of disaster. Only quiet nuanced science from those who spend their life in research. One suspects that the politics of global warming has now superseded the science and sad to say, when politics enters the room, truth shuffles its way into the background. This is unfortunate since there are many things about the environment with which we should be concerned - not the least being our consumption of non renewable resources. My fervent hope is that we can move past the exaggerated apocalypse of global warming while addressing the necessary issues of the environment - i.e., the rest of the environment aside from climate change.
In this case of Shattered Consensus, all ten contributors are scientists and experts in their field. Each chapter, and scientific report, covers a separate and distinct aspect of climate. This is really a collection of reports, not a coherent "story". Each contributor has their own style, some being more accessible than others. They present the science as they understand it and in that regard the average reader may find the information dry, or indeed undecipherable. Most of the ten authors include a short conclusion which may be helpful for those unwilling to plow through the science. Nonetheless the reader is left in the end overwhelmed not by the certainty of any position, but by the staggering uncertainty in all aspects related to this Earth's climate. Our ability to measure past trends in climate are dependent on woefully scant data. Our ability to project future trends have no unambiguous models yet. In fact, the variability of the results of the different models are so big as to render them basically useless for anything other than further research. They certainly shouldn't be used to make definitive statements as to future trends. The effects of CO2 are still highly uncertain with some models suggesting no impact and some observations linking CO2 to an indicator of climate change not a driver - i.e., CO2 changes as a result of climate change, not the other way around. Much more research is needed to understand why these discrepancies are observed. Even if global warming is happening, and even if CO2 is at least partly to blame, the impact of global warming in some scenarios is actually beneficial to not only humans, but to some species. Indeed, in all of Earth's history through warming and cooling periods, some species benefit and other lose.
The reader is left with the question, since scientists tell us that the unknowns vastly outweigh the things that are known about climate, what should our policy decisions making framework be based on. Is seems to me that we need to base it on what is known. Air quality, water quality, land use, availability of non renewable resources, are all things we can measure and for which policies can be made. Having a single enemy (CO2, in this case) is certainly more appealing and simple for the average consumer to understand. But simple is not always best.
It should be noted that none of these scientists is involved in the petroleum industry (a favorite disclaimer by those wanting to discredit the validity of anyone critical of global warming science). Some have even been involved in the IPCC directly (the UN Intergovernmental protocol on climate change). Scientists are by nature a conservative lot. A hypothesis lasts as long as the next set of experiments that disprove it, or tenuously as long as further experiments continue to confirm it. Most scientists don't seek a public profile and most are uncomfortable playing the role of a nay-sayer, especially in the face of such publicly popular resources as Al Gore's an Inconvenient Truth. I will rely on the scientific truth to work its way to the surface. I just hope we don't waste too much in the way of public funds on chasing windmills when there are so many important issues in this world that need attention.

Consensus? Right........2007-04-18

This book perfectly illustrates how there is dissent in the thinking of many climate scientists, showing information that proves there is no consensus, or at least none as to the overall causes, specific effects and actions to take on "anthropogenic global warming".

It's like the AAAS's 'Science' magazine publishing an op/ed in their "Essays on Science and Society" section by Naomi Oreskes (Associate professor of history and director of the Program in Science Studies at the University of California at the time). In that piece, it was reported an analysis was made of abstracts in the ISI database under science and with the phrase "global climate change" in them. The keywords specified in the op/ed 3 times were "climate change" (In another issue of 'Science' that was corrected to "global climate change". I would include that, but you have to join AAAS to get to it.) Her closing paragraph in the essay uses the words "anthropogenic climate change".

Although she takes quite a while to say it, in two or more convoluted paragraphs, she claims consensus because of the actions of some organizations; that we can prove statements and reports by the AMS, AGU, AAAS and others don't downplay legitimate disenting opinions, thus proving a consensus. I'm not sure I follow that train of logic, but there you go.

So, how does she "prove" it? By grabbing those publications that are in the ISI database that are in the science section and have abstracts that have the words "global climate change" in the abstract. Do those contradict what the organizations say? No? Consensus!

Not in ISI database? Not in science section? No abstract? Doesn't have "global climate change" in the abstract? Not looked at.

She does make two interesting points in her closing paragraph, although the two have nothing to do with each other. I've broken the paragraph into the two points; while the first is true, the second is not anything she's proven in the op/ed (although it seems she's hoping we will think so):

1. Many details about climate interactions are not well understood, and there are ample grounds for continued research to provide a better basis for understanding climate dynamics. The question of what to do about climate change is also still open.

2. But there is a scientific consensus on the reality of anthropogenic climate change. Climate scientists have repeatedly tried to make this clear. It is time for the rest of us to listen.

That op/ed, Richard Lindzen's op/ed in the WSJ and her rebuttal op/ed in the Washington Post, as well as letters between Roger Pielke Jr and her printed in 'Science' give even more light on the entire issue of the lack of a consensus and the lengths the cult of global warming will go to to keep everyone thinking there is. This book goes a long way towards fighting the misconceptions, and is an excellent strike in the battle against global warming propaganda.

[...]

Down with Globaloney.......2007-04-03

Point-by-point rebuttal of the fallacy of ''global warming''/''climate change'' brought about by human endeavors. Puts paid to AlGores' Oscar-winning docufantasy. Yes, all of us anti-global warming folks are in the pay of Giant Oil and the moral equivalent of Holocaust deniers. NOT!!! Your belief in half-baked computer models (as opposed to real-life atmospheric happenings) and over-blown do-gooder falsehoods doesn't make ''global warming'' a catastrophic happening.

Sample of Scientific Discussions.......2007-03-14

Interesting series of papers on topics of ongoing discussion regarding global warming. The title is a bit overblown, but I guess it matches the assumption, so often printed over and over in the media, that there is a consensus on global warming (or more correctly, human-caused global warming). There's lots of citations given and places to dig into this as deep as you want. I particularly like the part about trying to develop some sort of heat balance between the earth's surface, the various layers in the atmosphere, and the universe to which the earth radiates heat, and all the unexplained measurement error and missing information associated with that.

There was allusion to the plans to try to "Command and Control" the world's economy, based on averting global warming, basically concluding that nothing we can do will change the outcome much anyway, at least in any predictable way. It makes one wonder if the global warming phenomena is being used as a pretext to try "Command and Control" again. This book does not really get into that, but does give a taste of endless unresolved topics associated with global warming.

religion of enviromentalism challenged.......2007-03-01

any book that challenges to apriori assumptions of the enviromentalist religious dogma of man made global warming is needed. Al Gore and his celebrity loving, psuedo scientific friends need to be mocked for their hypocrisy and stupidity

Field Notes from a Catastrophe: Man, Nature, and Climate Change

Average customer rating:

Eloquent But Only Notes
This is the University of Washington common book for 2007-8
An Extraordinary Work: Important and Readable
Some very misleading reviews here
Climate has never been "stable"

Field Notes from a Catastrophe: Man, Nature, and Climate Change
Elizabeth Kolbert
Manufacturer: Bloomsbury USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The Weather Makers : How Man Is Changing the Climate and What It Means for Life on Earth
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The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals
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ASIN: 1596911301
Release Date: 2006-12-26

Book Description

Long known for her insightful and thought-provoking political journalism, author Elizabeth Kolbert now tackles the controversial and increasingly urgent subject of global warming. In what began as groundbreaking three-part series in the New Yorker, for which she won a National Magazine Award in 2006, Kolbert cuts through the competing rhetoric and political agendas to elucidate for Americans what is really going on with the global environment and asks what, if anything, can be done to save our planet. Now updated and with a new afterword, Field Notes from a Catastrophe is the book to read on the defining issue and greatest challenge of our times.

Customer Reviews:

Eloquent But Only Notes.......2007-10-09

The title of this book is apt: Field Notes. Whether the word Catastrophe is equally apt, or merely good salesmanship, can be left undecided for the moment. Chapter by chapter, Ms Kolbert has written honestly and earnestly. Chapter 2, for instance, recounts the historical development of the concern over global warming, clearly and fairly, in a mere nine pages. Chapter 3 outlines the recent studies of glaciers, and the possible implications of those studies, with equal brevity and clarity. Chapter 1 sets a passionate tone for the whole book, confronting the fearful sense of global warming at the level of villagers whose lives are already impacted; I have kayaked many times in the Seward Peninsula region, over a span of 25 years, and I've personally felt the real urgency that Ms. Kolbert reports. Each chapter of the book is in fact an essay unto itself. Ms. Kolbert is a front-line journalist, not a climatologist. That is the source of her stylistic clarity, obviously, and of her daring in reporting on the crisis at multiple levels. It also makes her vulnerable to the dogmatic deniers of anthropogenic climate change, as is colorfully exhibited in the several ranting one-star reviews on this page.

This is the University of Washington common book for 2007-8.......2007-10-04

The University of Washington has selected this book as its "Common Book" for the 2007-2008 academic year. That means each of the UW's 10,000+ incoming freshman this year have received a copy of the book and are reading it.

An Extraordinary Work: Important and Readable.......2007-09-23

`Field Notes From a Catastrophe' is Elizabeth Kolbert's masterpiece of conciseness and clarity explaining current climate change science and the political obstacles (read the US, Republicans, and Bush Administration in ascending order) to getting serious about attacking the problem. Originally published in 2005, the paperback version has an afterword written in 2006.

Kolbert takes a journalist's approach to explaining the climate change phenomenon (the book began as a series in the New Yorker). She takes the reader to Shishmaref, Alaska an island village rapidly becoming an untenable place to live due to climate-induced sea ice changes, to the North Slope, to the great Greenland ice shield and she brings the story down to a human scale.

Kolbert also leads the reader through the science of global warming making understandable seemingly arcane topics like "dangerous anthropogenic interference" (DAI), which is basically the point where something truly major goes haywire. Kolbert brings the joy of learning to the reader, until one ponders the potential consequences of what she lays out for us. Perhaps most disturbing is the evidence she marshals that the climate has already changed. For example, the climate has warmed sufficiently to allow numerous butterfly species to migrate to new previously too cold locations and to cause the extinction of certain frog species.

Scientists do not, of course, understand everything about climate change (indeed, it is in the very nature of science that an endpoint of total knowledge is never achieved). Those political and economic forces (primarily in the United States) that benefit from the status quo latch on to the uncertainties to create doubt among the public and forestall action. Her interviews with Bush administration officials strike an odd note - they stonewall with robotic incantations. While Europe and most of industrialized world has acted, the US has dithered, delayed, and denied.

Kolbert explains why scientists conclude that it is virtually certain that under the current `business as usual' approach, greenhouse gas concentrations will reach a level that causes massive coastal flooding, large scale extinctions, and crop failures leading to starvation (DAI). These outcomes will not be evenly distributed and are likely to fall heaviest on the poorest countries. Scientists do not, however, know what level of greenhouse gas concentration will cause these impacts. The Bush administration uses that uncertainty as a reason to do essentially nothing and Congress too has failed to force any action.

Kolbert's book inspires the reader to search out even more current information (NOAA's Arctic Change web site is one good source). And the news is alarming. This stuff is not just a tree hugger's paranoid delusion: global heating is happening, it is happening now, and it is getting worse faster than anticipated.

Kolbert's book is a work of journalism (and given the rapidly changing reality, journalism is probably the best source of information) that informs on both the science and the politics of climate change without stridently hectoring the reader. Kolbert presents the facts. The reader would have to be a dim bulb indeed not to get the picture.

Absolutely the very highest recommendation. Kolbert's Field Notes From a Catastrophe deserves more than 5 stars.

Some very misleading reviews here.......2007-08-09

Reviewer T. Ferrell says "The author comes from an assumption that climate was once stable and has recently become unstable. She states this directly several times and it is the overall impression she intentionally leaves."

I'm not sure if the reviewer didn't actually read the book or is deliberately trying to smear it, but Kolbert states many times that the climate has changed in the past.

This is clearly written sober account of global warming and the effects it is having, and will have, on the environment. An excellent, concise read.

Climate has never been "stable".......2007-07-04

While the book was well written as prose, it was intellectually myopic. The author comes from an assumption that climate was once stable and has recently become unstable. She states this directly several times and it is the overall impression she intentionally leaves. Certainly climate change has an effect on people, flora and fauna, but that does not mean that you ignore the fact that there are winners with climate change as well as losers. Example, as the globe warms agriculture moves north expanding into areas previously too frigid to support farming. No mention of this?

But it is not that she just focuses just on the losers. She glosses over issues that might complicate her simple thesis that man is responsible for climate change as "not understood." This is the explanation she gives for example when discussing how atmospheric CO2 was historically low during the ice ages and was high during periods of warming. This is "unknown." She simply ignores the fact that the worlds oceans hold most of the planets CO2 both directly as an absorbed gas, its concentration being directly related temperature. She also ignores the carbon bank in phytoplankton. I believe she does this because it would bring into question her simple thesis. What warmed or cooled the worlds oceans before man was on the scene.
This is a problem for me because a wider view of climate change would reveal the true issues. At one point in time the earth was a snowball entirely covered with ice. At another point in our past the oceans were much higher and the poles were nearly devoid of ice. If global climate has always been in flux do we now propose that man should control the world's climate? If so, what is the best climate? Is it the best thing to have a sizeable portion of the worlds surface are covered in ice or too cold to support agriculture? Who decides? If man does control the weather is the only way to do it to cut back on fossil fuel useage? The author appears to believe so. Does the entity who controls climate take responsibilty for the weather and its effects? A freeze occurs in a temperate agricultural region. Is this now someone's fault?
It's very easy to look who loses with climate change. It is much more difficult to consider the bigger picture. I was not impressed by this book.

Environmental and Natural Resource Economics (7th Edition)

Average customer rating:

Excellent Introduction to EE concepts
Out of Date
Good for Graduate School
good

Environmental and Natural Resource Economics (7th Edition)
Tom Tietenberg
Manufacturer: Addison Wesley
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Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0321305043

Customer Reviews:

Excellent Introduction to EE concepts.......2006-01-21

Tietenberg is a big player in evironmental economics, and clearly lays out the fundamentals of environmental and natural resources economics accessible to those without significant economics training.

Out of Date.......2004-04-28

The book is hopelessly out of date. Although it carries a 2003 publication date, it still refers to the USSR and Czechoslovakia in the present tense. It consistently refers to studies done in the 1980s as recent and less than 25% of the examples, charts. etc. use data from 1990 or later. For example, only 5 out of 37 references in the chapter on Economic Justice are more recent than 1990, and the most recent is 1994. This is typical of just about every chapter. One gets the feeling that the publisher never reviewed this revided edition.

Good for Graduate School.......2001-06-06

I used this book for graduate school. Its a textbook and little more. But, it is a well written textbook.

good.......1999-03-15

goo

The Long Emergency: Surviving the End of Oil, Climate Change, and Other Converging Catastrophes of the Twenty-First Century

Average customer rating:

When the oil runs out, life as we know it will end....
Worth Purchasing for Yourself
A very important book...
Must read, must share...
The Long Emergency by James Howard Kunstler

The Long Emergency: Surviving the End of Oil, Climate Change, and Other Converging Catastrophes of the Twenty-First Century

Manufacturer: Grove Press
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Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0802142494

Book Description

James Howard Kunstler's The Long Emergency was an underground hit, going into nine printings of the hardcover edition. His shocking vision for our post-oil future caught the attention of environmentalists and business leaders and was the subject of much debate, stimulating discussion about our dependence on fossil fuels. Now in paperback, with a new afterword, The Long Emergency is set to reach an even larger audience.

The last two hundred years have seen the greatest explosion of progress and wealth in the history of mankind, much of it based on the exploitation of cheap, nonrenewable fossil-fuel energy. But the oil age is at an end. Life as we know it is about to change radically, and much sooner than we think. The Long Emergency tells us just what to expect after we pass the point of global peak oil production and the honeymoon of affordable energy is over, preparing us for economic, political, and social changes of an unimaginable scale. Riveting and authoritative, The Long Emergency is a devastating indictment that brings new urgency and accessibility to the critical issues that will shape our future, and that we can no longer afford to ignore.

Customer Reviews:

When the oil runs out, life as we know it will end...........2007-10-16

Well, there's no denying that there is a finite amount of oil in the earth, and when that runs out, we're in big trouble. Most of the "alternative means of energy" we now know about are poor substitutes (e.g. require more energy to produce than is obtained). Oil is also used to make fertilizers, plastics, and other modern products. Nuclear power might be used to keep the lights and heat on, but "you can't run a car with it". Having a well kept up railroad network would be helpful too.

In short, all of 20th/21st century technological advances and life style depend on easy-to-get oil. Add the effects of global warming and emergent diseases, and society (primarily United States society) will have to adapt. Anything that was made possible by cheap oil, from suburbs to skycrapers, to the Sunbelt and Southwest, will be abandoned. Farming, manual labor, and all those nearly-forgotten pre-industrial age skills will suddenly become valuable again. Automobiles, air travel, and even modern healthcare and education will, if still available, become the domain of societal elites. For the most part, people will travel less....much less....

Of course, how people will react to these changes will determine whether this future society looks like the Amish, a 16th century European feudal society with fancy guildhalls (not over six stories) in each city, or something out of Mad Max/Blade Runner....A lot of our social advances (civil rights, women's rights, perhaps even our whole Constitutional system of laws) may be considered luxuries and fall by the wayside as well. Kunstler in a couple of places envisions armies of angry whites causing trouble, perhaps Mexico (re)taking the Southwestern United States, Asian pirates off the coast of Seattle, etc. (He doesn't think that out-and-out slavery would coming back, though)

_The Long Emergency_ reads like a sequel to Kunstler's _Geography of Nowhere_, where he has very little good to say about the development of the American city, especially the suburbs. But while _Geography_ was mostly one criticism after another, the tone of _Long Emergency_ seems to be "Oil's running out? Bring it on. And don't look for technology to save your butt this time, you geeks. I can't wait for 18th Century society to come back". Rather analogous to the "Rapture Ready" evangelicals he denigrates. but instead of God whisking us away to a better place, Kunstler would like to use the social upheavel caused by the "perfect storm" of peak oil, global warming and emergent disease as a "dice roll" that would, hopefully, remake society into a form more to his liking.

I think the book is useful as a reminder to everybody that the end of oil is coming. If we don't want to all go back to the farm (and that's one of the "nicer" scenarios in this book), we'd all better think long and hard about the big part oil plays in our society.

Worth Purchasing for Yourself.......2007-10-13

I did something with this book I rarely have done before. I checked out a copy from the library. Read it. Then purchased a copy for myself.

The book is filled with information I know I will want access to in the future.

It really takes a book like this to give a handle on reality, in the face of the daily barrage of information that tells you something else is true. Just driving around in the suburbs with traffic going in this and that direction, building developments continuing, markets shelved with a huge variety of foods and supplies, all the signs that growth and prosperity will continue.

Kustler has brought together in this book the evidence of converging catastrophes that will completely change the viability of these growth and prosperity scenarios. I would much rather be alert to these impending changes, and adjust my lifestyle and life choices in gradual anticipation, than to be happily going about my business, and suddenly have to confront these realities without any advanced preparation.

A very important book..........2007-10-03

There are many reviews here and on the web so I will add only a small amount to the praise. "The Long Emergency" is a very important book since it grapples with the issue of how (and even examines if) western culture can proceed now that we have passed peak oil. I use the past tense since all indicators point to the fact that we passed peak oil at the end of 2005 - so there is a real state of global denial over planning and implementing changes to deal with this problem.

Kunstler guides the reader through the issue - our global reliance on cheap oil - and the ramifications of the fact that this stage of our development is now over. He deftly examines the geopolitical history of the production of oil and the impacts that this history will have shaping the future. He makes his case on the enormous issues that arise because everything is based upon the premise that oil is a cheap and infinite resource. That is, technology (and he nicely separates the concept progress from growth/technology) is dependent on cheap oil so there is no quick fix.

His real aim is to examine the possible outcomes of our lack of response, on any but a very small individual level, to the problems that now face us. This is why the book is so scary - no government action is occurring besides preparations for resource wars and keeping the soon-to-be-irate population under control (hundreds of millions are being spent on incarceration facilities!). Not a good prognosis for the future and a very pathetic legacy for future generations.

It is nicely summed up:

"Some other things about the global energy predicament are poorly understood by the public and even our leaders. This is going to be a permanent energy crisis, and these energy problems will synergize with the disruptions of climate change, epidemic disease and population overshoot to produce higher orders of trouble.

We will have to accommodate ourselves to fundamentally changed conditions."

We are shortly going to look back and wonder why we didn't act when there was still time...You should read this book so at least you know the facts for later years when you and your children are living like we did hundreds of years ago...

Must read, must share..........2007-09-21

This book provides a glimpse into our not-very-distant post-oil world. Realistic, without becoming negative. Fact-based and logical in every respect. The writing is never dull. Since buying this book, I've shared it with five friends. I also enjoyed Mr. Kunstler's book "Geography of Nowhere: The Rise and Decline of America's Man-Made Landscape".

Mr. Kunstler was also very giving of his time in answering some questions I emailed to him after reading this book.

The Long Emergency by James Howard Kunstler.......2007-09-19

The Long Emergency is an eye-catching book with hits bright alarm-yellow cover and black and red title. It's a book about the future of the world, what's going to happen when we run out of oil, and what to do when this "Long Emergency" begins. The first part of the book goes into depth about when oil was discovered, how it was first used, when and how it was converted into the many products that use oil today. The reader learns what are the events that led up to the discovery of oil in the Middle East and the reason it is in its horrible state today.

After this enlightening history lesson, Kunstler goes on to explain that there is a specific oil production peak that will be reached, when half of the available oil would've been used up, and the other half -- which is harder to get -- will drive up gas and oil prices. According to a number of sources in the footnotes, this peak will be reached some time between the year 2000 and 2008. Kunstler says that they way we will be able to tell is through the oscillation of oil prices rising greatly, then dropping a little, then raising more, but only going down a little each time. Over the past year, this is exactly what has happened, and I'm pretty sure we're never going to see gas go below $2 again.

Kunstler goes on to point out that the supposed alternative forms of energy we're working on will be nowhere near to replacing the oil industry once we dispense with it. This is mainly due to the recent Republican Presidents, starting with Reagan who stopped most funding to alternative energy means and essentially killed the drive for it. Along with Bush Senior and our current idiot, they are all part of a white male arrogant group that believe we will never run out of oil, and it is merely a case of finding it in the earth, albeit by digging deeper and further (re: Alaska!); couple with this is these men's beliefs that the Rapture will arrive tomorrow and they'll be ascending to Heaven, leaving all their problems behind them. Though Clinton is also to blame for looking towards the future and working on prepare the civilized world for the inevitable.

Kunstler predicts all out pandemonium and chaos, worst felt in the United States, of course, where suburbia is in full force. When all the material goods and services we've taken for granted for so long collapse, and our society crashes around us, the Long Emergency will being. This is what Kunstler says. Though he provides little advice and assurance in how one can survive this event. Plus there's the fact that this nonfiction work doesn't have an index or bibliography at the end. I know all nonfiction works don't need this, but when it's a book predicting everything going to hell in my lifetime, I would at least like a list for further readings, or maybe some websites.

It will at least be interesting the see in the coming decades what will begin happening, and I know for now what I most want to get is a hybrid, because gas prices aren't going down ever again.

For more book reviews, and other writings, go to www.alexctelander.com

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