Customer Reviews

Lives Per Gallon: The True Cost of Our Oil Addiction

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If only there were a twelve step program for America's oil addiction. Of course, we'd all drive to meetings in our SUVs. This book is so much more than a chronicle of how the infernal combustion engine and the petroleum industry have made billions riding roughshod over the planet. It's a call to action. If you've ever done an intervention (or wanted to do one) for a friend who was hooked on something and killing himself/herself, then read this book and realize that your friend is the earth and everyone on it. Terry Tamminen's book makes us see that we're all caught in an oil spill.

Terry Tamminen has put together a monumental expose' of the true cost of our fossil fuel addiction and the U.S auto industry collusion to mislead both consumers and government alike on the health hazards of fossil fuel exhaust- not much different than tobacco smoke and that industry's playing-down the health risks of their products.

The history of oil use is well covered including wars and potential wars over it's control, government subsidies, fossil fuel contribution to global warming and the global crisis we face when the oil reserves run out. After reading about the multiple ways that fossil fuel consumption has polluted air, water and land, one is left with a feeling that the world oil supply will hopefully run out sooner than later.

Tamminen paints a bleak picture of the corruption and pollution of fossil fuel use, but he also gives positive coverage of the emerging clean/green ZEV (zero emission vehicles) technology such as electric, hybrid and hydrogen fuel cell propulsion and electric generating systems coupled with solar, wind, and photovoltaic systems to replace the out-dated fossil fuel systems. Also covered are the many things individuals can do on their own to reduce their personal energy consumption footprint, i.e., use low-watt bulbs, drive a hybrid or electric car and boycott wasteful products- buy green. Collectively, these actions add up and make a huge difference in total energy consumption while sending a strong message to the merchants of toxic products that their products are no longer desired.

This book reads like a mystery novel but weaves together a compelling mountain of facts that illustrate what President Bush has referred to as America's "addiction to oil." Tamminen's book explores in depth the severity of the consequences of that addiction, from demonstrable public health impacts to dependence on regimes that don't like us. But more importantly, this book identifies a number of solutions to move us away from our dependence on oil. Too many well-written books do a thorough job of outlining the problem, but few authors take the time to discuss solutions. Reasonable people will disagree about what are the best solutions to our addiction, but Tamminen's book offers a menu of tools that can begin the discussion.

This is a great book and an easy read. I've never been a "environmentalist" so I'm not familiar with most of what was in this book, I've only recently started reading this kind of information and coming to believe that we really have to change. From that perspective, I thought what he was telling us about the health dangers of gasoline and oil, the similarities between those dangers and the dangers of tobacco, the similarities between the way big oil and auto respond to these dangers (and deny them) to the same behavior from big toboacco, were all things I'd never really thought of. And while we all probably know at some level the envorommental cost of oil drilling, he gave some pretty stark examples of where the 3rd world is being exploited to give us a few drops more thanks to their lack of regulations.
And the military cost of protecting our oil interests (or the costs of some other country trying to fill their own oil needs in the case of Japan and WWII) are things we all really need to think about in terms of deciding what our priorities are.

He lists some great, feasible options for putting our oil thirst on a diet and what we can do in the short and medium term to reduce oil dependence. But his flaws came in his suggestions that we essentially litigate the snot out of the oil companies much like we're done and are doing to tobacco. sorry. The only people that plan will benefit are the lawyers. And his main conclusion pushing us toward 1 single oil/fuel alternative seems to turn the end into a sales pitch.

I just finished Lives Per Gallon and am both stunned and inspired. Not only does this book reveal the shocking horrors of our reliance on oil...but it made me want to do something about it. This is a page-turner that kept me riveted. A Must Read.

Not only are oil and its products becoming more expensive, it also creates hidden, more insidious costs such as the billions spent annually to secure our global supply, crops ruined by pollution, and cancer and other serious health effects. Living in a smog-filled city can be as dangerous as smoking half-a-pack of cigarettes/day, says Tamminen.

Then are the inevitable leaks and spills at oil wells, refineries, and involving tankers, and the risks associated with global warming.

Probably the most valuable contribution of "Lives Per Gallon" is its detailing how the auto and oil industries have lobbied (misrepresented) to impede progress.

"Lives Per Gallon" ends with suggestions on saving fuel (slower speeds, higher tire inflation, less weight/vehicle, improved engine design, less idling, lower octanes where applicable, eliminate jackrabbit starts), and possible legal strategies to force progress.

Good material, though Tamminen sometimes goes over-the-top - eg, his documentation does not support concluding energy/auto subsidies of $1 trillion/year; his enthusiasm for ethanol is way overstated given its impact on food prices and our limited farmland.

Terry Tamminen points out the stupendous costs of America's oil addiction. I certainly recommend the book, if only as a starting point for discussion. I found the section on hydrogen particularly interesting. I had been under the impression that hydrogen was more of a boondoggle pushed by the oil and gas companies than a serious transportation technology. I can't say that I'm convinced that hydrogen will play the large role that Tamminen thinks it will, but maybe there's some value there.

Tamminen misses entirely one of the largest contributors to the costs of our oil addiction: parking. Parking sounds harmless enough, but free and subsidized parking costs the U.S. economy hundreds of billions of dollars every year. Most U.S. localities have parking requirements that require businesses and residences to provide a certain number of parking spaces. Everybody pays for providing and maintaining these spaces, even people who don't own a car. The result is that enormous amounts of land and money are wasted on parking lots and parking structures. Free parking works like a fertility drug for cars. For a more thorough discussion of this issue, I would suggest pairing Tamminen's book with Donald Shoup's "The High Cost of Free Parking."

I`m reading this book, and contains a lot of details about the impact of oil and its subproducts on environment, health and so.
If you like this subject it`s an interesting choice, otherwise you`ll get bored by facts.

Terry Tamminen has seen the ravages of big oil first hand in many places around the world. A skilled and engaging writer, he weaves his experiences into a compelling narrative that includes a lot of well documented research to make the case that the world must end its dependence on fossil energy in general and oil in particular. In his former role as California's Secretary of the Environment, Tamminen helped design and implement a series of initiatives that have made California a world leader in the emerging era of clean, renewably generated energy. Lives Per Gallon reports on the technology now available that will fight global warming and end our dependence on dirty energy. Tamminen shows that hydrogen, serving as a pollution free energy carrier, is a big part of the answer. I think he is right. This is a great read for anyone who wants to get involved and back a winner in the energy endgame.

Tamminen does a superb job of detailing how the oil industry has put the world in such a precarious position, both environmentally and human health wise, all just for corporate greed. He makes a startling comparison of the same actions taken by the tobacco industry that should make all users of petrolium think twice before continuing to support this destructive industry's path.