Oil Addiction: The World in Peril [Paperback]

Pierre Chomat (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 15, 2004

Totally addicted to oil, Man in his industrial adventure has transformed nearly all the Earth's ecosystems into "egosystems" designed to serve only his own needs and desires, at the expense of all other species. He persists despite the irreversible damage he is causing to the environment. He has already disrupted the Earth's thermostats. Western society has reached the "Age of Excess," which will last only as long as there is still fossil energy to fuel it. The Earth cannot keep up with Man's demand for natural resources. Her hydrocarbon reserves are shrinking rapidly and by 2010, global production will begin to decrease, setting off a period of unprecedented planetary disorder and turmoil. Today the United States must import most of the oil it needs from faraway countries. Therein lies a terrible paradox: the power of America is rooted in dependency! The free enterprise system that it is imposing on the rest of the world cannot solve this paradoxical situation; it will only amplify it and hasten destabilization. It is high time to wonder whether we in the West, in our suicidal quest for energy, are not running the risk of losing control of the course of our history. The invasion of Iraq by the United States military, in lockstep with American corporations, is a distressing and reprehensible step in this direction.

Product Details

• Paperback: 252 pages
• Publisher: Universal Publishers (October 15, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1581124945
• ISBN-13: 978-1581124941
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,853,360 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating and powerful look at our oil addiction, September 15, 2005

By 

W. Clark "Reader of Peak Oil books" (Maryland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Oil Addiction: The World in Peril (Paperback)

I just received this book yesterday, and eagerly read several chapters last night. I will say two things about this relatively short book (237 pages w/ somewhat large font size):

1) It is highly readable, both in prose and in format. The author's anecdotal stories and observations from all over the globe are based on his career as a French petroleum engineer, and each story is quite fasinating. His grasp of "petro-history" is also very impressive.

2) This book powerfully demonstrates just how addicted to oil we have become as a species, with particular criticism of US consumption and related foreign policies. He provides a strong critique of recent events in Mespotania...and he is quite passionate about the course that humanity it taking.

While somewhat short on solutions, this book is absolutely rich with examples that demonstrate the enormity of our oil addiction and the cahllenges that Peak Oil will usher in, most likely to occur before 2010 (ASPO and ODAC project 2008 as the peak).

He constantly informs the reader of how amazingly dense hydrocarbon energy really is, and how much these amazing little molecules are performing from everything from washing our clothes in a domestic clothes washer, to an international flight of US tourists visiting Egypt - an amount of energy expended in flight which he purports is more energy than what was expended over years by thousands of slaves toiling to build the Great pyramids... These examples are very thought-provoking.

Bottom line: Highly recommended reading, especially for those who want to buy a book on Peak Oil for friends or family who may prefer to read non-technical and/or fiction-type books. This book is of course non-fiction, but it is written in such a lively, engaging, non-technical manner, that I had quite a hard time putting the book down last night. Indeed, Oil Addiction is a must read.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Oil Addiction Obscures Reality, July 20, 2005

By 

Clayton G. Berling "Clay Berling" (Carmel, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Oil Addiction: The World in Peril (Paperback)

Although most Americans are in denial, this book details the facts about the impact oil has had on our economy, our relationship to the rest of the world (especially the Middle East), the wars in Iraq and other places, and how our future will be impacted as this resource runs out and the price rises to
levels we can hardly imagine....and within the next 25 years, if not sooner.

The author knows the subject because he has been a part of the oil industry for several decades, has lived in the Middle East and knows the different understandings that the USA has from the rest of the world. He is truly an "insider."

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Past Time to Wake Up, February 26, 2005

By 

George M. Wilson "retired clergy" (Pebble Beach, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Oil Addiction: The World in Peril (Paperback)

Pierre Chomat's book deliniates in graphic manner the collosal predicament Western Civilization has gotten itself into by our addiction to oil. He intersperses fact and true stories or illustrations to bring out most forcefully his message which comes from a lifetime of experience in the business of oil. He does not offer any easy or sentimental solutions but trusts the reader to face the truth from which alone anything constructive can come. The book deserves reading by all segments of society.