Plan B 4.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization (Substantially Revised) [Paperback]

Lester R. Brown (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 5, 2009 | ISBN-10: 0393337197 | ISBN-13: 978-0393337198 | Edition: Substantially Revised

“[Brown’s] ability to make a complicated subject accessible to the general reader is remarkable.”—Katherine Salant, Washington Post

As fossil fuel prices rise, oil insecurity deepens, and concerns about climate change cast a shadow over the future of coal, a new energy economy is emerging. Wind, solar, and geothermal energy are replacing oil, coal, and natural gas, at a pace and on a scale we could not have imagined even a year ago. For the first time since the Industrial Revolution, we have begun investing in energy sources that can last forever. Plan B 4.0 explores both the nature of this transition to a new energy economy and how it will affect our daily lives.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Lester Brown is one of the pioneers and heroes of global environmentalism. If the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize had been extended to a third recipient, the logical candidate would have been Lester Brown.” (E. O. Wilson)

“This is a document the world’s leaders must take seriously.” (Wildlife Activist [for Plan B 3.0])

About the Author

Lester R. Brown, is the founder of the Earth Policy and Worldwatch Institutes. He has been honored with numerous prizes, including a MacArthur Fellowship, the United Nations Environment Prize, and Japan’s Blue Planet Prize. He lives in Washington, D.C.

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; Substantially Revised edition (October 5, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393337197
• ISBN-13: 978-0393337198
• Product Dimensions: 6.2 x 1 x 9.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #120,776 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #82 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Politics & Government > Public Affairs & Policy > Environmental Policy

More About the Author

LESTER R. BROWN, founder and President of Earth Policy Institute, has been described by the Washington Post as "one of the world's most influential thinkers" and as "the guru of the global environmental movement" by The Telegraph of Calcutta. The author of numerous books, including World on the Edge: How to Prevent Environmental and Economic Collapse, chapters, articles, etc., he helped pioneer the concept of environmentally sustainable development. His principal research areas include food, population, water, climate change, and renewable energy. The recipient of scores of awards and honorary degrees, he is widely sought as a speaker. In 1974, he founded Worldwatch Institute, of which he was President for its first 26 years. As President, he launched the World Watch Papers, the Worldwatch/Norton books, the annual State of the World, World Watch magazine, the annual Vital Signs, and the Institute's News Briefs. For relaxation, Lester runs

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 41 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The best book on building a viable global future September 17, 2009

By Future Watch Writer

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

This is the best book in print that provides a comprehensive global solution to today's environmental problems. Too many environmentalists have great visions of doom but few practical solutions. I think Brown is overly optimistic but he at least does have a plan that is connected to reality. The most important part of the book is Part III, The Great Mobilization. Specifically, America needs to do a total mobilization of its economic resources as it did for World War II. Nothing less will be adequate. Only a global level he has compiled a budget for what is needed which you can read on page 263. You should read the footnotes for this to see how he got this. He has a global energy plan on page 254. If you want to know more about Brown look up his organization Earth Policy Institute on Google. Hopefully, Obama will heed Brown's advice. You might want to watch the following National Geographic special to see what the stakes are National Geographic: Six Degrees Could Change the World.

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Not just a plan to "save civilization" - a plan for making our society "civilized" March 15, 2010

By Jamie Osborne

Format:Paperback

Plan B is an amazing effort - I could hardly put it down!

Like many people, I've put a lot of thought into the multitude of woes that face the planet and our poor (oh so human) race, and I've tried earnestly to do my bit here and there to make a difference...

Like just about anyone who's really tried to think things through however, I usually end up feeling overwhelmed, powerless and disheartened by the sheer magnitude of it all.

I try to stay informed, and I've read plenty of scary stuff by real experts about the terrible existential problems that we and our children face - Climate change, water crises, food crises, pandemics, overpopulation, terrorism, war, poverty, illiteracy, peak oil, biodiversity loss, rainforest depletion, collapsing fisheries, ...

I've also read plenty of amazing stuff by real experts about the solutions to these terrible existential problems - renewable energy, sustainable economies, sustainable fisheries, forestry, and farming, sustainable design and manufacturing, poverty eradication, universal primary education, population control, universal health care, ...

The problem with most of these "expert" solutions though is that they only address the problem that the expert understands - which would be just fine if we lived in a hypothetical world where that problem existed in isolation from the other problems that humanity faces.

Reading about these "solutions" usually leaves me feeling all positive and "Bono/We are the World" for a short time, but when I really think about it again, I realise that there is no point educating children who are dying of starvation or thirst! And what is the point of providing health care to a country that is so geopolitically unstable that it will collapse into civil war and genocide at any moment? What is the point of teaching sustainable farming practices to people whose land is turning into desert, or sinking into the ocean due to climate change?

No matter how hard most mere mortals try, it is just too hard to make sense of all the bad things that are going on in the world today. Quite the opposite - the more one tries to understand and to make sense, the more overwhelmed, powerless, and disheartened one becomes.

Clearly, Lester R Brown is no mere mortal.

I'm not going to spoil the book for you, but you need to know that Lester R Brown's life work has been to understand all the problems above and more, and to understand their interdependencies.

He has cultivated this understanding so that he and his Earth Policy Institute can develop a comprehensive programme that addresses these problems together, in a way that successes in one area reinforce progress in other areas - a programme that he calls "Plan B" - "Plan B is an integrated program with four interdependent goals." - "cutting net carbon dioxide emissions 80 percent by 2020, stabilizing population at 8 billion or lower, eradicating poverty, and restoring the earth's natural systems"

These goals are integrated because for example, it is unlikely that we can "stabilize population unless we can also eradicate poverty. Conversely, we cannot restore the earth's natural systems without stabilizing population and climate, and we are not likely to stabilize climate unless we also stabilize population. Nor can we eradicate poverty without restoring the earth's natural systems."

Boldly, Brown has put realistic dollar values on the various aspects of his programme, and has compared these costs with current military spending. The figures are particularly interesting when one considers how much of the current global military budget is really wasted putting band-aids on the problems described above.

Astonishingly, he's explained how all this might be achieved (or well under way) by 2020! This is not futuristic, pie in the sky, utopian science fiction - everything that Brown proposes is easily possible with today's technologies, and within today's socio-economic world order. We've just got to see the big picture and do it!

Most impressively, he has done all this in a 268 page book that is so absorbing and easy to read that even a child can follow it.

In Plan B, Brown describes not only how to "save civilization" as we know it, he actually describes what we must do as a society to become "civilized".

I cannot recommend Plan B 4.0 highly enough - read it - get your kids to read it - get your parents to read it - give it to your neighbours. What are you waiting for? It is free! Go to the [...] Website and download the PDF - get the presentation and all the other stuff that goes with the book while you're there.

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Great conservation plan, but wind won't handle base load power October 8, 2009

By R. E Westgard

Format:Paperback

Brown has an excellent plan for our future with the use of LEDs for lighting, electric transport, redesigned cities for energy efficiency, etc. He goes astray when he thinks wind will supply 44% of energy by 2020, plus 11% from geothermal, etc. Oil and coal won't be that easy to replace even with his recommended carbon tax. Overall though a good plan for the future.