41 of 41 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best Overall Guide to Peak Oil yet, August 5, 2008
This review is from: Plan C: Community Survival Strategies for Peak Oil and Climate Change (Paperback)
this book just came out and there are no customer reviews yet, so i thought i'd add more info for potential purchasers. my field is peak oil and this was the 69th book i've read on the subject; i believe it to be the best book yet written on peak oil and "where do we go from here". as americans, what are our real options now (that gasoline is more than $22 per gallon if you remove u.s. subsidies and the era of cheap energy is leaving us for good, never to return)?
the best book of the last century on this subject was, hands down, william r. catton's 1982 masterpiece, "overshoot: the ecological basis of revolutionary change" which, with joseph tainter's 1990 "the collapse of complex societies", gave the reader a taste of where the united states is heading. fossil fuels allowed the world's population to surpass one billion and now that we have used up one half of the world's supply of oil (around 2005) the rest will be harder and more expensive to get -so either everyone starts having one child families or nature will force a die-off this century (as the rest of us compete or cooperate for the remaining fossil fuels).
plan c is about cooperating instead of competing for the remaining supply of fossil fuels and each of us curtailing our energy usage (he shows you why a whopping 90% reduction is needed) on behalf of our children and future grandchildren. in 20 years, most of implied threat of peak oil will be obvious to the average american citizen because our leaders cannot keep it a secret for much longer, present high gas prices are just the tip of the iceberg; it's the end of our "non-negotiable way of life", the end of the growth economy, and the return of the community and localization (supporting the local economy, staying near home, work and our food source). i don't mean to be alarmist here and neither does pat murphy. politicians and corporations want you to stay in your seat believing that business will solve everything but that is the most dangerous thing you can do and think.
hey, i'd love to read fiction (i loved tolkien too) but while we are enjoying even informed escapism our consumer culture is destroying our planet for our kids and in 20 years few of us will be unaffected, let alone flying in airplanes. so let's take a look at pat murphy's book and what sets it apart from others like it:
chapter one: fossil fuel depletion & climate change
chapter two: peak oil-peak economy
chapter three: peak-oil peak empire
chapter four: peak america-is our time up?
chapter five: peak technology and the private car
chapter six: peak technology and electric power
chapter seven: corporations, media and disinformation
chapter eight: plan c: curtailment & community
chapter nine: post-peak: change starts with us
chapter ten: the energy impact of buidings
chapter eleven: the smart jitney - rapid realistic transport
chapter twelve: food, fuel and CO2
chapter thirteen: food, health & survival
chapter fourteen: changing practices
chapter fifteen: kicking the media habit
chapter sixteen: localization
chapter seventeen: reviving & renewing community
on the back are glowing reviews from peak oil's and climate change's leaders, david orr, richard heinberg, bill mckibben, albert bates, and david korten. they have all written great books of the subject yet they all recognize that pat murphy has done a brilliant job of putting everything together artfully in a single book for the first time. pat shows you why efficiency is not enough (jevon's paradox), why technology will not save us (it doesn't exist without fossil fuels - a one time non-renewable gift from nature) why buildings use 50% of u.s. electricity (and how we personally can help), how each american uses 57.8 barrels of oil (the equivalent) per year, the perils of innumeracy, the amount of waste each american creates, embodied energy costs, 10 calories of oil creates each calorie of food (what we eat is swimming in petroleum), false solutions to the energy crisis, the relationship between empire & financial inequity and the current problem before us, what to do, how to re-create community and why re-localize to save the remaining energy for future generations.
hey, i know i'm over-simplifying "Plan C" but that's the drawback of writing a review of any book that is great. there is simply no replacement for reading this amazing book. i know the subject is depressing but pat's solution is hopeful, so rush to buy this for yourself and a copy for everyone you know. there is power in knowing where the exit signs are in a theatre when people start shouting fire; and in this case people have already begun shouting so don't be the last one to look up. this book will dramatically minimize your shock later on and tells you very clearly what to do now for the inevitable tightening of everyone's energy belts.
every year there will be 2.7% more demand for energy (due to incresed consumerism) and 2.7% less energy than the year before (due to hitting peak oil in 2005). even someone mathematically challenged (innumerate) when faced with the simple facts of supply and demand can, upon reading Plan C, realize that waiting for our leaders to respond to the approaching crisis (without any leadership it will be bigger and longer than the Great Depression) will be the biggest mistake of their life. read, roll up your sleeves and get to work changing your own life, then educating others. as eleanor roosevelt said, "you must do things you think you cannot." with pat's advice you will be able to follow the old kenyan proverb "a dog that sees the shore, does not drown". please don't drown; empower yourself, your children and those you love now by reading this timely important book.
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Beware of over-idealizing the past, September 30, 2008
This review is from: Plan C: Community Survival Strategies for Peak Oil and Climate Change (Paperback)
There are two aspects to this book. One is a sober economic analysis and a practical way of dealing with diminishing energy sources. If, as the authors claim, alternative energy sources will not make up for dwindling use of fossil fuels (Plan B), then it makes sense that we can no longer live in spawling surburbs and commute large distances to work. We will have to spend more time living, working and playing near home and will have to relinquish some of our more costly consumer goods.
The other aspect of the book is a critique of our current consumption oriented society. I should say that emotionally I am totally in agreement with what the authors say, but some may feel otherwise. The book says that there is something wrong with a stressful competitive society where people do not know their neighbors and spend inordinate amounts of time fiddling with electronic devices of one sort or another. Although the book stops short of explicitly saying it, one gets the feeling that to the authors the coming economic crunch is something of a blessing in disguise, returning us to communal living where people spend time with and look out for the interests of their neighbors.
In the final chapter, the authors contrast current society to the communally centered societies of the past. This strikes a responsive chord in me, but I am concerned that there may be a bit of fantasizing going on. There was and still is a tendency for small communities to distrust outsiders and people who do not conform to narrow community standards. There tends to be a loss of privacy, with everyone into the business of everyone else. Before the Industrial Revolution, wealth was based on land and in much of the world there was a sharp division between wealthy landlords and impoverished peasants. It may be that future communities will be better than those of the past. For one thing, since communication is relatively inexpensive, we may be able to keep in touch with the outside world even if we are limited to how much of it we can actually visit. This would help assure dissemination of new ideas and differing points of view.
I definitely recommend the book, but I caution the reader to be a bit skeptical of some of the claims about how bright and rosy the future that they imagine would be.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great book - must read for everyone, especially students, November 5, 2008
This review is from: Plan C: Community Survival Strategies for Peak Oil and Climate Change (Paperback)
This book should probably be titled, "A REALLY Inconvenient Truth." Most Americans won't be too excited to hear that to avoid the worst impacts of climate change we must reduce our overall consumption of all resources in the 80-90% range. The author does an excellent job detailing how we got here, where we're likely to go if we stay on our current track, and how we can choose a different path leading to a better future. However, this shift will require great courage and leadership and will involve the dreaded S-word (Sacrifice). Look what happened the last time a leader uttered that word (James Carter).
In addition, it is clear that current efforts to "green" our economy won't make much of a difference, although they may make us feel better in the mean time. Green comsumption is only incrementally better than traditional consumption, and what we need is FAR LESS consumption. Of course, this doesn't fit into our generally accepted thinking of "growth is good" and anything else is socialism or worse. The neo-liberal economic model is at the heart of our problem, and painting the toenails of the beast and changing it's tee shirt won't make much of a difference in the end.
Our problem is much like that of the alcoholic - total denial that anything's wrong. Change happens one of two ways by either intervention or hitting rock bottom. We may cause irreparable harm if we pull the rip cord 10 feet before hitting ground but we may still have time but we're approaching ground quickly!
Nothing short of a complete transformation of our economic system, our mindset, our consumption patterns and overall population will make a significant impact. It's a pretty simple formula...multiply the number of people (growing every day) times the amount they consume (also growing) to arrive at total ecological impact (growing exponentially). The numbers don't lie, and anything short of a massive cultural shift will likely lead to an unhappy ending involving war, starvation and death as population overshoots our ability of a waning resource base to support it. Sounds fun, huh? Hey, grandkids. We love you, but are sorry to report that we mortgaged your future and left you a debt of pollution and despair. Sorry about that. Oh, hold on a second...my iPhone is ringing.
The author does a good job clarifying how energy is categorized and differentiates between embedded energy and operating energy. Good examples include our cars and homes which are where we use most of our energy. Cars and homes take about 10% of their lifetime energy to be built (embedded) but 90% to heat/cool and fuel (operating). Even if we implement green building techniques and hybrids we are only having an impact on a small percentage of a huge (and growing) problem.
Anyone who cares one iota for the health of our planet and the future of our children should read this book. Buy copies for friends, family and send copies to your elected officials. The time to act is now!
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