Two Billion Cars: Driving Toward Sustainability (Hardcover)

~ (Author), (Author), Arnold Schwarzenegger (Foreword)
Key Phrases: transportation monoculture, two billion cars, new mobility options, United States, Big Oil, Department of Energy (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This look at the global automobile industry explains how such a staggering number of autos came to be, and how we can sustain them all and the planet at the same time. The range of topics is wide; one of the most interesting chapters looks at the psychology of hybrid vehicle purchasers: "at least for the early buyers... it's about the symbolism of 'doing the right thing,' even if the individual contribution is infinitesimally small." The fortunes of fuel-sippers are also considered in relation to gas prices: in the year GM launched the Hummer brand and Toyota unveiled the Prius, gas prices at "near historic lows" made the Hummer ubiquitous in cities and suburbs. Elsewhere, Sperling and Gordon examine the problem of China's car ownership explosion, but return repeatedly to the "pioneering role" of California. Sperling and Gordon are upfront with their California ties(Sperling serves on the California Air Resources Board, Gordon has worked with the California Energy Commission, Gov. Schwarzenegger provides the foreword), and though they profile somegenuinely groundbreaking work, it can read more like public relations than objective reporting; further, some proposed solutions (personal "carbon budgets") read like parodies of Left Coast eco-liberalism. Luckily, there's enough grounding global perspective to save the text from too much California dreaming. 15 b&w photos.
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From Booklist

With statistical data, charts, graphs, and erudite analysis, Sperling and Gordon present the most thorough study of the automobile industry general readers could hope to find. The authors, with a foreword from Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, summarize the history of the Big Three automakers and then expand their scope to include Toyota, Honda, and others. Social scientists will appreciate the pages devoted to America’s long-established car culture while futurists will be intrigued by evidence that we have exported that culture to other countries, placing the entire planet at risk. Far from simply an environmental anti-car tome, however, this volume summarizes alternatives to our current reliance on oil and explains in detail why alternatives have not been utilized. (Fans of the electric car should take special note.) Automobile industry wonks will find much to consider, but the book’s audience should also include those with an interest in U.S. labor history and the political relationship between oil giants and Detroit. This is an American story with international ramifications, and mandatory reading in the current economic crisis. --Colleen Mondor

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (January 13, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195376641
• ISBN-13: 978-0195376647
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (44 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #77,214 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #12 in	Books > Nonfiction > Automotive > Sport Utility Vehicles
  #16 in	Books > Professional & Technical > Engineering > Civil > Environmental > Pollution > Air
  #27 in	Books > Science > Earth Sciences > Climatology > Climate Changes

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Blue or Gray? Which will we choose ?, November 11, 2008

By	Anne (Baltimore, MD) - See all my reviews

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I grew up in L.A. and I didn't know that the blue sky in picture books was a real thing! I am genuinely serious about this. When I was 18 years old, I traveled to Oregon, got off the plane, and saw that the sky was actually blue--I had thought that it was a myth.

This book is really about the reason for those gray L.A. skies I grew up with. It is one of those books that everyone "should" read. It's important and it matters because it explains a huge issue we are going to have to deal with in the near future and beyond. I was fascinated by the interesting details that the authors included about the car industry and the development of different types of engines.

But, this book is so packed with information that you need to press on and wade into the deep end of it and then keep on swimming. It is a textbook. I assumed that it would be much lighter because of Schwarzenegger's contribution, but he only wrote the forward. As a textbook, I give it a very high recommendation. It is a very, very readable textbook. An easy, light read, this book is not.

As opposed to the other readers, I don't feel that the authors focused too much on California. The chapter that discusses California's situation and the actions that its state government has taken was very appropriate to the overall discussion of the book. One thing was not acknowledged in this chapter, though, and that was the horrible lack of public transporation and mass transit in California. I wish that there had been more of a discussion of mass transit in the book.

This book is definitely worth reading. The best comparison I can think of is that if you enjoy reading the magazine the Economist, then this book should be right up your alley.

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Is this book dated even before its release?, November 15, 2008

By	tomh (Newton, MA United States) - See all my reviews

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Authors Daniel Sperling and Deborah Gordon have written a book describing their proposals for how we must deal with the energy and climate implications of personal transportation. The title is based on the projection of the number of cars we would expect to see in the coming years, as a number of countries develop their economies, notably India and China. With personal transportation accounting for 30% of US carbon emissions, and some very large percentage of our crude oil consumption, it is clear that the transportation picture must change. In the end, the authors make a case for a number of general solutions, many based on their efforts in California.

The book will be published soon, but its timing is a bit unfortunate; frequently there are sections that refer to the pre-financial-crisis state of the world: high gasoline and oil prices, a regressive Bush administration in place, and a resonable set of assumptions about the availability of capital, car companies that were in bad shape but not near-death, and so on. So much has changed in the last few months that even before being published, in some ways the book seems dated. Of course this is mainly a superficial problem, as the policy proposals and observations in most ways transcend the presumably temporal problems the world economy is undergoing, and the new political landscape in a more enlightened Obama administration. Still, it is hard to read parts of the book only because it is clear that so much that is relevant to the problem has changed.

The book is organized in 9 chapters. The first 6 chapters present the history and current state of what the authors call the automobile monoculture: a world where most forms of transportation have been squeezed out to make room for one form of transit: the car. The 7th chapter describes the policies that have been put into place in California, many through the efforts of the authors. The next chapter describes how the car monoculture of the US is rapidly spreading to China as well as India. The final chapter presents the authors' proposals in this context.

I may be at the edge of the intended audience for the book -- while the forward (written by California governor Arnold Schwartzeneger) describes the book as accessible, I found it a bit dense and perhaps a little less cohesive than I would have preferred. Several times I felt as though a more ruthless editing would have made the content more readable, and more effective at making the point. I also found that the positions on certain policies were unclear, if not directly contradictory. For example, the authors go to some length to detail why cap and trade carbon policies are not a good solution for the problem of controlling automobile usage, yet in the end seem to include that as one of their proposals. In another example, they describe why technology-specific legislation (e.g. corn ethanol incentives) tend to fail compared to legislation that mandates objectives (e.g. carbon emissions), yet then propose how to regulate some specific energy sources, such as tar sands. Again, perhaps my relative lack of expertise in this area prevented me from grasping certain nuances. However, at some level, I think the book could have been far more effective with another round or two of editing.

I do think the authors eventually present a cogent, well-reasoned and broad solution for the problem the book addresses: 2 billion cars. In particular, they describe how future systems of integrated transportation systems could help us move away from the one-size-fits-all solution that personal automobiles have created. For example, we might have on-demand electric vehicles that can be summoned from our smart phone and which take us to a suitable location to pick up a bus or train. Still, this "Futurama III" scenario they describe seems very distant, and a bit dischordant with the specific, far more pragmatic proposals they present. In the end, I was left with a number of questions about how all of these pieces would come together.

My final criticism of the book is that it is presented in a bit of a vacuum, not particularly addressing how transportation solutions fit with equally important policies relating to other energy and climate problems such as heating and cooling of buildings, eletrical grid use (except as it relates to plug-in cars), agriculture, food, and water. These issues are inextricably bound; policies that address one without consideting others have consistently proven to be counter-productive (consider, for example corn ethanol programs; they help with oil independence at several much greater costs). I fully recognize that such a book must necessarily focus on solutions to the specific problem domain, yet almost no mention was made of how these solutions fit into the larger web of highly-related problems (and solutions). It seems that we often try to fix one problem without considering its impact on others (indeed the book itself makes this point).

As a conclusion, I think this book is best as an example of solutions that have worked in California ... and often under less-than-favorable political and policy conditions. Are these solutions relevant in this post-election, intra-financial world?

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Well Written and Interesting Book , November 26, 2008

By	Rowdy P. Scarlett "Yeah, I can dig it....a li... (Winston Salem, NC United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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My first thought glancing thru the book was "Oh, boy...this is going to be one dry read". I picked it up, ready for bed and thinking that it would put me to sleep. Well, I was wrong. I had to force myself to put it down. The book is well written and hold your interest. It doesn't dwell on one item too long. It keeps a very good pace making you want to read more.
Lots of figures and charts to support thier conclusions, but doesn't get bogged down in the numbers. Lots of good information about what is happening now and what could happen if we don't pay attention to what we're doing. Very interesting information about how China is buying cars as fast as they can and adding to an already substantial problem. The solutions are suggested. I hope many of us will take notice.