Cover image for The energy reader : overdevelopment and the delusion of endless growth
The energy reader : overdevelopment and the delusion of endless growth
Title:
The energy reader : overdevelopment and the delusion of endless growth
ISBN:
9780970950093
Publication Information:
[Healdsburg, Calif.] : Watershed Media, ©2012.
Physical Description:
xvii, 364 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm.
Contents:
A deeper look at the energy picture. Introduction : energy literacy -- The predicament. Introduction : energy, nature, and the eco-social crisis ; Five carbon pools / Wes Jackson ; Faustian economics : hell hath no limits / Wendell Berry ; Life-affirming beauty / Sandra B. Lubarsky ; Our global Ponzi economy / Lester R. Brown ; Coal : the greatest threat to civilization / James Hansen ; The view from oil's peak / Richard Heinberg ; Energy return on investment / Charles A.S. Hall ; Alternative energy challenges / David Fridley ; When risk assessment is risky : predicting the effects of technology / David Ehrenfeld ; Malevolent and malignant threats / R. James Woolsey ; Progress vs. apocalypse : the stories we tell ourselves / John Michael Greer -- The landscape of energy. Introduction : a tour of the energy terrain / David Murphy ; The landscape of energy -- False solutions. Introduction : false solutions to the energy challenge ; Drill baby drill : why it won't work for long-term energy sustainability / David Hughes ; Nuclear power and the earth / Richard Bell ; The false promise of "clean" coal / Jeff Goodell ; The whole fracking enchilada / Sandra Steingraber ; River killers : the false solution of megadams / Juan Pablo Orrego ; Bioenergy : a disaster for biodiversity, health, and human rights / Rachel Smolker ; Oil shale development : looming threat to western wildlands / George Wuerthner ; Gas hydrates : a dangerously large source of unconventional hydrocarbons / George Wuerthner ; Regulatory illusion / Brian L. Horejsi ; Retooling the planet : the false promise of geoengineering / ETC Group -- Under attack. Introduction : onslaught of the energy machine ; Will drilling spell the end of a quintessential American landscape? / Erik Molvar ; Backing the front : fighting oil and gas development in Montana's Rocky Mountain front / Gloria Flora ; Tar sands, pipelines, and the threat to first nations / Winona LaDuke, with Martin Curry ; Sweet and sour : the curse of oil in the Niger Delta / Michael Watts ; Outsourcing pollution and energy-intensive production / Vandana Shiva -- Depowering destruction. Introduction : toward an energy economy as if nature mattered ; The case for conservation / Richard Heinberg ; Reinventing fire / Amory B. Lovins ; Cap the grid / Robert E. King ; Protected areas : foundation of a better future relationship with energy / Harvey Locke ; Three steps to establish a politics of global warming / Bill McKibben ; Distributed renewable generation : why it should be the centerpiece of U.S. energy policy / Sheila Bowers and Bill Powers ; No ecological sustainability without limits to growth / Philip Cafaro -- What we're for -- Places where the wind carries the ashes of ancestors.
Summary:
The Energy Reader takes an unflinching look at the environmental devastation created by our thirst for energy--including supposedly "(Bclean" renewable sources. From oil spills, nuclear accidents, and mountaintop-removal coal mining to oversized wind farms and desert-destroying solar power plants, virtually every region of the globe is now experiencing the consequences of out-of-control energy development. Essentially no place is sacred, no landscape safe from the relentless search for energy resources to continue powering a culture based on perpetual growth. Precious wildlands, fragile ecosystems, even our own communities and children's health are at risk. Featuring essays by more than thirty of the most brilliant minds in the fields of energy, society, and ecology, The Energy Reader lifts the veil on the harsh realities of our pursuit of energy at any price, revealing the true costs, benefits, and limitations of all our energy options. Contributors include Wes Jackson, Bill McKibben, Sandra B. Lubarsky, Richard Heinberg, Philip Cafaro, Wendell Berry, Juan Pablo Orrego. Collectively, they offer a wake-up call about the future of energy and what each of us can do to change course. Ultimately, the book offers not only a deep critique of the current system that is toxic to nature and people, but also a hopeful vision for a future energy economy--in which resilience, health, beauty, biodiversity, and durability, not incessant growth, are the organizing principles.
Holds: