The Post Carbon Reader: Managing the 21st Century's Sustainability Crises

The Post Carbon Reader: Managing the 21st Century's Sustainability Crises

The Post Carbon Reader: Managing the 21st Century's Sustainability Crises

The Post Carbon Reader: Managing the 21st Century's Sustainability Crises

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Overview

This diverse collection by best-selling authors, renowned scientists, and experienced activists is an engaging and practical book that will be of interest to the lay reader as well as university students in both graduate and undergraduate courses.

The expert contributors to The Post Carbon Reader were asked to unflinchingly describe the deep and interconnected sustainability crises confronting humanity in the 21st century—and then give readers concrete steps for addressing those crises.

This unprecedented collection of writings (34 essays, 4 previously published) is an honest, informed and engaging exploration of the most challenging issues of our time. It includes chapters by best-selling authors like climate activist Bill McKibben, renowned scholars like "ecological footprint" co-founder William Rees, and up-and-coming experts like urban food systems pioneer Erika Allen. Lead editor Richard Heinberg is the world's leading author of mass-market books on fossil fuel dependence and depletion. Heinberg says, "We've run out of time, natural resources and capital, so this is our only chance to get things right."


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780970950062
Publisher: Watershed Media
Publication date: 09/01/2010
Pages: 523
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Richard Heinberg is Senior Fellow in Residence at Post Carbon
Institute and the author of nine books, including The Party's Over and Peak Everything. Daniel Lerch is the author of Post Carbon Cities.

Table of Contents

Foreword Asher Miller xiii

Preface Daniel Lerch xix

Acknowledgments xxv

Part 1 Foundation Concepts

1 Beyond the Limits to Growth Richard Heinberg 3

2 What Is Sustainability? Richard Heinberg 13

Box 2.1. Defining Social Sustainability Jesse Dillard Veronica Dujon Mary King 21

3 Thinking "Resilience" William E. Rees 25

Part 2 Climate

4 A New World Bill McKibben 43

5 The International Response to Climate Change Richard Douthwaite 53

Box 5.1. Cap and Dividend in the United States Mike Sandler 60

6 The Ecological Deficit: Creating a New Political Framework David Orr 63

Part 3 Water

7 Water: Adapting to a New Normal Sandra Postel 77

Part 4 Biodiversity

8 Peak Nature? Stephanie Mills 97

Part 5 Food

9 Getting Fossil Fuels Off the Plate Michael Bomford 119

10 Tackling the Oldest Environmental Problem: Agriculture and Its Impact on Soil Wes Jackson 128

11 Growing Community Food Systems Erika Allen 140

Part 6 Population

12 Population: The Multiplier of Everything Else William N. Ryerson 153

Part 7 Culture and Behavior

13 Dangerously Addictive: Why we Are Biologically I11-Suited to the Riches of Modern America Peter C. Whybrow 177

14 Remapping Relationships: Humans in Nature Gloria Flora 184

15 The Human Nature of Unsustainability William E. Rees 194

Part 8 Energy

16 Making Sense of Peak Oil and Energy Uncertainty Daniel Lerch 207

17 Hydrocarbons in North America J. David Hughes 211

18 Nine Challenges of Alternative Energy David Fridley 229

19 Peak Oil and the Great Recession Tom Whipple 247

Part 9 Economy

20 Ecological Economics Joshua Farley 259

21 Money and Energy Richard Douthwaite 279

22 The Competitiveness of Local Living Economies Michael H. Shuman 283

Part 10 Cities, Towns, and Suburbs

23 The Death of Sprawl: Designing Urban Resilience for the Twenty-First-Century Resource and Climate Crises Warren Karlenzig 295

24 Smart Decline in Post-Carbon Cities: The Buffalo Commons Meets Buffalo, New York Deborah E. Popper Frank J. Popper 314

25 Toward Zero-Carbon Buildings Hillary Brown 322

26 Local Government in a Time of Peak Oil and Climate Change John Kaufmann 335

Part 11 Transportation

27 Transportation in the Post-Carbon World Richard Gilbert Anthony Perl 347

Part 12 Waste

28 Climate Change, Peak Oil, and the End of Waste Bill Sheehan Helen Spiegelman 363

Part 13 Health

29 Human Health and Well-Being in an Era of Energy Scarcity and Climate Change Cindy L. Parker Brian S. Schwartz 385

Box 29.2 Climate Change and Dengue Fever Bill McKibben 397

Part 14 Education

30 Smart by Nature: Schooling for Sustainability Michael K. Stone Zenobia Barlow 409

31 Community Colleges: A Vital Resource for Education in the Post-Carbon Era Nancy Lee Wood 419

Part 15 Building Resilience

32 Personal Preparation Chris Martenson 429

33 What Can Communities Do? Rob Hopkins 442

Part 16 Call to Action

34 What Now? The Path Forward Begins with One Step Asher Miller 455

Notes 459

Index 499

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