Peak Oil: Out of Gas at Last?

The enduring prospect of sky-high fuel prices concentrates the collective mind wonderfully on energy issues, maybe even the large ones like resource depletion, climate change, and our own ravenous rates of consumption (of everything). The following recent and forthcoming titles reveal a wide range of responses to the energy crisis; most prescribe cures for our oil addiction, while a couple are purely descriptive of "peak oil," the point at which oil production goes into a terminal decline, and attendant issues. Starred entries are highly recommended for all collections. [How libraries will play a role in this new post-peak oil world is outlined in Debra J. Slone's "After Oil," LJ 3/15/08, p. 29–31.—Ed.]

This readable history of recent U.S. energy policy by a former Carter administration energy bureaucrat who now heads the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum is, not surprisingly, most laudatory when considering his former boss's efforts in the energy portfolio. Looking back at the period from 1977 to 1982 (when oil imports dropped by half), Hakes notes the two- to six-year time lag it takes for federal legislation to manifest itself and offers this kernel to citizens: "Any politician who promises immediate results is probably going to make things worse." He offers seven ways the nation can regain its energy independence, the most intriguing and refreshing of which is perhaps his call to make energy conservation a patriotic duty. Hakes's insights into the politics of energy make the book especially relevant this voting season, and it would be a good addition to larger collections.

She is a policy wonk specializing in consumer issues; he is managing director of a leading renewable energy fund. They provide a good general discussion of energy issues (particularly renewables), take a fascinating look at emerging technologies, and offer some sensible solutions to the crisis (e.g., do something about oil subsidies, keep pressure on elected officials to enact sound energy policy). This is a light read, suitable for most collections. Some readers will warm to the authors' chatty style, but others may find it irritatingly chummy.

This book happily describes the British grassroots "Transition Towns" movement, the group Robin Mills (see below) called "mistaken, appalling and dangerous." Meant to be a guide and motivator, the handbook discusses how several U.K. towns are preparing for the twin threats of climate change and peak oil. Hopkins, a teacher of permaculture and natural building and a cofounder of the Transition Network, urges a community response—local sustainability made fun—in which groups grapple with issues like food, transportation, energy, building materials, and waste and even develop their own local currency. Hopkins takes our "addiction" to oil literally, and so we will read of "post-petroleum stress disorder," and see applied addictions psychology helping to ease the townies' withdrawal symptoms. It's a handsome book, thoughtfully designed, which may make its message a little more palatable to oil addicts on this side of the Atlantic. [See the author speak about his book and ideas at www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGHrWPtCvg0.—Ed.]

This is an excellent choice for high school readers: brief, accessible, and, because it is written from the left side of the political spectrum (and by a Canadian), capable of generating discussion by virtue of its "outside" perspective. Laxer (political science, York Univ., Toronto) makes a complex subject clear with the aid of time lines of oil history, highlighted points of interest, and a solid list of sources for further reading. The author's account of corporate involvement in the oil patch is especially interesting. For school and public libraries

Geologist, economist, and petroleum industry insider Mills makes an intelligent case for oil's continuing role as a major, growing energy source. A Herculean task, one would think, given public sentiment on the matter. Mills manages it by first neatly dividing opposing viewpoints into five camps: geologists (those who espouse peak oil theory), economists (the markets will work it out), militarists (use power to secure energy supplies), environmentalists (fossil fuels: no), and neo-Luddites (fossil fuels, consumption, and materialism: no). He then conquers their positions with lively, exhaustively sourced arguments to say that there may be more conventional oil than reported, "colossal" unconventional sources, and plentiful energy substitutes. Mills shows deep understanding of the complexity of the issue, and while promising no easy fixes, he is yet hopeful: "gloomy predictions do not resemble the real world and take no account of human ingenuity." For more advanced readers.

In this solid, if pedestrian, survey of world energy issues, Moroney (economics, Texas A&M Univ.) argues that oil, natural gas, and coal—fuels now representing 85 percent of all energy consumed around the globe—will continue to dominate despite predicted depletion of world reserves. Renewable energy solutions are largely discounted here, and conservation measures are not mentioned. Moroney worries about radioactive waste storage from nuclear power plants, yet he puts great faith in the development of capture-and-storage technologies of CO₂ fossil-fuel emissions. The author's claim that his text is fit for "nonspecialized adult audiences" seems accurate. For larger collections.

This book goes further than any of the other titles considered here, both in terms of the deep societal ills it examines and the radical solutions it proposes. It is not just peak oil, but peak America Murphy takes as his subject. His plan is based on "curtailment"—we must not only make drastic cuts in our use of fossil fuels, but also cut our rates of consumption: buy less, use less, want less, waste less; watch less television, eat better foods, give up driving private cars, and become, in short, "a nation with new values." Murphy's work is perhaps easy to dismiss—i.e., fringe, hairshirted—but if, as the best scientific evidence suggests, the world is already in a dangerous state of overshoot, then its message may not be that far out after all. Murphy is the executive director of The Communty Solution and coproducer of the documentary The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil.

Beneath the snappy title lies a thoroughly engaging book. Septuagenarian Shuster, a chemical engineer by trade, wants the world to adopt a mix of sun (10 percent), wind (10 percent), and the atom (80 percent) to fill humanity's energy needs, and he wants it accomplished by July 4, 2040: Energy Independence Day! Shuster argues that it is imperative to transform transportation as quickly as possible from internal combustion engines to hybrids and electrics, to aggressively develop biofuels, and to fast-track nuclear power (particularly "fast-fusion" technology). With exclamatory, uppercase, boldfaced bluster he exhorts the reader to disregard global warming, do not worry about planting trees, do not bother with carbon cap and trades, and forget conservation—these are, he claims, just distractions from the real peril of the continued burning of fossil fuels. Suitable for most collections.