The Party's Over: Oil, War and the Fate of Industrial Societies
Editorial Reviews
Book Description
The world is about to run out of cheap oil and change dramatically. Within the next few years, global production will peak. Thereafter, even if industrial societies begin to switch to alternative energy sources, they will have less net energy each year to do all the work essential to the survival of complex societies. We are entering a new era, as different from the industrial era as the latter was from medieval times.
In The Party's Over, Richard Heinberg places this momentous transition in historical context, showing how industrialism arose from the harnessing of fossil fuels, how competition to control access to oil shaped the geopolitics of the 20th century, and how contention for dwindling energy resources in the 21st century will lead to resource wars in the Middle East, Central Asia, and South America. He describes the likely impacts of oil depletion, and all of the energy alternatives. Predicting chaos unless the U.S. -- the world's foremost oil consumer -- is willing to join with other countries to implement a global program of resource conservation and sharing, he also recommends a "managed collapse" that might make way for a slower-paced, low-energy, sustainable society in the future.
More readable than other accounts of this issue, with fuller discussion of the context, social implications, and recommendations for personal, community, national, and global action, Heinberg's book is a riveting wake-up call for humankind as the oil era winds down, and a critical tool for understanding and influencing current U.S. foreign policy.
Richard Heinberg, from Santa Rosa, California, has been writing about energy resources issues and the dynamics of cultural change for many years. A member of the core faculty at New College of California, he is an award-winning author of three previous books. His Museletter was nominated for its "Best Alternative Newsletter" award by Utne Reader in 1993.
About the Author
Richard Heinberg has been researching and writing about energy resources issues and the dynamics of cultural change for many years. A member of the core faculty at the New College of California, he designed and teaches a program on Culture, Ecology and Sustainable Community. A freelance writer, book editor, and musician, his newsletter was nominated for _Best Alternative Newsletter_ by Utne Reader in 1993, and he is an award-winning author of three previous books.
The Party's Over: Oil, War and the Fate of Industrial Societies,Richard Heinberg,New Society Publishers,0865714827,Environmental Conservation & Protection - General,General,Petroleum industry,Petroleum industry and trade,Petroleum reserves,Political aspects,Politics - Current Events,Politics / Current Events,Real Estate - General,Renewable energy sources,Social Science,Sociology,Current Events / General
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