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Cool it!: Five books that question our energy use
Article by Cool Australia
Our relationship with oil is one that has turned sour: not only has our supply run low, but our use of oil has had detrimental effects on our environment and political landscape that continue to unfold each day. As we continue in our unabated and exponential use, many people have accepted that our practices are unsustainable. These five books offer a varied and informed look at our dependence on oil, its effects on every level of society and our environment, and ways we can move forward by using alternative sources of energy.
| Rising Powers, Shrinking Planet: The New Geopolitics of Energy Author: Michael T. Clare Publisher: Metropolitan Books "A brilliant exposition on one of the gigantic problems facing society. Klare is a top expert on the politics of energy and resources. Read him!"—Paul R. Ehrlich, author of The Dominant Animal "Four centuries ago, as the conquistadors roamed through South America, it was the search for gold that drove the clash of empires. A hundred years later, as the great powers fought over the West Indies, it was the quest for land that could grow sugar cane. Today, the key commodity is oil. No one knows this subject better than Michael Klare, and his book is a trenchant and informative guide to what the fatal thirst for oil means for the tensions and rivalries of our fragile planet."—Adam Hochschild, author of "King Leopold’s Ghost" “If you want to understand the future of international relations, worry less about ideology and more about oil reserves. Michael Klare's superb new book explains, in haunting detail, the trends that will lead us into a series of dangerous traps, unless we muster the will to transform the way we use energy in this country. As illuminating as it is unsettling.”—Bill McKibben, author "The Bill McKibben Reader" |
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| Crude World: The Violent Twilight of Oil Author: Peter Maass Publisher: Vintage “An illuminating narrative of the true impact of the global dependence on oil…This book is essential reading for these times and for anyone interested in making the right decisions about our energy future.”—Robert Redford Every unhappy oil-producing nation is unhappy in its own way, but all are touched by the “resource curse”—the power of oil to exacerbate existing problems and create new ones. In Crude World, Peter Maass presents a vivid portrait of the troubled world oil has created. He takes us to Saudi Arabia, where officials deflect inquiries about the amount of petroleum remaining in the country’s largest reservoir; to Equatorial Guinea, where two tennis courts grace an oil-rich dictator’s estate but bandages and aspirin are a hospital’s only supplies; and to Venezuela, where Hugo Chávez’s campaign to redistribute oil wealth creates new economic and political crises. —Peter Maass, writer, New York Times Magazine |
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| The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money & Power Author: Daniel Yergin Publisher: Free Press The Prize recounts the panoramic history of oil -- and the struggle for wealth power that has always surrounded oil. This struggle has shaken the world economy, dictated the outcome of wars, and transformed the destiny of men and nations. The Prize is as much a history of the twentieth century as of the oil industry itself. The canvas of this history is enormous -- from the drilling of the first well in Pennsylvania through two great world wars to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and Operation Desert Storm. The cast extends from wildcatters and rogues to oil tycoons, and from Winston Churchill and Ibn Saud to George Bush and Saddam Hussein. The definitive work on the subject of oil and a major contribution to understanding our century, The Prize is a book of extraordinary breadth, riveting excitement -- and great importance. (amazon) A compelling and comprehensive history. . . . [Yergin] writes quiet unexaggerated prose, comprehensible to non-specialists, and artfully manages vast research . . . his narrative proceeds like a developing photograph of our times. — The New Yorker, Naomi Bliven |
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Soil Not Oil: Environmental Justice in an Age of Climate Crisis |
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Global Energy Governance: The New Rules of the Game |
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