Product Description

Petroleum is now so deeply entrenched in our economy, our politics, and our personal expectations that even modest efforts to phase it out are fought tooth and nail by the most powerful forces in the world: companies and governments that depend on oil revenues; the developing nations that see oil as the only means to industrial success; and a Western middle class that refuses to modify its energy-dependent lifestyle. But within thirty years, by even conservative estimates, we will have burned our way through most of the oil that is easily accessible. And well before then, the side effects of an oil-based society -- economic volatility, geopolitical conflict, and the climate-changing impact of hydrocarbon pollution -- will render fossil fuels an all but unacceptable solution. How will we break our addiction to oil? And what will we use in its place to maintain a global economy and political system that are entirely reliant on cheap, readily available energy? Brilliantly reported from around the globe, The End of Oil brings the world situation into fresh and dramatic focus for business and general readers alike. Roberts talks to both oil optimists and oil pessimists, delves deep into the economics and politics of oil, considers the promises and pitfalls of alternatives, and shows that, although the world energy system has begun its epoch-defining transition, disruption and violent dislocation are almost assured if we do not take a more proactive stance. With the topicality and readability of Fast Food Nation and the scope and trenchant analysis of Guns, Germs, and Steel, this is a vitally important book for the new century.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #315770 in Books
• Published on: 2004-04-17
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: .2 pounds
• Binding: Hardcover
• 400 pages

From Publishers Weekly
All economic activity is rooted in the energy economy, which means a substantial portion of the current world economy is linked to the production and distribution of oil. But what will happen, Roberts asks, when the well starts to run dry? Walking readers through the modern energy economy, he suggests that grim prospect may not be as far off as we'd like to think and points out how political unrest could disrupt the world's oil supply with disastrous results. But that could be the least of our worries; some of Roberts's most persuasive passages describe an almost inevitable future shaped by global warming, especially as rapidly industrializing countries like China begin to replicate the pollution history of the U.S. Some signs of hope are visible, he believes, especially in Europe, but the stumbling progress of potential alternatives such as hydrogen power or fuel cells is additional cause for concern. And though the current administration's energy policy gets plenty of criticism, Roberts (a regular contributor to Harper's) saves some of his harshest barbs for American consumers, described as "the least energy-conscious people on the planet." If the government won't create stricter fuel efficiency standards, he argues, blame must be placed equally on our eagerness to drive around in gas-guzzling SUVs and on corporate lobbying. Stressing the dire need to act now to create any meaningful long-term effect, this measured snapshot of our oil-dependent economy forces readers to confront unsettling truths without sinking into stridency. This book may very well become for fossil fuels what Fast Food Nation was to food or High and Mighty to SUVs.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Out of Gas [BKL D 1 03], by scientist David Goodstein, has strong appeal for those with a general interest in energy. Roberts' disquisition tilts decisively toward the curiosity level of activists who populate public-interest groups and government as well as those who are more business-oriented and trying to make non-oil energy technologies profitable. Thus the author's style is sober, systematic, and studded with statistics, such as his favorable quotation of an analyst that atmospheric carbon dioxide must be restrained to 550 parts per million, about two-thirds above today's level. Numbers also back up his surveys of COsources that threaten that threshold (China's coal, America's SUV drivers). Roberts will diverge into an anecdote, but he consistently returns to adducing facts and drawing conclusions for all subtopics related to the prospective, decades-long transition from oil to--what? Decarbonized coal, liquefied natural gas, wind, sunlight, and hydrogen-- Roberts handicaps their profitability and advocates policies to market them, including international policies. Severely caustic about the energy policies of the Bush administration, Roberts will certainly gratify its opponents; yet policy-oriented readers willing to set aside Roberts' politics will understand him to be exceedingly well informed about the energy issue. Gilbert Taylor
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
"May very well become for fossil fuels what Fast Food Nation was to food or High and Mighty to SUVs." (Publishers Weekly )

"Brilliant" (The Baltimore Sun )

"An extraordinarily clear and powerful analysis of what is arguably the most serious crisis our industrial society has ever faced." (Boston Herald )