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The Revolution
This is a revolution. If you want to shut an airport then stop flying.
Want an end to factory farming? Grow your own. An end to pollution?
Change to renewables. An end to war & poverty? Microgenerate. Life
for your childen? Stop needing oil. YOU have THIS Power. You do not
need Government. Seize the initiative. Bring democracy to your
community. Be an example to your children. Take responsibility.
Change for good today. |
Books - Authors M through Q
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In this section you
will find our Book Reviews of the work of Authors M through Q.
The topics we cover are across the spectrum of topics including
Global Warming, Peak Oil, Oil Security, Politics, Environmental
issues, etc. The views expressed here are purely those of the
reviewer's. These reviews are not prompted by copies direct from
the Publisher.
It is our policy to
be fair about each book and to point out good and bad in each
review. In our opinion we believe that the informed Carbon
Cutter should make a reasonable effort to read a selection of
these books based upon our recommendations. Knowledge is power. |
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Pat Murphy "Plan C"
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Review coming soon... |
Patrick J. Michaels "Meltdown"
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ISBN 1 930865 59 7. "Meltdown - The Predictable Distortion
of Global Warming by Scientists, Politicians and the Media".
Written by Patrick J. Michaels and published by the Cato
Institute in 2004. The Authors talks of the Cato Institute
as being a "liberal think tank" and we can interpret this as
placing it somewhere BETWEEN the Environmental Lobby and the
Market-dogma on the Neo-Cons. Given that 'environmentalism'
is somewhat mainstream these days, and that neo-liberalism
is becoming increasingly right-of-center then we may think
of this as being fairly right wing and broadly Republican.
Yes, this is a US-parochial work. The vast majority of the
evidence presented concerns the science and reporting of
issues in the USA. It only journeys further a field if the
author thinks he has evidence to back his cause. And his
cause it this: Global Warming is real and man-made but it
will only create small increases in temperature and we can
adapt to this, as can the environment. He makes a very good
case and we do recommend that everyone reads this. But with
BIG caveats. This is not an argument for complacency. The
Cato Institute is funded by Exxon (see
www.exxonsecrets.org). So we should be suspicious when
Michaels argues that deaths from heat waves will be
mitigated by fitting Air-Conditioning to the home of
old-people. He
neglects to tell us where the energy will come from the 2050
in order to power his air-con. So this is certainly
'small-picture' stuff not big-picture. He mostly uses
statistics to demolish some stories although this are
carefully chosen. He uses the falling temperatures between
1940 to 1960 to counteracts recent temperature rises to try
and argue that none of the computer models work and that
recent rises prove nothing. However, his analysis doesn't
really go back far enough making it a classic case of lies
and damn lies.... He does make some VERY good points in the
book and sure, there have been some excesses that he has
exposed. However, his central thesis that Global Warming
hysteria is driven by Politicians and self-serving
Scientists defies all intuition. Mind you he is dealing with
the Federal Grant structure for science in the USA and they
have a lot of money to give away. As a counterpoint please
read Ross Gelbspan's "Boiling Point" which shows the other
side of the story. It is far more intuitive to believe that
few Politicians are willing talk about Global Warming as
they see it as Political suicide. Whilst, for scientists,
outside of the USA there is more evidence that they are
making it up than there is that Doctors invent new diseases.
Do they exaggerate for funding? Possibly but not
significantly. Does Michael's argument that the Scientific
establishment follows the 'Global-Warming-as-Disaster'
"paradigm" such that peer review is ineffective and favours
only doom and gloom? This is interesting but holds little
water outside the USA. This book cites fifty examples but
these predate 2003 and go back as far as the 1980's. Are
they pertinent for 2007 now we know so much more? The news
isn't getting any better and Politicians still aren't doing
anything. Michaels makes no mention of tipping points nor
the rising acidity of the oceans. Even if the oceans absorb
all that CO2 that still leaves most of the planet dead.
Air-con won't help if you are starving.... |
Mobbs "Energy Beyond Oil"
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ISBN 1 905237 00 6. Published by Matador Publishing in 2005. I read this in
the first quarter of 2007. This probably the only the second book I have
read that lumps climate change and peak oil together as one topic and
studies them together. Mobbs deals far more with the peak oil side of things
and he is statistically very thorough. His scope is largely limited to the
United Kingdom Energy Market but the work provides lessons for other
countries. It is difficult to criticise this work. It can comes across as
pretty dull at times and it goes through the science in the manner of a
secondary school physics text book. This would make it impenetrable to the
casual reader but as it is not meant to be a text book I wonder where the
library might stock this? It doesn't quite fit a category. If there is to be
a criticism it is for the editors who failed to curb Mobbs' polemic against
Carbon offsetting. Quite why he trips off on a pointless rant again carbon
reduction schemes is not quite clear. It deserves no place within this book
on this topic. Although he repeats the same tired and flawed arguments he
digs up a new one that Chomsky would be proud of. Apparently Carbon Trading Markets,
that transfer money to Third World countries, is Western selfishness because
the only countries that benefit are those where that money is then spent -
t he West. This lazy piece of logic can be extended to all forms of aid to
the Third World so could justify cutting off every penny. Bizarre. Put this
stupidity to one side for a moment and you have a fantastic book. It gets
fantastic just at the end where Mobbs pulls a rabbit out of the hat. He
presents two graphs, one is Business as Usual and the other is with Energy
Conservation cutting over to sustainability. What is remarkable is that the
two are quite similar. It is just that 'business as usual' may continue the
party for a few years more but then comes to an abrupt crash as the energy
supplies runs out. And Mobbs does demonstrate that it is ALL Energy
supplies: coal, oil, gas and uranium. They will all be gone within fifty
years leaving only a residual 20% of sustainable leftovers. So we learn to
live with that or stop living. Recommended. |
Piggott "Choosing Windpower"
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"Choosing Windpower" by Hugh Piggot. ISBN 1 90217 531 X.
Published by the Center for Alternative Technology. This is
similar to "Wind Energy Basics - A Guide to Small and Micro
Wind Systems" by Paul Gipe but is much smaller and a lot
less entertaining. It covers a lot of the same ground in a
more concise form but covers the UK market rather than the
United States. This is a useful contribution. Hence you
should probably buy both books together, reading them at the
same time, if you based in the UK and Europe. The book is
110 pages long but fits in the neatly into your pocket. It
can be downloaded as a PDF from the CAT web site but we
chose to buy the review copy from Amazon. It comes as a
little spiral-bound notebook which would be cool if this
meant you could fold it back upon itself to hold a page
open. Sadly you cannot because they have then glued a stiff
cardboard cover on to the outside. Why? Inside you get some
useful little illustrations and a sprinkling of
black-and-white photographs. The introduction bugs the
reader by making repeated references to "wind-mills". Let's
get this straight - a 'wind-mill' grinds flour directly from
the force of the wind. A wind-turbine generates electricity.
It is the latter we are talking about here. Through this
little book there is repeated reference to four case studies
and we look at every aspect of their requirements and how to
meet them. It is well written and the explanations are
readable.
 However,
like Paul Gipe's work it is, essentially, a text-book. Hence
it is not overly-fun to read. In truth it is quite dull in
places and will remind you of the bits of school physics
lessons you really hated. Putting that to one side, if you
need to know why you shouldn't put a wind-turbine on the
roof of your house, then this little gem will tell you. You
can visit CAT and get a Development Course on the topic.
Recommended. |
Pfeiffer "Eating Fossil Fuels"
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ISBN 0 86571 565 3. Published in 2006 by New Society
Publishers. Written by Dale Allen Pfeiffer who also authored
"The End of the Age of Oil". It is not a long book, at only
85 pages excluding Resource Guide, Bibliography and Index,
however Dale has managed to come up with the goods on this
topic. He occasionally holds his punches in the language
used - he could be a little more direct. Despite the title
he covers a broader range of topics including the
degradation of the natural environment and how intensive
agriculture has had a knock-on effect in declining water
tables. It isn't always entirely clear how this is related
to fossil fuels other than as an indirect consequence of
population over-shoot. Likewise there is a section devoted
to soil degradation that is largely derivative of similar
work elsewhere. It is also worth comparing such claims about
loss of biodiversity and topsoil with counter-claims by
Lomborg. It always sounds worse than it probably is. The
book also seems to avoid looking at the economics of the oil
and gas usage in feedstock's for pesticides and fertilisers.
It would be interesting to see how oil prices would effect
agriculture but this is not really studied. It is just
assumed that one day the oil and gas wouldn't be there
leaving us in a hole. In truth it will be a long drawn-out
and protracted agony for those members of the human race
being slowly priced out of basic foodstuffs. Where this book
does draw its great strength is in the examination of Korea
and Cuba's different responses to their own post-Soviet Oil
crashes. Korea got it all wrong and Cuba got it all right.
The books concludes with the oddly titled
 "Twelve
Fun Activities for Activists" however it sounds more grim
than fun. The solutions, as always, are local and home-spun.
Support local agriculture. invest in permaculture, buy from
local markets, and so on and so forth. No surprises really.
The book disappoints only in failing to convince the average
reader of the precise links between oil and food, but Dale
covers almost everything in-between. Recommended as one of
the few books on this most important of topics. If Climate
Change won't starve you the end of Oil will. Read it and dig
up your lawn. |
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George Monbiot "Heat"
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ISBN978 0 7139 9923 5. "Heat - How to Stop the Planet Burning"
by George Monbiot. Published by Penguin in 2006. This eagerly
awaited book by George Monbiot is investigative journalism at
its best. He sets himself a target, a 90% cut in UK CO2
emissions by 2030. Then he sets out to see how this can be done,
in his words "without insurrection". For it is this central
thesis - how to make the necessary changes without everyone
living in tree houses - that bothers us all. If you are reading
this page then it bothers you. For the first time ever somebody
actually deconstructs our modern economy and our hectic lives to
see what can be done. He casts a critical eye over our homes and
our industries, our transport and our energy supplies. He has
dug up some fresh new ideas and been very thorough. However, he
is, afterall, just a journalist better known for his writings in
The Guardian. There are few better known trendy lefties out
there. This is the real deal and he proves quite likeable even
to those of us with a distinctive non-lefty background. So he
evades criticism through his thoroughness. His attention to the
science and engineering is to be commended. However, in the very
last chapter he blows it. After giving a reasonably rational and
level headed assessment of the state of the world it all
unravels. Lo!
 His
baby daughter was born and he gets all weepy. Then he gets
angry. Instead of venting his spleen at the inaction of
Politicians he turns on Carbon-reduction Investments. At this
point you will recall the George has a few shady dealings with
the folks over at
www.planestupid.com - normally we quite like their web site
but we have to take them to task for their irrational hatred of
that wisdom-spending we used to call 'offsetting'. We know
offsetting is not going to save the planet but it will
contribute. If you have a problem with HOW people are motivated
to invest in such schemes then you have lost the plot. So, after
a quite enlightened read we have to wrap up with impassioned
gibberish about burning trees. Oh dear. Own goal. But the rest
of the book is fine. A great source book. Recommended. |
Meadows "Limits to Growth"
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ISBN 1 84407 144 8. "Limits to Growth - the 30 year update" was
written by Donella Meadows, Jorgen Randers and Dennis Meadow.
Published in 2005 by Earthscan. The three authors are all (or
were) University Professors (one has since passed away - Donella
in 2001). In 1972 the original "Limits to Growth" was published
by the same authors. It gave a message that was very timely if
misunderstood and ignored - our planet will not support infinite
growth in its economy and human population. Despite the fact
this is stunningly self-evident it looks as if many are happy to
ignore this fundamental truth. This book is the second follow up
(the first being "Beyond the Limits" in 1992). It uses updated
Computer Models and empirical data from the last 30 years to
re-examine the basic assumptions. In 1972 they predicted
over-shoot and that has now happened. The fact no one chooses to
notice is akin to a man falling of a cliff who thinks he is
flying. The original work was done at MIT and sponsored by the
Club of Rome - an international group of Businessmen, Statesmen
and Scientists funded by the Volkswagen Foundation in Germany.
The "World3" Computer model they use is now freely available to
anyone who wants to send off for the CD. In 1972 they predicted
growth until 2015 and believed that there was plenty of time to
head off disaster. This is not the impression you might get from
the Skeptical
 Environmentalist
who see no signs of growth limits. Lomberg suggested the Club of
Rome work had predicted doom and gloom. In fact it did not. It
was piece of scientific modelling showing possible future
scenarios. You can argue about the assumption in the scenarios
but the results remain the same. There are limits and we have
passed them. A large part of the work is dedicated to exploring
the World3 model to understand how societal collapse will happen
and how it could be prevented. How can we bring ourselves back
down to earth? The various scenarios in World3 produce
interesting results if not always surprising. It can only
indicate the general direction and timing. However its trending
looks intuitive and occasionally eye-opening. One way or the
other growth will stop - even if it means running out of
people. The Message? If we are to avoid crashing and burning
then we must fully exploit every renewable resource we have with
better and better technology. Pollution must be controlled, land
yield improved, land erosion prevented, energy efficiency
maximised, etc. There is a solution. Markets and Technology are
part of that solution but not the entire solution, they are
imperfect, indeed markets can have a detrimental effect. Other
important impacts will be felt if we stabilise our population,
our industrial output and seek only sustainable development.
After the hard science is over the book rather disappoints in
the rather tree-hugging nature it disappears into less objective
solutions - such as 'love'. Great. However there are many good
suggestions here even if this is not the purpose of the book.
Recommended for anyone who wants the big picture of where we are
going and how to stop disaster. |
Meyer "Contract & Converge"
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ISBN 1-478379-3 Full title: "Contraction & Convergence - The
Global Solution to Climate Change". Published by Green Books on
behalf of the Schumacher Society. Aubrey's background as a
professional Musician and his insistence upon referring to "Zen"
and other forms of eastern mysticism does undermine his
important message. If stripped of this nonsense this should
become the policy of the WTO, World Bank,
UN and every country on earth. It is common sense. Aubrey argues
that the only practical solution to Global Climate Change comes from
Equality of Carbon Emission and Reduction of Carbon Emissions. No
argument with the latter but the reasoning for the former is
thoroughly discussed as simple politic pragmatism.
 Equality is the
only way to get everyone on board. Hence it is expedient. This is
persuasive and embodies vague concepts of global justice into a
practical solution. The second interesting part of the book details
the politics of the discussions that lead to Kyoto. Some of the
distorted economics presented by the rich northern countries was
appalling. Sometimes a dull read when lost in the statistics but
still a recommended source that cuts through the noise. Buy it and
read it now.... But, please liberate the solutions from the
hippies.....! |
McKillop "Final Energy Crisis"
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ISBN 0-7453-2092-9. Published by Pluto Press in 2005. The book
is edited by Andrew McKillop and Sheila Newman. This books
explores the crisis in fossil fuels. Without oil everything we
take for granted comes to a grinding halt, our food, our homes,
our economies, you name it, everything. Even if there were
unlimited supplies you couldn't burn for two reasons: it would
harm the biosphere and it would be a waste. If you burnt it then
you couldn't use it to make hydrogen, fertiliser, drugs,
plastics, lubricants, etc, etc. A range of international
contributors write pieces for the book. They look at the
politics, the wars, the future economics, depletion and
sustainability. What other lifestyle could we lead without oil?
Will nuclear fill the gap? Oddly enough, whilst McKillop has a
solid energy industry experience, Newman is actually a
sociologist and artist. However it is she who covers the topics of population and land-use. S he
contributes the section on population over-shoot covering France and
Australia. Ouch! I wouldn't want to be in Australia fifty years from
now - a revelation! Inside the book they are joined by ten other
authors who write on a range of topics such as the French Nuclear
experience and something called "The Simpler Way" by Ted Trainer.
All in all a broad church that takes in Kyoto, farming, food
production, physics, Central Asian phantom oil, renewables, oil
wars, the Chinese economic miracle, oil market shocks, coal demand,
and so on. Recommended. |
Porritt "Capitalism as if....."
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ISBN 978-1-84407-193-7. Published in 2005 and updated
considerably in 2007. Published by Earthscan. Full Title:
"Capitalism as if the World Mattered" by Jonathan Porritt. This
is a book primarily about selling sustainable development to
Business Folk and the Electorate, but fails to deliver any
killer vision or program. In fact you would be forgiven for
thinking that it is 350 pages of waffle and navel-gazing.
Porritt is a true mega-star of the green movement but he is the
green answer to Tony Blair. Whilst most of his country lost
faith in Blair and Brown several years ago it does seem as if
Jonathan is their greatest living fan and pours nothing but
praise on their work on third world debt and the environment. In
truth it all sounds like a 'deep-green' having flown a little
too close to the Sun and having fallen to earth a far
lighter-green. Porritt's proposition here is that Capitalism can
be reformed to support the Planet's Natural Capital one company
at a time through some kind of super-green Corporate
Responsibility packages. Porritt gives vent to all kinds of
anguish over the crimes of the George Bush Jnr regime but the
main agenda is set by his own "Forum for the Future". He
lambastes the traditional greens for their inability to
articulate a positive vision and often returns to the idea that
environmentalism is dead. It remains unclear as to what "Forum
for the Future" is doing but you would expect a modern
Government to be receptive to great plug-and-play answers for
their environmental problems.. It makes you wonder if Porritt
hasn't just wasted the last twenty years with a bunch of civil
servants when he should have been evolving something
inspirational. Throughout this book Porritt delivers an analysis
of everyone's opinions through his large personal library. He
wants us (especially the cynical greens) to embrace Capitalism
and revolutionise it from the inside. He comes up with lots of
post-modern ideas about what constitutes "Capital" and he truly
believes that if you wrap the environmental message in nice
green wrapping then those hedge fund managers in the City will
swallow it. Only very briefly does he even touch on WHAT exactly
it is that would possibly make this happen - a price per tonne
for Carbon of $100. Here is a germ of an idea but it is quickly
swamped by a sea of voices. We hear every shade of opinion yet
never seem to reach a conclusion. We need to make sustainable
development desirable? Wrong. We need to make the survival of
our species a matter of economics. And we have to inspire people
through their own stupid self interest. Once you have that
licked then the suckers are all yours. This is a well researched
book and an interesting read if you want a pleasant ramble
through the world of green politics and its failures. If you
want a kick in the pants and a hundred great ideas to sell
sustainable development to your Board of Directors, Shareholders
or your electorate... Well, we're still clueless. Sorry
Jonathan. You are a great guy and we like you. But this half
baked imitation of a Business Management text book and isn't
going to work. It doesn't matter that the "Financial Times" or
"The Observer" loved it. This won't break out of its obscure
green-niche. When you talk about a Martin Luther King style
"dream" then you are setting yourself up for disappointment if
you then can't deliver it.  Until
the loss of habitat or climate change causes pain to the people
who matter (those who work in big finance, Oil, Washington and
mega-Trans-National Corporations) then you are howling at the
moon. Porritt knows about Peak Oil and devotes a section to it.
And then conveniently forgets it for the rest of the book. Join
the dots and think. Everything in Politics, Money and Power is
all as joined up as the Natural Bio-system. When you stop trying
to treat each individual bit in isolation and take a holistic
view then you won't find a solution to the mankind's survival. |
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