The crash course : the unsustainable future of our economy, energy, and the environment

The next twenty years will be completely unlike the last twenty years.The world is in economic crisis, and there are no easy fixes to our predicament. Unsustainable trends in the economy, energy, and the environment have finally caught up with us and are converging on a very narrow window of time—the "Twenty-Teens." The Crash Course presents our predicament and illuminates the path ahead, so you can face the coming disruptions and thrive--without fearing the future or retreating into denial. In this book you will find solid facts and grounded reasoning presented in a calm, positive, non-partisan manner.Our money system places impossible demands upon a finite world. Exponentially rising levels of debt, based on assumptions of future economic growth to fund repayment, will shudder to a halt and then reverse. Unfortunately, our financial system does not operate in reverse. The consequences of massive deleveraging will be severe.Oil is essential for economic growth. The reality of dwindling oil supplies is now internationally recognized, yet virtually no developed nations have a Plan B. The economic risks to individuals, companies, and countries are varied and enormous. Best-case, living standards will drop steadily worldwide. Worst-case, systemic financial crises will toss the world into jarring chaos.This book is written for those who are motivated to learn about the root causes of our predicaments, protect themselves and their families, mitigate risks as much as possible, and control what effects they can. With challenge comes opportunity, and The Crash Course offers a positive vision for how to reshape our lives to be more balanced, resilient, and sustainable. From the Author: Warning Signs for the Planet Author Dr. Chris Martenson Warning signs for our minerals and energy supply: •Oil discoveries peaked in 1964 •New oil discoveries have been outpaced by oil consumption by nearly 4 to 1 each year •Known deposits of several critical minerals will be completely exhausted within 20 years, assuming the energy is there to extract them. Others will peak all on their own soon thereafter, and even sooner if Peak Oil limits our ability to obtain them. •New ore deposits are getting harder to find, more remote, deeper down, more dilute, and/or all of the above. Warning signs for our food and water supply: •World population will climb to 9.5 billion by 2050. •Nearly all high-quality arable land is already under production. •Food yields are heavily dependent on fertilizers, which are either energy intensive to make or are being depleted and will someday peak. •Soils are being mined by the practice of removing essential nutrients without replacing them. Warning signs for our environment: •40% decline in oceanic phytoplankton since 1950 •Birds, bees, and bats in serious population decline over the past few years •Fisheries collapsing all over the globe •Mercury levels in marine mammals so high that the EPA would treat their carcasses as toxic waste •Sterilized soils and advancing deserts •Species extinction rates that rival anything in geologic records the Economic Chaos And Turbulence We Are Now Experiencing Are Merely The Opening Salvos In What Will Prove To Be A Long, Disruptive Period Of Adjustment For Our World, Our Way Of Life, And Our Dreams And Desires. Our Choices Now Are To Either Evolve A New Economic Model That Is Compatible With Limited Physical Resources, Or To Risk A Catastrophic Failure Of Our Money, Energy, And Environment, And With It The Basis For Civilization As We Know It Today. the Crash Course Explains Why The Disparate Fields Of Economics, Energy And The Environment Will Be Dramatically Different In The Next 20 Years--in Life-changing Ways--from The Way We Have Understood Them In The Previous 20 Years. The First Half Of The Book Will Build A Sense Of Urgency Regarding Our Present Situation By Revealing That Our Current Trajectory Is Unsustainable.^ The Second Half Will Inspire And Frame Out What Readers Can Do To Meet These Challenges Using The Author's Extensive Experience As A Source Of Guidance And Hope. people Are Waking Up To The True Condition Of The Economy And World In Larger And Larger Numbers. However, As Yet There Remains A Startling Lack Of Positive, Non Fear-based Materials That Can Speak To A Wide Audience And Transform The Intense Emotions Stirred By This Content Into Meaningful Action. This Book Will Provide A Lucid, Factual Forewarning Of Things To Come, Helping Readers Create Positive Plans Of Action In Their Lives In Advance Of The Future's Challenges. Given The Rapidly Shifting State Of The Economy, This Perspective Has A Great Deal Of Topical And Timely Relevance.^ through A Clear, Concise And Illuminating Explanation Of Demographics, Debt, And The Concepts Of Peak Oil And Net Energy, Dr. Martenson Will Paint A Startling Portrait Of The Defining Predicaments Of Our Age And Attest To Why It Is Better To Be A Year Early Than A Day Late In Recognizing, Accepting And Addressing The Challenges We Face. -- How To Approach The Next Twenty Years : The Coming Storm ; The Lens : How To See The Future ; A World Worth Inheriting ; Trust Yourself -- Foundation : Dangerous Exponentials ; An Inconvenient Lie : The Truth About Growth ; Our Money System ; Problems And Predicaments ; What Is Wealth? (hint : It's Not Money) -- Economy : Debt ; The Great Credit Bubble ; Like A Moth To Flame : Our Destructive Tendency To Print ; Fuzzy Numbers ; Starting The Race With Our Shoes Tied Together -- Energy : Energy And The Economy ; Peak Oil ; Necessary But Insufficient : Coal, Nuclear, And Alternatives ; Why Technology Can't Fix This -- Environment : Minerals : Gone With The Wind ; Soil : Thin, Thinner, Gone ; Parched : The Coming Water Wars ; All Fished Out -- Convergence : Convergence : Why The Twenty-teens Will Be Difficult ; Closing The Book On Growth ; Future Scenarios -- What Should I Do? : The Good News : We Already Have Everything We Need ; What Should I Do? ; The Opportunities. Chris Martenson. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. The next twenty years will be completely unlike the last twenty years. The world is in economic crisis, and there are no easy fixes to our predicament. Unsustainable trends in the economy, energy, and the environment have finally caught up with us and are converging on a very narrow window of timethe "Twenty-Teens." The Crash Course presents our predicament and illuminates the path ahead, so you can face the coming disruptions and thrive--without fearing the future or retreating into denial. In this book you will find solid facts and grounded reasoning presented in a calm, positive, non-partisan manner. Our money system places impossible demands upon a finite world. Exponentially rising levels of debt, based on assumptions of future economic growth to fund repayment, will shudder to a halt and then reverse. Unfortunately, our financial system does not operate in reverse. The consequences of massive deleveraging will be severe. Oil is essential for economic growth. The reality of dwindling oil supplies is now internationally recognized, yet virtually no developed nations have a Plan B. The economic risks to individuals, companies, and countries are varied and enormous. Best-case, living standards will drop steadily worldwide. Worst-case, systemic financial crises will toss the world into jarring chaos. This book is written for those who are motivated to learn about the root causes of our predicaments, protect themselves and their families, mitigate risks as much as possible, and control what effects they can. With challenge comes opportunity, and The Crash Course offers a positive vision for how to reshape our lives to be more balanced, resilient, and sustainable. From the Warning Signs for the Planet Author Dr. Chris Martenson Warning signs for our minerals and energy Oil discoveries peaked in 1964 New oil discoveries have been outpaced by oil consumption by nearly 4 to 1 each year Known deposits of several critical minerals will be completely exhausted within 20 years, assuming the energy is there to extract them. Others will peak all on their own soon thereafter, and even sooner if Peak Oil limits our ability to obtain them. New ore deposits are getting harder to find, more remote, deeper down, more dilute, and/or all of the above. Warning signs for our food and water World population will climb to 9.5 billion by 2050. Nearly all high-quality arable land is already under production. Food yields are heavily dependent on fertilizers, which are either energy intensive to make or are being depleted and will someday peak. Soils are being mined by the practice of removing essential nutrients without replacing them. Warning signs for our 40% decline in oceanic phytoplankton since 1950 Birds, bees, and bats in serious population decline over the past few years Fisheries collapsing all over the globe Mercury levels in marine mammals so high that the EPA would treat their carcasses as toxic waste Sterilized soils and advancing deserts Species extinction rates that rival anything in geologic records

The next twenty years will be completely unlike the last twenty years.

The world is in economic crisis, and there are no easy fixes to our predicament. Unsustainable trends in the economy, energy, and the environment have finally caught up with us and are converging on a very narrow window of time—the "Twenty-Teens." The Crash Course presents our predicament and illuminates the path ahead, so you can face the coming disruptions and thrive--without fearing the future or retreating into denial. In this book you will find solid facts and grounded reasoning presented in a calm, positive, non-partisan manner.

Our money system places impossible demands upon a finite world. Exponentially rising levels of debt, based on assumptions of future economic growth to fund repayment, will shudder to a halt and then reverse. Unfortunately, our financial system does not operate in reverse. The consequences of massive deleveraging will be severe.

Oil is essential for economic growth. The reality of dwindling oil supplies is now internationally recognized, yet virtually no developed nations have a Plan B. The economic risks to individuals, companies, and countries are varied and enormous. Best-case, living standards will drop steadily worldwide. Worst-case, systemic financial crises will toss the world into jarring chaos.

This book is written for those who are motivated to learn about the root causes of our predicaments, protect themselves and their families, mitigate risks as much as possible, and control what effects they can. With challenge comes opportunity, and The Crash Course offers a positive vision for how to reshape our lives to be more balanced, resilient, and sustainable.

Praise for The Crash Course

Chris Martenson gave up a successful and conventional career to study the two great problems that we face: running out of critical resources-especially carbon-based energy-and a congenital failure to process unpleasant facts. Reading The Crash Course will help you recognize how dangerous our future is likely to be and will help you prepare for it. It is a job well done. -Jeremy Grantham, cofounder and Chief Investment Strategist, Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo

Among the handful of observers making sense of the economic scene, Chris Martenson is the most astute, coherent, and comprehensive. Reading Chris is like stepping out of a room full of smoke and mirrors into daylight. -James Howard Kunstler, author of The Long Emergency

Economists did not predict the Great Recession of 2008; Chris did. He looks deeper into the numbers than most and has found a painful future if we do not make a major turn. I deeply appreciate him for doing this work. He uses hard data to back up the self-evident common sense that if we do not consciously manage our natural resources and business relationships to give priority to the common good, we will face dire consequences. This is serious. Read this book. -Terry Mollner, Board Member, Ben & Jerry's

Chris addresses fundamental economic and energy issues in understandable terms and provides engaging perspectives. Readers will learn a great deal from his work. -Dr. Robert L. Hirsch, lead author of The Impending World Energy Mess