The Energy Reader: Overdevelopment and the Delusion of Endless Growth

The Energy Reader takes an unflinching look at the environmental devastation created by our thirst for energy, including supposedly "clean" renewable sources. From oil spills, nuclear accidents, and mountaintop-removal coal mining to oversized wind farms and desert-destroying solar power plants, virtually every region of the globe is now experiencing the consequences of out-of-control energy development. Essentially no place is sacred, no landscape safe from the relentless search for energy resources to continue powering a culture based on perpetual growth. Precious wildlands, fragile ecosystems, even our own communities and children’s health are at risk. Featuring essays by more than thirty of the most brilliant minds in the fields of energy, society, and ecology, The Energy Reader lifts the veil on the harsh realities of our pursuit of energy at any price, revealing the true costs, benefits, and limitations of all our energy options. Contributors include Wes Jackson, Bill McKibben, Sandra B. Lubarsky, Richard Heinberg, Philip Cafaro, Wendell Berry, Juan Pablo Orrego. Collectively, they offer a wake-up call about the future of energy and what each of us can do to change course. Ultimately, the book offers not only a deep critique of the current system that is toxic to nature and people, but also a hopeful vision for a future energy economy in which resilience, health, beauty, biodiversity, and durability, not incessant growth, are the organizing principles. Table of Contents 7 Foreword 10 Introduction 14 Part One: A Deeper Look at the Energy Picture 20 Introduction: Energy Literacy 22 A Deeper Look at the Energy Picture 24 Part Two: The Predicament 42 Introduction: Energy, Nature, and the Eco-Social Crisis 44 Five Carbon Pools - Wes Jackson 46 Faustian Economics: Hell Hath No Limits - Wendell Berry 52 Life-Affirming Beauty - Sandra Lubarsky 62 Our Global Ponzi Economy - Lester Brown 66 Coal: The Greatest Threat to Civilization - James Hansen 70 The View from Oil’s Peak - Richard Heinberg 74 Energy Return On Investment - Charles Hall 81 Alternative Energy Challenges - David Fridley 88 When Risk Assessment Is Risky: Predicting the Effects of Technology - David Ehrenfeld 96 Malevolent and Malignant Threats - R. James Woolsey 103 Progress vs. Apocalypse: The Stories We Tell Ourselves - John Michael Greer 114 Part Three: The Landscape of Energy 122 Introduction: A Tour of the Energy Terrain - David Murphy 124 The Landscape of Energy 126 Part Four: False Solutions 170 Introduction: False Solutions to the Energy Challenge 172 Drill Baby Drill: Why It Won’t Work for Long-Term Energy Sustainability - David Hughes 174 Nuclear Power and the Earth - Richard Bell 182 The False Promise of "Clean" Coal - Jeff Goodell 190 The Whole Fracking Enchilada - Sandra Steingraber 194 River Killers: The False Solution of Megadams - Juan Pablo Orrego 198 Bioenergy: A Disaster for Biodiversity, Health, and Human Rights - Rachel Smolker 205 Oil Shale Development: Looming Threat to Western Wildlands - George Wuerthner 212 Gas Hydrates: A Dangerously Large Source of Unconventional Hydrocarbons - George Wuerthner 216 Regulatory Illusion - Brian Horejsi 220 Retooling the Planet: The False Promise of Geoengineering - ETC Group 225 Part Five: Under Attack 234 Introduction: Onslaught of the Energy Machine 236 Will Drilling Spell the End of a Quintessential American Landscape? - Erik Molvar 238 Backing the Front: Fighting Oil and Gas Development in Montana’s Rocky Mountain Front - Gloria Flora 245 Tar Sands, Pipelines, and the Threat to First Nations - Winona LaDuke, with Martin Curry 259 Sweet and Sour: The Curse of Oil in the Niger Delta - Michael Watts 266 Outsourcing Pollution and Energy-Intensive Production - Vandana Shiva 275 Part Six: Depowering Destruction 282 Introduction: Toward an Energy Economy as if Nature Mattered 284 The Case for Conservation - Richard Heinberg 286 Reinventing Fire - Amory Lovins 293 Cap the Grid - Robert King 303 Protected Areas: Foundation of a Better Future Relationship with Energy - Harvey Locke 311 Three Steps to Establish a Politics of Global Warming - Bill McKibben 316 Distributed Renewable Generation: Why It Should Be the Centerpiece of U.S. Energy Policy - Sheila Bowers and Bill Powers 322 No Ecological Sustainability without Limits to Growth - Philip Cafaro 329 Part Seven: What We're For 338 What We’re For 340 Afterword: Places Where the Wind Carries the Ashes of Ancestors - Lisi Krall 350 Acknowledgments 354 Credits 355 Contributors 356 Endnotes 364 Index 378 Editors 384 CONTENTS Foreword Energy Unveiled: A photo sampler of global energy impacts Introduction PART I: A Deeper Look at the Energy Picture Introduction: Energy Literacy Energy and the Scaffolding of Civilization What is Energy? Net Energy Energy Density Embodied Energy Energy Slaves Energy-Fueled Population Growth Energy-Fueled Economic Growth Peak Oil and Resource Depletion Energy Sprawl Visual Blight Climate Change Energy Conservation Efficiency Curtailment Writ Large PART II: The Predicament Introduction: Energy, Nature, and the Eco-Social Crisis Five Carbon Pools Faustian Economics Life-Affirming Beauty Our Global Ponzi Economy Coal: The Greatest Threat to Civilization The View from Oil's Peak Energy Return on Investment Alternative Energy Challenges When Risk Assessment Is Risky: Predicting the Effects of Technology Malevolent and Malignant Threats Progress vs. Apocalypse: The Stories We Tell Ourselves PART III: The Landscape of Energy Introduction: A Tour of the Energy Terrain Energy in Numbers Conventional Oil Offshore Oil Unconventional Oil Natural Gas Shale Gas Coal Nuclear Hydropower Geothermal Liquid Biofuels Biomass Electricity Industrial Wind Solar Photovoltaic Concentrated Solar Thermal Refineries Pipelines and Transport Powerlines Hydrogen Micropower Emerging Energy Technologies PART IV: False Solutions Introduction: False Solutions to the Energy Challenge Drill Baby Drill: Why It Won’t Work for Long-Term Energy Sustainability Nuclear Power and the Earth The False Promise of “Clean” Coal The Whole Fracking Enchilada River Killers: The False Solution of Megadams Bioenergy: A Disaster for Biodiversity, Health, and Human Rights Oil Shale Development: Looming Threat to Western Wildlands Gas Hydrates: A Dangerously Large Source of Unconventional Hydrocarbons Regulatory Illusion Retooling the Planet: The False Promise of Geoengineering PART V: Wildness Under Attack Introduction: Onslaught of the Energy Machine Will Drilling Spell the End of a Quintessential American Landscape? A photographic gallery of destruction: areas around the globe affected by energy production PART VI: Depowering Destruction Introduction: Toward an Energy Economy as if Nature Mattered The Case for Conservation Reinventing Fire Cap the Grid Protected Areas: Foundation of a Better Future Relationship with Energy Three Steps to Establish a Politics of Global Warming Distributed Renewable Generation: Why It Should Be the Centerpiece of U.S. Energy Policy No Ecological Sustainability without Limits to Growth PART VII: What We’re For Energy Literacy Conservation Resilience Eco-Localism Beauty Biodiversity Family Planning What We’re For Afterword: Places Where the Wind Carries the Ashes of Ancestors Acknowledgments Photo Credits Copyright/Publisher Information ENERGY in Print With large-format color photography, ENERGY features the writings of more than thirty leading thinkers on energy, society, and ecology. Collectively, they illuminate the true costs, benefits, and limitations of all our energy options. Ultimately, the book offers not only a deep critique of the current system — which is toxic to nature and people — but also a hopeful vision for a new energy economy that fosters beauty and health, emphasizes community-scale generation, and supports durable economies, not incessant growth.| With large-format color photography, ENERGY features the writings of more than thirty leading thinkers on energy, society, and ecology. Collectively, they illuminate the true costs, benefits, and limitations of all our energy options. Ultimately, the book offers not only a deep critique of the current system — which is toxic to nature and people — but also a hopeful vision for a new energy economy that fosters beauty and health, emphasizes community-scale generation, and supports durable economies, not incessant growth. ENERGY takes an unflinching look at the systems that support our insatiable thirst for more power (and the ideas behind those systems) along with their unintended side effects. From oil spills, nuclear accidents, mountaintop-removal coal mining, and natural gas "fracking" to wind power projects and solar power plants, every source of energy has costs. Virtually every region of the globe now experiences the consequences of out-of-control energy development. No place is sacred, no landscape is safe from the relentless search for resources to power perpetual economic growth. Even the composition of the global atmosphere is affected -- book jacket