Plan B 4.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization
As fossil fuel prices rise, oil insecurity deepens, and concerns about climate change cast a shadow over the future of coal, anew energy economy is emerging. Wind, solar, and geothermal energy are replacing oil, coal, and natural gas, at a pace and on a scale we could not have imagined even a year ago. For the first time since the Industrial Revolution, we have begun investing in energy sources that can last forever. Plan B 4.0 explores both the nature of this transition to a new energy...
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“[Brown’s] ability to make a complicated subject accessible to the general reader is remarkable.”—Katherine Salant, Washington Post
Preface xi1 Selling Our Future 3Food: The 'Weak Link 4The Emerging Politics of Food Scarcity 9Our Global Ponzi Economy 14Mounting Stresses, failing States 18Plan B-A Plan to Save Civilization 23I The Challenges2 Population Pressure: Land and Water 31Civilization's Foundation Eroding 32Water Tables Palling 38Farmers Losing Water to Cities 41Land and Water Conflicts 44Cars and People Compete for Grain 48The Rising Tide of Environmental Refugees 513 Climate Change and the Energy Transition 55Rising Temperature and Its Effects 56Melting Ice, Rising Seas 61Melting Glaciers, Shrinking Harvests 66Rising Temperatures, Falling Yields 69The Decline of Oil and Coal 71A Challenge Without Precedent 75II The Response4 Stabilizing Climate: An Energy Efficiency Revolution 79A Revolution in Lighting Technology 81Energy-Efficient Appliances 84Zero-Carbon Buildings 87Electrifying the Trans-port System 91A New Materials Economy 96Smarter Grids, Appliances, and Consumers 103The Energy Savings Potential 1065 Stabilizing Climate: Shifting to Renewable Energy 109Turning to the Wind 113Solar Cells and Thermal Collectors 117Energy from the Earth 125Plant-Based Sources of Energy 128Hydropower: Rivers, Tides, and Waves 132The World Energy Economy of 2020 1356 Designing Cities for People 143The Ecology of Cities 145Redesigning Urban Transport 147The Return of Bicycles 151Reducing Urban Water Use 154Farming in the City 158Upgrading Squatter Settlements 160Cities for People 1627 Eradicating Poverty and Stabilizing Population 168Educating Everyone 171Toward aHealthy Future 174Stabilizing Population 181Rescuing Failing States 185A Poverty Eradication Agenda and Budget 1888 Restoring the Earth 192Protecting and Restoring Forests 193Planting Trees to Sequester Carbon 198Conserving and Rebuilding Soils 202Regenerating Fisheries 206Protecting Plant and Animal Diversity 209The Earth Restoration Budget 2119 Feeding Eight Billion People Well 216Raising Land Productivity 217Raising Water Productivity 222Producing Protein More Efficiently 226The Localization of Agriculture 230Strategic Reductions in Demand 233Action on Many Fronts 236III The Great Mobilization10 Can We Mobilize Fast Enough? 241Shifting Taxes and Subsidies 244Coal: The Beginning of the End 249Stabilizing Climate 253Three Models of Social Change 256A Wartime Mobilization 259Mobilizing to Save Civilization 261What You and I Can Do 266Notes 269Index 341Acknowledgments 363About the Author 369
\ Wildlife Activist [for Plan B 3.0]“This is a document the world’s leaders must take seriously.”\ \ \ \ \ E. O. Wilson“Lester Brown is one of the pioneers and heroes of global environmentalism. If the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize had been extended to a third recipient, the logical candidate would have been Lester Brown.”\ \
