Author: Terry Etam
Publisher: FriesenPress
ISBN: 1525540254
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 241
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Book Description
Everyone knows that fossil fuels won’t last forever. Something needs to change at some point, regardless of whether the issue is climate change or because we need a practical replacement for petroleum as cheap supplies run out. But while headlines suggest that a green-energy paradise is around the corner, not many are aware of the immense technical challenges that stand in its way. To turn our backs on fossil fuels, a staggering amount of work will be required to refit a global energy sector that has grown systematically for over a century. News of the latest green advancements can make it seem like plug-and-play technology, and simply a matter of switching from one source to another. In reality, the challenge is far greater, and infinitely more complicated. To make matters worse, environmentalists and fossil-fuel defenders wage continuous but fruitless war, and the growing gap makes it impossible to have any sort of constructive dialogue. Each camp becomes more locked in their position with every exchange, and the most revolutionary ideas never see the light of day. Instead of building, time and money are wasted sparring. Sparing no sacred cows, Terry Etam cuts through the media rhetoric, government propaganda, and widespread ignorance of the energy sector to get to the heart of what needs to change—and what needs to stay the same—if the challenges of moving away from fossil fuels are to be met, while maintaining the quality of life we have come to expect and rely on.
Author: Matúš Mišík
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030574806
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 216
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Book Description
This edited book explicitly deals with the energy humanities, summarising existing knowledge in the area and outlining possible future directions for the nascent field. Assuming a variety of disciplinary stances and using a plethora of methodologies to address a number of pressing energy-related issues, the individual contributions showcase the crucial importance of including the humanities and social sciences into the current discussion on energy. Furthermore, they illustrate one of the central claims of the energy humanities, namely, that energy permeates all aspects of our contemporary modes of existence, and is inextricably linked with historical, political, social, ideological, and cultural issues, relationships, and practices. Through numerous case studies, Energy Humanities and Energy Transition looks to the past, present, and future in search of examples of best practices and possible models for pathways to a successful energy transition and life ‘after oilʼ. While much of existing research on energy humanities has been criticised for its excessive focus on oil, this book considers a wide range of energy resources, including nuclear energy, renewables, and natural gas. Furthermore, it brings to the forefront under-researched topics such as the colonial legacy inscribed in energy infrastructure and the energy history of the humanities. The contributions in this volume explore not only how the perspectives and expertise of the humanities and social sciences can alter the discourse on energy transition, and our way of thinking about possible solutions and future scenarios, but also how their new focus on energy affects the disciplines themselves. Energy Humanities and Energy Transition presents a variety of theories, methods, topics, and disciplinary angles, meaning it will be of interest to a wide audience, from practitioners and policy makers, to students and researchers working across the humanities and social sciences. The thematically oriented structure, distinct focus of each individual chapter, and the comprehensive introduction and conclusion that contextualize the contributions within the wider framework of energy transition, make this edited book accessible to readers from many different fields and suitable for various university programs.
Author: Chris Lang
Publisher: Chris Lang
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 44
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Book Description
The Company almost owns your very soul it seems as the drones watch your every move, while you struggle to keep your family’s lights and water on, meanwhile watching the price of the power rise bill to bill. It’s a dark world only 10 years in the future. This is the world Stuart Pauls sees predicted by his machines, sees in his PLENZES. Stuart’s machines tell him he is the programmer with the ultimate solution that can stave off this bleak decade only he can imagine. As 2014 comes to an end, Stuart is locked in a race with the big five of computing, struggling to be the one to deliver the first augmented reality contact lens. He begins to fold under the pressure, the endless coding and his never ending failures as the lenses─dubbed PLENZES─begin to take shape and functionality. Stuart slowly succumbs to the paranoia, desperation and maybe a little too much time alone with his software, his machines and his wife. Soon, Googling for information is to be a thing of the past. Much like books and email, Google will fade, a thing only old people still use. Your PLENZES tell you what you need to know before you need to know it. Or so Stuart’s machines tell him... The PLENZES’ augmented reality is a live, direct yet indirect, view of your now virtual environment. Your PLENZES provide you with real time alerts to danger, fun, sex, excitement, breaking information your career can’t do with out and for Stuart and his wife at times, it’s too good to be true. The years go by and Stuart and his wife become less and less a part of this world and more and more a part of the PLENZE network. They both begin to wonder; are the PLENZES the way to freedom in the dystopian future his software predicts? Or is Stuart being manipulated by an outside force and the cause of all this to come? PLENZES – Augmented Reality Augmented Insanity is a novella about our fascination with technology, our dependence on answers provided by machines, the terror and the hope that comes in a unique look into a place not too far from this world, from this time and from Stuart Pauls.
Author: James Howard Kunstler
Publisher: Grove/Atlantic, Inc.
ISBN: 1555848370
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 336
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Book Description
In this “richly imagined” dystopian vision, mankind must find a way to survive as modern civilization slowly comes apart (O, The Oprah Magazine). When Earth ran dry of oil, the age of the automobile came to an end; electricity flickered out. With deprivation came desperation—and desperation drove humanity backward to a state of existence few could have imagined. In the tiny hamlet of Union Grove, New York, every day is a struggle. For Mayor Robert Earle, it is a battle to keep the citizens united. As the bonds of civilization are torn apart by war, famine, and violence, there are some who aim to carve out a new society: one in which might makes right—a world of tyranny, subjugation, and death. A world Earle must fight against . . . In his shocking nonfiction work, The Long Emergency, social commentator James Howard Kunstler explored the reality of what would happen if the engines stopped running. In World Made by Hand, he offers a stark glimpse of that future in a work of speculative fiction that stands as “an impassioned and invigorating tale whose ultimate message is one of hope, not despair” (San Francisco Chronicle). “Brilliant.” —Alan Cheuse, Chicago Tribune “It frightens without being ridiculously nightmarish, it cautions without being too judgmental, and it offers glimmers of hope we don’t have to read between the lines to comprehend.” —Baltimore City Paper
Author: Michael Anthony
Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
ISBN:
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 175
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Book Description
In Conscious (R)Evolution, Humanity, Insanity, and the Planet, the author brings together two powerful insights: that all life on this planet is interconnected, and that humanity’s current path of consumerism and industrialization is leading to catastrophe. From deforestation to pollution, we are damaging the very environment that sustains us. This book asks us to stop and consider the bigger picture: as an intelligent species, why would we willingly destroy the planet that gave us life? With urgency and clarity, the author calls for a new way of living, one that recognizes our place in the natural world and uses our intelligence to create a better future for all.
Author: Sharon Delgado
Publisher: Fortress Press
ISBN: 1506432859
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 431
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Book Description
Shaking the Gates of Hell: Faith-Led Resistance to Corporate Globalization breaks new ground by describing the global economy and its effects from the perspective of an integrated theology of "the earth as primary revelation" and the institutional powers of this world. It reaches the conclusion that hope lies in nonviolent resistance and ecological and social responsibility based on God's action in Jesus and in the triumph of God over the powers. This book describes today's interrelated social, economic, and ecological crises and makes the case that we face a living hell on earth if we do not address them. It provides an overview of the global economic system and offers a comprehensive theological analysis of the network of primary institutions that make up what Walter Wink calls the "Domination System." It points readers in the direction of hope based on following the way of Jesus, who lived in nonviolent resistance to the powers of his day. This new, revised edition continues the powerful story of the original, extending the analysis of the global economy from the 2008 collapse and recession to its alleged recovery. It addresses the Obama administration's policies on economics, trade, and the environment, and provides further reflections on American foreign and military policy in this so-called New American Century.
Author: Andrew Nikiforuk
Publisher: Greystone Books
ISBN: 1553659791
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 230
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Book Description
“A robustly researched and smoothly written overview of the many challenges confronting our devotion to fossil fuels” from the author of Tar Sands (Quill & Quire). Ancient civilizations relied on shackled human muscle. It took the energy of slaves to plant crops, clothe emperors, and build cities. Nineteenth-century slaveholders viewed critics as hostilely as oil companies and governments now regard environmentalists. Yet the abolition movement had an invisible ally: coal and oil. As the world’s most versatile workers, fossil fuels replenished slavery’s ranks with combustion engines and other labor-saving tools. Since then, cheap oil has transformed politics, economics, science, agriculture, and even our concept of happiness. Many North Americans today live as extravagantly as Caribbean plantation owners. We feel entitled to surplus energy and rationalize inequality, even barbarity, to get it. But endless growth is an illusion. In this provocative book, Andrew Nikiforuk, winner of the Rachel Carson Environment Book Award, argues that what we need is a radical emancipation movement that ends our master-and-slave approach to energy. We must learn to use energy on a moral, just, and truly human scale. Published in Partnership with the David Suzuki Institute “In his cautionary tale about the evils of oil . . . Nikiforuk makes his case for impending doom if we don’t mend our energy-spending ways.” —The Star “In this cogently argued book, Andrew Nikiforuk deploys a powerful metaphor. Oil dependency, he writes, is a modern form of slavery—and it’s time for a global abolition movement.” —Taras Grescoe, author of Shanghai Grand “A startling critique that should rouse us from our pipe dream of endless plenty.” —Ronald Wright, author of On Fiji Islands
Author: Gene Marshall
Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN: 9781462083657
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 304
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Book Description
An examination of Social Awakenment, History-Long Vision, Holistic Social Understanding & Strategies of Transformation As viewed by five United States Citizens in 2011 Lead author Gene Marshall with coauthors, Ben Ball, Marsha Buck, Ken Kreutziger, and Alan Richard Though vast changes are necessary, we believe humanity can find a vision and plan of action that is both satisfying and realistic. Our aim is to fertilize the fruitful imagination and courage it will require to walk this Road to Eco-Democracy. Wise, insightful, forthright, systemic, and clearly written, with moments of special brilliance. The framing of The Forces of Transformation and The Role and Limitations of Electoral Politics are particularly distinctive and useful contributions. David Korten, author of Agenda for a New Economy, The Great Turning From Empire to Earth Community, and When Corporations Rule the World I hope The Road is read and discussed by groups of friends and neighbors across the country. Sidestepping the political stalemates of the day, the authors name the basic problems facing our society, explain why taking the long view is crucial (but largely missing), and propose the processes by which we might create an eco-democracy. Charlene Spretnak, author of Relational Reality, The Resurgence of the Real, and States of Grace I was enormously cheered by The Road from Empire to Eco-Democracy, which sets out a comprehensive menu of todays myths and why they must be revisited. In contrast, these days Im often depressed, not so much by the disasters unfolding before eyes, but rather by un-integrated, non-systemic band-aid solutions, which have become public policy staples. The Road neither trivializes the challenges nor tumbles into the trap of simplistic solutions. Yet beware, the many proposals in the book are neither trivial nor easy. David Sanborn Scott, Ph.D., Vice-President (for Americas) International Hydrogen Association, Founding Director, Institute for Integrated Energy Systems, Univ. of Victoria, Canada, author of Smelling Land: The Hydrogen Defense Against Climate Catastrophe
Author: Lee van der Voo
Publisher: Timber Press
ISBN: 1643260502
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 399
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Book Description
Award-winning investigative journalist Lee van der Voo reports on Juliana v. the United States. Combining unparalleled access to the plaintiffs and reporting on the natural disasters that form an urgent backdrop to the story, van der Voo shares a timely and important story about the environment, the law, and the new generation of activists.
Author: Mickey Huff
Publisher: Seven Stories Press
ISBN: 1644212382
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 311
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Book Description
As the United States grapples with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the nation’s living legacy of systemic inequalities, and partisan threats to the foundations of democracy, the integrity of news—the focus of Project’s Censored’s work and this book—has never been more important. State of the Free Press 2023 is a joint production of The Censored Press and Seven Stories Press. State of the Free Press 2023 continues Project Censored’s tradition of publicizing the most important stories ignored or obscured by the news establishment, exposing the lies and spin of corporate Junk Food News (frivolous stories that distract the public from actual news) and News Abuse (important stories covered in ways that undermine public understanding) while promoting the best independent journalism, research, and activism. Most importantly, this edition helps endow readers with the critical media literacy skills required to hold power to account for distorting or censoring news coverage.
