World on the Edge

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Cover Courtesy W.W. Norton & Company
Written by influential environmentalist Lester Brown, "World on the Edge" is a must-read for people trying to comprehend both the urgency and the complexity of our present situation.

We are very pleased to feature Exciting News About Renewable Energy, written by Lester Brown, founder and president of the Earth Policy Institute. Brown has devoted his life to studying and writing about the twin global challenges of climate change and declining fossil fuel supplies, and how they affect the most fundamental challenge of all — building a world in which nations don’t have to fight each other in order for everyone to have enough to eat.

If you worry that renewable energy can’t expand fast enough to slow global warming and forestall an economic crisis caused by rising energy costs, Brown offers a compelling case for optimism. He details how renewables could largely replace fossil fuel energy by 2020, with the right commitments from us all. It won’t be easy, but it’s a shift we must embrace.

As he explains in his book, World on the Edge, “We are facing issues of near-overwhelming complexity and unprecedented urgency. Our challenge is to think globally and develop policies to counteract environmental decline and economic collapse. The question is: Can we change direction before we go over the edge?”

The Earth Policy Institute has made all of Brown’s books available free on its website; we highly recommend them. His writing gives us the details we need to understand both the urgency and the complexity of our situation.

For example, Brown points out that the true cost of providing once-cheap gasoline is now about $15 per gallon! The hidden costs, much of which we pay via our taxes, include military protection, treatment of respiratory illnesses caused by air pollution, and estimated costs associated with climate change.

  • Published on Sep 11, 2012
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