About the Book
The book that inspired the movie Collapse.
The world is running short of energy-especially cheap, easy-to-find oil. Shortages, along with resulting price increases, threaten industrialized civilization, the global economy, and our entire way of life.
In Confronting Collapse, author Michael C. Ruppert, a former LAPD narcotics officer turned investigative journalist, details the intricate connections between money and energy, including the ways in which oil shortages and price spikes triggered the economic crash that began in September 2008. Given the 96 percent correlation between economic growth and greenhouse gas emissions and the unlikelihood of economic growth without a spike in energy use, Ruppert argues that we are not, in fact, on the verge of economic recovery, but on the verge of complete collapse.
Ruppert's truth is not merely inconvenient. It is utterly devastating.
But there is still hope. Ruppert outlines a 25-point plan of action, including the creation of a second strategic petroleum reserve for the use of state and local governments, the immediate implementation of a national Feed-in Tariff mandating that electric utilities pay 3 percent above market rates for all surplus electricity generated from renewable sources, a thorough assessment of soil conditions nationwide, and an emergency action plan for soil restoration and sustainable agriculture.
Table of Contents:
1. The need for leadership
2. Thinking like a President in the face of a global problem
3. Depletion: refilling Niagara Falls with a garden hose
4. Reserve estimates: playing a fool's game with numbers
5. Infrastructures and the grid
6. Iraq
7. Saudi Arabia
8. Food
9. Evaluating alternative energies
10. The alternatives
11. Localization: the alternative to the alternatives
12. Money
13. Foreign policy
14. Setting the policy
15. An emergency 25-point plan for action
About the Author :
Michael C. Ruppert was a former Los Angeles Police Department narcotics investigator turned investigative journalist. He was the author of Crossing the Rubicon: The Decline of the American Empire at the End of the Age of Oil, and Confronting Collapse: The Crisis of Energy and Money in a Post Peak Oil World, and the founder of the online newsletter The Collapse Network.
Review :
"Mike Ruppert has been at the forefront of speaking and writing about the grim reality that the world's crude oil output is peaking or has already peaked and will soon begin what could be swift declines over the next decade or two. The world needs to pay careful attention to the multiple risks this event will usher in. Thanks to Ruppert's new book, readers around the world will have access to his well written work."--Matthew R. Simmons, Chairman, Simmons & Company
"Ruppert confronts the stark realities of a world of declining oil production, poses vital questions of our complex oil-dependent supply chains and challenges us-people and politician alike-to build a sustainable world with what remains of our resources."--Julian Darley, Author, High Noon for Natural Gas, Founder of Post Carbon Institute
"This book not only explains the essence of the subject but provides a penetrating analysis of the wider political, military, and economic implications. The Second Half of the Oil Age now dawns and will be marked by the decline of oil production and all that depends upon it, including especially transport, trade, and agriculture. The book ends with a list of sensible new policy proposals by which to face this turning point of historic magnitude."--Colin Campbell, PhD, Former Oil Exploration Geologist (Texaco, British Petroleum), Exploration Manager, Total; Former Consultant to Shell, Statoil, Mobil and Amerada; Former Executive V.P. Petrofina; Author, many books and publications on Oil and Gas depletion
"All I can say is, "Yikes!" This is a book everyone should read. Mike Ruppert is my friend. And, sometimes I remind him, in a way that only a friend can, that my perspective is colored by my own distinct experiences as an informed woman of color in the United States. And frankly, that means that some of what is between these covers makes me cringe; but it is exactly this substance, actively suppressed in proposed national and international gatherings, that we human beings must debate and resolve, or else, we will find Dr. King's admonition, once again, to be true: "We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools." We know Mike Ruppert because he became a whistleblower and told us some inconvenient truths. About crack cocaine, 9/11/01, and now this-how to step back from the brink of human disaster.
It is clear that Mike and I are headed toward the same destination, despite our differences. This book lands Mike exactly where I am-outside of the box of political orthodoxy, but well within the space of policy advocacy that is representative of critical thinking, rational analysis, and authentic leadership. Mike Ruppert dares to go where our elected leaders seem afraid to take us. In the end, however, if we are to salvage our own human dignity, either our "leadership" must catch up with us or we must become and nurture a new generation of leaders."--Cynthia McKinney, 6-term Member, U.S. House of Representatives, Green Party Presidential Candidate, 2008
"Mike Ruppert has an unblemished track record for saying things that are incendiary, outrageous, shocking-and true. Our new president needs desperately to hear the uncomfortable message of this book about energy and the economy, and so do the rest of us."--Richard Heinberg, PhD, author of The Party's Over, Peak Everything, The Oil Depletion Protocol and senior fellow, Post Carbon Institute
"If ever there was a need for a particular book at a particular time, it's this book now."--Jenna Orkin, World Trade Center Environmental Organization
"America's most courageous and fearless investigative reporter exposes the root causes of the financial meltdown. Our new President should read this book for his next intelligence briefing."--Mark Robinowitz, Author, Peak Oil Wars, and Global Permaculture Solutions, PeakOilWars.org, GlobalPermaculture.org
