Rev. David Murphy and George Plumb
The evidence is overwhelming. We are facing triple crises. Global warming is already happening. We are at or close to being at peak oil (and some say as result peak money) production. We have exceeded our carrying capacity and still adding three million people to the U.S. population and eighty million to the earth each year. Between the two of us we have read almost all of the books below and are deeply impressed that so many prominent environmentalists, scientists, spiritual leaders, and educators have written so many books about crisis and collapse in just the last few years.
We urge all who care about the future to read at least one book from each of the categories. In this time of greenwashing by corporations and politicians there is nothing more important that we can do than to be well informed about these issues. If you only have time or motivation to read one book then James Hansen’s book, The Storms of my Grandchildren, is a must read. While there are many more books that have been written in each category we have listed what we think are the best four in terms of information and ideas on how to deal with the crises. While the reading may at times be discouraging it will also likely motivate people to action as it has us.
All political, environmental, religious, and social justice leaders and followers need to come together to acknowledge each of these problems and either begin new movements, strengthen existing movements, or a combination of the two, to begin to fulfill our responsibility to the earth and future generations.
Peak OIL
The Long Emergency: Surviving the Converging Catastrophes of the Twenty-First Century, James Howard Kunstler, Atlantic Monthly Press, 2005
Peak Everything: Waking Up to the Century of Declines, Richard Heinberg, New Society Publishers, 2007
Confronting Collapse: The Crisis of Energy and Money in a Post-Peak Oil World, Michael Rupert, Chelsea Green Press, 2009
Transition Handbook, Rob Hopkins, Chelsea Green Press, 2009
Climate Change
Storms of my Grandchildren, James Hansen, Bloombury USA, 2009
Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis, Al Gore, Rodale Press, 2009
Eaarth, Bill McKibben, Times Books, 2010
Plan B 4.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization, Lester Brown, W.W. Norton Co., 2009
Population Size and Growth
A Pivotal Moment: Population, Justice and the Environmental Challenge, Laurie Mazur, Island Press, 2010
Growing Pains: A Planet in Distress, Valorie M. Allen, IUniverse Press, 2010
The Population: Fix-Breaking America’s Addiction to Population Growth, Edward Hartman, out of print but available through used sources at www.populationfix.com, 2006
More: Population, Nature and What Women Want, Robert Engelman, Island Press, 2008
Combined Crisis
The Bridge at the Edge of the World: Capitalism, the Environment, and Crossing from Crisis to Sustainability, Gus Speth, Yale University Press, 2008
Threshold: The Crisis of Western Civilization, Thom Hartmann, Viking Press, 2009
endgame-the problem of civilization, derrick jensen, Seven Stories Press, 2006
The Vanishing Face of Gaia: The Final Warning: Enjoy it while you can, James Lovelock, Allen Lane, 2009
Religious Point of View
A Buddhist Response to the Climate Emergency, John Stanley, David R. Lay, and Gyurme Dorje, Wisdom Press, 2008
Love God, Heal Earth: The Ecological Crisis Through the Lens of Faith, Rev. Canon Sally G. Bingham (and founder of Interfaith Power and Light), SkyLight Paths Publishing, 2009
Claiming Earth as Common Ground, Rabbi Andrea Cohen-Kiener, St. Lynn’s Press, 2009
A Climate Change: Global Warming Facts for Faith-Based Decisions, Katherine Hayhoe and Andrew Farley, Hachette Book Group, 2009
Rev. David Murphy is a retired Methodist minister and now lives his life as sustainably as possible. He and his wife Judy operate Splendid Oaks Farm in Montpelier, Vt., and they are in the process of installing a solar system that will generate most of their electricity. He and Judy are also the co-chairs of the Central Vermont Post Carbon Sustainability Network.
George Plumb is Executive Director of Vermonters for Sustainable Population and Chair of the New England Coalition for Sustainable Population. He is a long time environmental activist and has organized a couple of Central Vermont 350.org actions. He is an active Unitarian Universalist and practices Buddhism. gplumb@pshift.com
Michael Rupert will discuss and sign copies of his book, Confronting Collapse, at the following Vermont locations:
BURLINGTON, VERMONT
May 13, 2010, 7:30 pm
Burlington City Hall
MONTPELIER, VT
May 14, 2010, 7:30 pm
Unitarian Church of Montpelier
BRATTLEBORO, VT
May 15, 2010, 7:30 pm
Brattleboro Union High School
WOODSTOCK, VT
May 16, 2010, 7:00 pm
Woodstock Town Hall
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Thank you both for sharing this important information. As a community member of a ‘Transition Town’ I was aware of (and have read) many of the titles you have suggested, and welcomed the addition of more to read on the subject. I would like to suggest to the readers that, IF you are unable to find a copy of the book(s) at your local library, you purchase one and donate it to that library when you have finished reading it. We are all in this together and we will need each other to be preparing together to have a stronger hope of getting through the challenges ahead.
I would also like to say there are several excellent videos on the subject which may be available through your library or video store. These include: “The End of Suburbia”, “Crude Awakening”, “Power of Community”, “A Convenient Truth” (sic), “Flow”, “Blue Gold” and many more.
If anyone in the Hardwick area is interested in borrowing some of the titles in our ‘Transition Town video library’ check w/ your local librarian (Woodbury, Craftsbury, Greensboro, Jeudevine Libraries and, I believe, the library at Sterling College) or visit the video store in Hardwick and ask about the “Free 7- Day Rentals”.
Also, if you have copies of books or videos of this nature which you AND your library do not need — please consider donating them to a school, college or library in another region to help spread the word.
Thanks VTDigger, for covering such an important and relevant topic.
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Fortunately the population “crisis” was quietly resolved as birthrates drastically declined since the 1960′s and are at or below replacement levels in most of the world. Those areas still showing above replacement level birthrates are those that have very low resource use and “footprint” per individual.
An interesting discussion of the population crisis myth is “The Coming Population Crash: And Our Planet’s Suprising Future” by Fred Pearce.
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For Beginners, and even for Those in the Know, I recommend the “Crash Course” on Chris Martenson’s website, which provides a logical and lucid overview of the seamless fabric of Economics, Environment and Energy within which, like it or not, we are all inextricably interwoven.
We attended Chris and Becca’s nascent presentation in the basement of the Brattleboro Savings and Loan some years ago and have since regularly tapped into his website for his integrative perspective. Since then, he has presented at the Commonwealth Club, the U.N. and at the All Parliamentary Group on Peak Oil and at the London School of Economics Complexity Seminar.
Chris provides prescient and data-based analyses of and offers practical adaptive personal and communal responses to these challenges. He also periodically acknowledges emotional aspects: how one’s resistance to or denial of the imminent and converging challenges we face can impede creative personal and communal responses.
Right after you leave VT DIGGER, click him up at chrismartenson.com or just Google Chris Martenson.