The Long Emergency: Surviving the End of Oil, Climate Change, and Other Converging Catastrophes of the Twenty-first Century 

James Howard Kunstler

From Amazon.com                                                James Howard Kunstler's The Long Emergency was an underground hit, going into nine printings of the hardcover edition. His shocking vision for our post-oil future caught the attention of environmentalists and business leaders and was the subject of much debate, stimulating discussion about our dependence on fossil fuels. Now in paperback, with a new afterword, The Long Emergency is set to reach an even larger audience.

The last two hundred years have seen the greatest explosion of progress and wealth in the history of mankind, much of it based on the exploitation of cheap, nonrenewable fossil-fuel energy. But the oil age is at an end. Life as we know it is about to change radically, and much sooner than we think. The Long Emergency tells us just what to expect after we pass the point of global peak oil production and the honeymoon of affordable energy is over, preparing us for economic, political, and social changes of an unimaginable scale. Riveting and authoritative, The Long Emergency is a devastating indictment that brings new urgency and accessibility to the critical issues that will shape our future, and that we can no longer afford to ignore.

Peak Oil Resources Review:

This was the second Peak Oil book that I had the pleasure of reading and I wish it was the first.  By and large, I would classify this text as a classic.  Kunstler's begins his treatment of this topic by viewing the current socioeconomic climate as filled by a populace blinded by certain assumptions that make the coming (or present) oil crisis all the more severe.  He then goes on to treat the rise of our modern industrial civilization and its roots in cheap energy (oil) and how the geopolitical nature of oil has shaped international trade and events.

As in other texts on the subject, Kunstler examines the potential alternatives to oil, and how even if combined, the most they are likely to do is soften the fall.  Unlike other books however, there is an extensive treatment of the environmental component of the dilemma that other books fail to address.  Kunstler wraps up the Long Emergency by forecasting Peak Oil's effects on the economy and what living in the "long emergency" may indeed be like.

Across the board, I enjoyed Kunstler's writing style and presentation.  His voice  adds to the rising tide of those that herald the awareness of Peak Oil.  Like Heinberg, his writing rises to the top and demands the attention that few can or deserve.  This is an essential book that is strangely, given the subject nature, enjoyable to read.

James Howard Kunstler:
James Howard Kunstler was born in New York City in 1948. He is the author of two nonfiction books, The Geography of Nowhere and Home from Nowhere, and eight previous novels, including The Halloween Ball, and An Embarrassment of Riches. He has been a regular contributor to the New York Times Magazine and the Op-Ed page, where he has written on environmental and economic issues.