What do you think?
Rate this book
Confronting Collapse: The Crisis of Energy and Money in a Post Peak Oil World
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.
264 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
23 people are currently reading
484 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
January 29, 2010
Please read this book. I can't stop thinking about how Michael C. Ruppert, the LAPD investigator-turned-investigative journalist, ends "Confronting Collapse": "Oil can only be used once. What were we thinking?"
Excellent question. And what are we thinking now? If our national life is any indication - with its junked cities, sprawling suburban appendages, asinine Pac-Man-like consumption habits and enthrallment with celebrity culture - we certainly haven't been thinking about Ruppert's central - and air-tight - argument: Oil is the bloodstream of the global economy, its production is peaking and if we don't get serious about rescaling our lives and cities and world based on this incontrovertible fact of nature, we are, not to put too fine a point on it, fucked.
In a compact, 226 pages, Ruppert, who accurately predicted the current economic debacle, marches the reader through everything from the Laws of Thermodynamics to the oh-so prescient predictions of M. King Hubbert, the geologist and former oil company scientist who accurately predicted that oil production would peak in America by the early 1970s. Hubbert is very important: He made his prediction, based on careful analysis and number crunching, in 1949. At the time, he was laughed at. He was also absolutely right. Since 1970, America's oil production has been in decline and, ever since, we've steadily become a net oil importer. Currently, we import 70 percent of the oil we need to run things on a daily basis.
There are sparks of egotism in Ruppert's prose. He reminds you that he predicted the current economic debacle, and he makes sure to remind you that his book, "Crossing the Rubicon," about the attacks of 9/11, is standard reading for the folks at Harvard Business School and on the shelves of many other university libraries. But, so fucking what? I don't mind a burst of egotism here and there, as long as it's backed up by evidence and reason and a radical sense that people need to wake up and stop taking things for granted.
And, Jesus, does Ruppert do all of that and more.
To read "Collapse" and then to listen to our president talk about "clean coal" technology is to become depressed about our so-called national leadership. I voted for Barack Obama. But his energy policy - if you can call it that - is, with the exception of his talk about solar energy, delusional. Ruppert takes on every alternative source of energy - energy, which enables and powers everything we do in our lives -and debunks all the propaganda spewed by the talking heads on TV and the business flaks about how we're going to run our transportation system on french-fry oil and tar-sand products.
Ruppert says solar power and perhaps tidal energy may help, on regional levels, provide energy people need in their daily lives. But he stresses that there is no large-scale replacement for oil, which powers 90 percent of our transportation and underlies modern agricultural practices, i.e., the oil-based farming that delivers food to our table.
Because there is no substitute (and Ruppert takes on Peak Natural Gas, too) for oil, Rupper calls for a 25-point action plan to rescale our lives and neighborhoods and cities around local farming and public transportation (more people moved per energy unit) and local, finer-grained economies. Ruppert also explains - in a way I've never read before - how energy is the foundation for money. Without energy (without oil), money is meaningless. You can't fill a gas tank with money. You can't fill an airplane with technology. You need fuel, fuel from refined oil. And technology isn't going to solve the problem of an oil shortage. Technology isn't energy. It takes energy to produce technology. So every Alternative 2.0 energy scheme you attempt (biofuels, which Ruppert tears apart as a foolish path toward food shortages, included) will take fossil fuels (i.e., oil, natural gas) to produce, thus exacerbating the Peak Oil problem. If you know you're sliding off a cliff, why would you accelerate the slide? Why wouldn't you move in a different direction?
Ruppert's prose is straightforward. The writing is like that of a mid-size newspaper columnist who hasn't given up on people or the idea that explaining big things matter. The book is a breeze to read. The ideas and the arguments aren't a breeze to process, though. Mass die-offs. Societal collapses. Financial ruin. Global fuck-ups with reverberations for the average American household. Ruppert covers it all. The central argument - that the Cheap Oil Age is over - is irrefutable. Ruppert includes websites to learn more information about how to deal with our energy predicament, he connects the dots and reminds you that even the cheerleaders, including former Fed chairman Alan Greenspan, have said that our murderous war in Iraq, built on so many damn lies, was conducted for the sole purpose of securing future oil supplies.
And do you remember Satan, you know, former Vice President Dick Cheney? And remember how he led that energy panel, the one whose meetings and minutes have twice been challenged to the Supreme Court to have them revealed but that continue to be kept secret from the American people who paid for those meetings and minutes and who have the right to know what was said and what was planned? Ruppert manages to leave little doubt that that Cheney-led panel was about Peak Oil and about how America needed to secure more oil supplies - including by way of war.
I'm still processing Ruppert's book. I plan to go back over it and commit more of it to memory and to try to apply it to my own life. We live in a relatively small house in an old urban neighborhood in Tacoma, so we're not part of oil-supported, Sprawlburb America. But, after reading Ruppert's book, I thoroughly feel like buying a place with a little more land on which to grow food, moving my money and investments into a local community bank, starting an online publication to bring attention to our energy predicament and maybe even looking into precious metals as an investment. As Ruppert points out, the Fed prints money when it needs it. Money is based on nothing. Yet banks loan it, people save it (or spend it) and everyone takes it for granted. When the energy underpinnings fall out, what will you have in your wallet?
Again, please read this book.
NOTE: I stand by my five-star rating, although I will say that this version of the book - apparently rushed out because Ruppert has gained attention as the subject of a new documentary film, "Collapse," - contains one too many copy errors for my taste. Nevertheless, the book, in whatever edition, is extremely relevant and very readable.
Excellent question. And what are we thinking now? If our national life is any indication - with its junked cities, sprawling suburban appendages, asinine Pac-Man-like consumption habits and enthrallment with celebrity culture - we certainly haven't been thinking about Ruppert's central - and air-tight - argument: Oil is the bloodstream of the global economy, its production is peaking and if we don't get serious about rescaling our lives and cities and world based on this incontrovertible fact of nature, we are, not to put too fine a point on it, fucked.
In a compact, 226 pages, Ruppert, who accurately predicted the current economic debacle, marches the reader through everything from the Laws of Thermodynamics to the oh-so prescient predictions of M. King Hubbert, the geologist and former oil company scientist who accurately predicted that oil production would peak in America by the early 1970s. Hubbert is very important: He made his prediction, based on careful analysis and number crunching, in 1949. At the time, he was laughed at. He was also absolutely right. Since 1970, America's oil production has been in decline and, ever since, we've steadily become a net oil importer. Currently, we import 70 percent of the oil we need to run things on a daily basis.
There are sparks of egotism in Ruppert's prose. He reminds you that he predicted the current economic debacle, and he makes sure to remind you that his book, "Crossing the Rubicon," about the attacks of 9/11, is standard reading for the folks at Harvard Business School and on the shelves of many other university libraries. But, so fucking what? I don't mind a burst of egotism here and there, as long as it's backed up by evidence and reason and a radical sense that people need to wake up and stop taking things for granted.
And, Jesus, does Ruppert do all of that and more.
To read "Collapse" and then to listen to our president talk about "clean coal" technology is to become depressed about our so-called national leadership. I voted for Barack Obama. But his energy policy - if you can call it that - is, with the exception of his talk about solar energy, delusional. Ruppert takes on every alternative source of energy - energy, which enables and powers everything we do in our lives -and debunks all the propaganda spewed by the talking heads on TV and the business flaks about how we're going to run our transportation system on french-fry oil and tar-sand products.
Ruppert says solar power and perhaps tidal energy may help, on regional levels, provide energy people need in their daily lives. But he stresses that there is no large-scale replacement for oil, which powers 90 percent of our transportation and underlies modern agricultural practices, i.e., the oil-based farming that delivers food to our table.
Because there is no substitute (and Ruppert takes on Peak Natural Gas, too) for oil, Rupper calls for a 25-point action plan to rescale our lives and neighborhoods and cities around local farming and public transportation (more people moved per energy unit) and local, finer-grained economies. Ruppert also explains - in a way I've never read before - how energy is the foundation for money. Without energy (without oil), money is meaningless. You can't fill a gas tank with money. You can't fill an airplane with technology. You need fuel, fuel from refined oil. And technology isn't going to solve the problem of an oil shortage. Technology isn't energy. It takes energy to produce technology. So every Alternative 2.0 energy scheme you attempt (biofuels, which Ruppert tears apart as a foolish path toward food shortages, included) will take fossil fuels (i.e., oil, natural gas) to produce, thus exacerbating the Peak Oil problem. If you know you're sliding off a cliff, why would you accelerate the slide? Why wouldn't you move in a different direction?
Ruppert's prose is straightforward. The writing is like that of a mid-size newspaper columnist who hasn't given up on people or the idea that explaining big things matter. The book is a breeze to read. The ideas and the arguments aren't a breeze to process, though. Mass die-offs. Societal collapses. Financial ruin. Global fuck-ups with reverberations for the average American household. Ruppert covers it all. The central argument - that the Cheap Oil Age is over - is irrefutable. Ruppert includes websites to learn more information about how to deal with our energy predicament, he connects the dots and reminds you that even the cheerleaders, including former Fed chairman Alan Greenspan, have said that our murderous war in Iraq, built on so many damn lies, was conducted for the sole purpose of securing future oil supplies.
And do you remember Satan, you know, former Vice President Dick Cheney? And remember how he led that energy panel, the one whose meetings and minutes have twice been challenged to the Supreme Court to have them revealed but that continue to be kept secret from the American people who paid for those meetings and minutes and who have the right to know what was said and what was planned? Ruppert manages to leave little doubt that that Cheney-led panel was about Peak Oil and about how America needed to secure more oil supplies - including by way of war.
I'm still processing Ruppert's book. I plan to go back over it and commit more of it to memory and to try to apply it to my own life. We live in a relatively small house in an old urban neighborhood in Tacoma, so we're not part of oil-supported, Sprawlburb America. But, after reading Ruppert's book, I thoroughly feel like buying a place with a little more land on which to grow food, moving my money and investments into a local community bank, starting an online publication to bring attention to our energy predicament and maybe even looking into precious metals as an investment. As Ruppert points out, the Fed prints money when it needs it. Money is based on nothing. Yet banks loan it, people save it (or spend it) and everyone takes it for granted. When the energy underpinnings fall out, what will you have in your wallet?
Again, please read this book.
NOTE: I stand by my five-star rating, although I will say that this version of the book - apparently rushed out because Ruppert has gained attention as the subject of a new documentary film, "Collapse," - contains one too many copy errors for my taste. Nevertheless, the book, in whatever edition, is extremely relevant and very readable.
August 30, 2011
This is sobering stuff. It's no coincidence I read "Parisian Chic" in tandem with it; sometimes you need a break from the realities of our oil-dependent society and its imminent collapse. So, when the end comes, everyone can come over to our place for an effortlessly elegant dinner party and a discussion of the best places to buy cashmere in Paris.
Seriously, I could call Michael Ruppert a visionary, but he is only stating facts about our oil consumption (unsustainable), food production (unsustainable, too) and system of worthless currency (guess what?). Ruppert says we've passed the tipping point for getting out of this mess without something ominously called a "die-off," but he outlines a comprehensive and thoughtful 25-point plan that could mitigate the damage.
Ruppert made a movie of this book which is streamable through Netflix. The movie has a slight advantage over the book because Ruppert gives advice about how to prepare yourself for the new world order, which he does not address in the book. However, the book fleshes out many of the concepts only briefly covered in the movie.
Ruppert's personal story (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_...) is worth a read, too.
Seriously, I could call Michael Ruppert a visionary, but he is only stating facts about our oil consumption (unsustainable), food production (unsustainable, too) and system of worthless currency (guess what?). Ruppert says we've passed the tipping point for getting out of this mess without something ominously called a "die-off," but he outlines a comprehensive and thoughtful 25-point plan that could mitigate the damage.
Ruppert made a movie of this book which is streamable through Netflix. The movie has a slight advantage over the book because Ruppert gives advice about how to prepare yourself for the new world order, which he does not address in the book. However, the book fleshes out many of the concepts only briefly covered in the movie.
Ruppert's personal story (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_...) is worth a read, too.
April 28, 2010
This is perhaps the most important book I've ever read outside the standard works. Virtually no one (including myself before reading the book) knows what the subtitle of this book means. It basically means we are "past" the peak of oil production and sooner or later "petroleum man" is going to die. As a planet we are not going to be able to continue on as we have in the past. The sub subtitle of the book is "A 25-point program for action. Those who believe that our economy is going to "recover" are living in lala land. I'm no chicken little but that doesn't mean the sky isn't falling. I highly recommend this book. Mormons have the "best" chance of surviving but so many have ignored the Brethren. A few years ago we had two significant publications (pamphlets) which had to do with 1) all is safely gathered in(food storage) and 2) getting out of debt. Nothing more needs to be said.
January 10, 2022
This is an interesting, and compelling case that we've reached the point where oil production will inevitably decline, having reached peak production several years ago. The ramifications of this argument are frightening. It stands to reason that there is a finite quantity of oil on planet earth, and Ruppert warns his readers to prepare for a bleak future.
Oil will become increasingly expensive and in short supply--such that the lifestyle we Americans have grown accustomed to will become a relic. Life will become more difficult for all, and many will die due to starvation as the lack of oil will have a deep impact across all aspects of our life including food production and transportation.
The idea of peak oil is a troublesome one and has no easy answers, as Ruppert testifies. As a Christian I hold a much different world view than the author, and it is clear that his worldview leaves no room for providence in the lives of men. While I believe that God could judge us through the lack of carbon-based fuels, I do not believe he would abandon us to the sort of apocalypse that Ruppert says is coming if we don't start planning immediately.
God is faithful. There is great hope in that. Yet that does not mean that we will be immune to something similar to the plagues of the Middle Ages. Those happened, and why should we believe something of similar magnitude will not happen to our generation?
Oil will become increasingly expensive and in short supply--such that the lifestyle we Americans have grown accustomed to will become a relic. Life will become more difficult for all, and many will die due to starvation as the lack of oil will have a deep impact across all aspects of our life including food production and transportation.
The idea of peak oil is a troublesome one and has no easy answers, as Ruppert testifies. As a Christian I hold a much different world view than the author, and it is clear that his worldview leaves no room for providence in the lives of men. While I believe that God could judge us through the lack of carbon-based fuels, I do not believe he would abandon us to the sort of apocalypse that Ruppert says is coming if we don't start planning immediately.
God is faithful. There is great hope in that. Yet that does not mean that we will be immune to something similar to the plagues of the Middle Ages. Those happened, and why should we believe something of similar magnitude will not happen to our generation?
April 6, 2010
I first learned of Mike Ruppert through a chilling trailer for his then upcoming movie, Collapse. Ruppert has a long history as an investigative journalist that began when he broke away from the mainstream after his excellence in the LA police led him to be actively recruited by the CIA for running cocaine through South-Central LA. Ruppert realized this wasn’t the world he’d pledged to serve and tried to break the story only to find that the systems he was working to support were quite different from how we perceive them in the mainstream. I went to the Vancouver International Film Centre with a few friends for a screening of Collapse only to have my tentative notions of civilizational instability confirmed in a tour de force of face melting facts. I quickly got a hold of Ruppert’s latest book, A Presidential Energy Policy, which had been re-printed as, Confronting Collapse to draw more attention to the work which had been largely ignored. Explaining bad news is not a route to popular success, as witnessed by the rapid end to careers of any American politician over the last 20 years that tried to curb deficits by cutting spending or raising taxes.
Confronting Collapse is a far better introduction to the topic of Collapse for the lay person than the corresponding movie is. And I say that because it is possibly too easy to write off Ruppert as a crank and a lunatic on-screen when he’s talking about governments breaking down and a global population that might face a huge die-off. This is so far outside the mainstream narrative that most people who aren’t receptive to it will completely block it out. It is much harder to ignore the case Ruppert makes for industrial civilization’s collapse when it is nicely footnoted and indexed. Ruppert’s writing style is absolutely clear and accessible to someone that isn’t a technically adept reader but might come across as “arrogant” for someone unwilling to look at the evidence. Modern economists counter the claims of the Peak Oil/Collapse theorists by saying that market corrections will solve the problem, Ruppert clearly explains that the only market corrections available will be in the form of tremendous suffering and loss of human life.
In the book, Dr. Colin Campell sets the stage by discussing the short time humanity has had access to energy dense petroleum reserves (only about 150 years). Ruppert uses the first chapter to make the case on why the US Federal government might keep the severity of the energy supply situation confidential and why we might question the status quo on this issue, “if we were lied to about mortgages, 401(k)s, stock portfolios, hedge funds, derivatives, insider trading… the invasion of Iraq and torture… why do so many accept on faith everything we have been sold about energy?”
Ruppert is clear that he views the entire American political and economic system as broken and corrupt and subservient to corporate/financial interests. This is something that neither Barack Obama or John McCain were willing to confront in their naive energy policies and political solutions. Thus the reason no real leadership exists and America/The World might be headed off a very steep and disturbing cliff in the near future. This assumption might lose some readers right away but if you read further, you can see why Ruppert has reached these conclusions.
The case for collapse is made by Ruppert in his connection between the financial system and oil supplies/energy flows. Growth of this economic system is impossible because recent oil reserve discoveries (they are all in hard to reach places like 6 miles under the ocean) do little more than confirm the fact that extraction rates of oil supplies will continue to rapidly decline, leading to a quick and painful dissolution of the mechanisms of modern society. If our infrastructure was able to handle such a decentralization, America would be in better shape, but Ruppert destroys that myth by dissecting and reporting facts regarding global oil and gas infrastructure ($22 trillion in investment needed by 2030 to support the global energy-supply infrastructure), the electric distribution grid (coal supplies need oil for extraction), roads and bridges (a $1.6 trillion investment needed to avoid bridges collapsing), an over-reliance of commuting (asphalt prices and their tie to oil, impact of driving on economic growth in America) and the alternative energy infrastructure (which does not and will not exist).
For Ruppert, Iraq is confirmation that the US government knows what is about to happen to global energy supplies, if we are fighting over the scraps of the remaining global oil fields that isn’t good news. Since Obama hasn’t even begun to withdraw from Iraq or Afghanistan supports this notion. By the time Mike Ruppert ties together the dependence of our food system on cheap petroleum (10 calories of petroleum for every calorie of food, not counting for transport), the case he’s making for a major reshuffling of society is clear… but you are only halfway through the book.
He continues by detailing how we should evaluate alternative energy solutions, that we should focus on how much energy we get out based on how much energy we put in and then completes this point by discussing why none of the available alternatives (solar, wind, tidal, etc…; all ranging from 3 barrels of oil energy equivalent for every one barrel of oil equivalent that we put in or 3:1 net energy) can match the net energy of oil (200:1 in 1900 and now 50:1 in 2009). But there is an alternative that works: localization. When everything requires tremendous energy inputs to bring it to you from far away, the most straightforward response is to make something and use it locally. This is where electricity sources like solar PV panels and mini-wind turbines can help.
Ruppert closes out the book with a realistic assessment of money and how it will respond to oil depletion, our system of fiat currency and fractional reserve banking has only existed since the late 1960s because of rapid oil extraction. This is where Ruppert’s book shines as he lays out a 25 point plan for creating stability in the face of oil extraction rate depletion. Hi solutions would build local resilience and quickly reduce oil consumption if implemented on a Federal or even local level. Sadly, none of these solutions are being considered at a national level in the US because the paradigm is still so focused on solutions for growth that it ignores solutions for managed contraction. Only one of these 25 approaches is being considered by California, and that’s the legalization of marijuana which could lead to pratical hemp production offsetting the need for many petroleum intensive fabrics and materials.
If Ruppert makes one mistake, it is that he appears to assume the rest of the world will follow the United States down the drain, while collapse for the US appears inevitable, the social fabric in other nations may be able to withstand the challenges of the oil age much better.
So in summary, Ruppert’s claim is that the monetary system, supported by ever expanding supplies in oil will collapse bringing down the system of globalization and the failing infrastructure and weak communities of the US will lead to a long period of civil unrest.
Regardless of your preconceived notions, Ruppert’s book is filled with clear concise charts, graphs, news articles and summaries which outline the magnitude of our current global predicament. I’m not completely sold on the concept of collapse, I think societies tend to seek out equilibrium in the face of dire circumstances. However, complex civilizations have fallen apart when energy sources were no longer accessible (see Ancient Rome and peak wood supplies). What is inevitable is that business as usual cannot and will not continue in the face of physical constraints imposed by reality. It is truly disappointing to see the citizens of North America, and specifically the leadership of its nations, completely unwilling to acknowledge the magnitude of these problems.
Confronting Collapse is a far better introduction to the topic of Collapse for the lay person than the corresponding movie is. And I say that because it is possibly too easy to write off Ruppert as a crank and a lunatic on-screen when he’s talking about governments breaking down and a global population that might face a huge die-off. This is so far outside the mainstream narrative that most people who aren’t receptive to it will completely block it out. It is much harder to ignore the case Ruppert makes for industrial civilization’s collapse when it is nicely footnoted and indexed. Ruppert’s writing style is absolutely clear and accessible to someone that isn’t a technically adept reader but might come across as “arrogant” for someone unwilling to look at the evidence. Modern economists counter the claims of the Peak Oil/Collapse theorists by saying that market corrections will solve the problem, Ruppert clearly explains that the only market corrections available will be in the form of tremendous suffering and loss of human life.
In the book, Dr. Colin Campell sets the stage by discussing the short time humanity has had access to energy dense petroleum reserves (only about 150 years). Ruppert uses the first chapter to make the case on why the US Federal government might keep the severity of the energy supply situation confidential and why we might question the status quo on this issue, “if we were lied to about mortgages, 401(k)s, stock portfolios, hedge funds, derivatives, insider trading… the invasion of Iraq and torture… why do so many accept on faith everything we have been sold about energy?”
Ruppert is clear that he views the entire American political and economic system as broken and corrupt and subservient to corporate/financial interests. This is something that neither Barack Obama or John McCain were willing to confront in their naive energy policies and political solutions. Thus the reason no real leadership exists and America/The World might be headed off a very steep and disturbing cliff in the near future. This assumption might lose some readers right away but if you read further, you can see why Ruppert has reached these conclusions.
The case for collapse is made by Ruppert in his connection between the financial system and oil supplies/energy flows. Growth of this economic system is impossible because recent oil reserve discoveries (they are all in hard to reach places like 6 miles under the ocean) do little more than confirm the fact that extraction rates of oil supplies will continue to rapidly decline, leading to a quick and painful dissolution of the mechanisms of modern society. If our infrastructure was able to handle such a decentralization, America would be in better shape, but Ruppert destroys that myth by dissecting and reporting facts regarding global oil and gas infrastructure ($22 trillion in investment needed by 2030 to support the global energy-supply infrastructure), the electric distribution grid (coal supplies need oil for extraction), roads and bridges (a $1.6 trillion investment needed to avoid bridges collapsing), an over-reliance of commuting (asphalt prices and their tie to oil, impact of driving on economic growth in America) and the alternative energy infrastructure (which does not and will not exist).
For Ruppert, Iraq is confirmation that the US government knows what is about to happen to global energy supplies, if we are fighting over the scraps of the remaining global oil fields that isn’t good news. Since Obama hasn’t even begun to withdraw from Iraq or Afghanistan supports this notion. By the time Mike Ruppert ties together the dependence of our food system on cheap petroleum (10 calories of petroleum for every calorie of food, not counting for transport), the case he’s making for a major reshuffling of society is clear… but you are only halfway through the book.
He continues by detailing how we should evaluate alternative energy solutions, that we should focus on how much energy we get out based on how much energy we put in and then completes this point by discussing why none of the available alternatives (solar, wind, tidal, etc…; all ranging from 3 barrels of oil energy equivalent for every one barrel of oil equivalent that we put in or 3:1 net energy) can match the net energy of oil (200:1 in 1900 and now 50:1 in 2009). But there is an alternative that works: localization. When everything requires tremendous energy inputs to bring it to you from far away, the most straightforward response is to make something and use it locally. This is where electricity sources like solar PV panels and mini-wind turbines can help.
Ruppert closes out the book with a realistic assessment of money and how it will respond to oil depletion, our system of fiat currency and fractional reserve banking has only existed since the late 1960s because of rapid oil extraction. This is where Ruppert’s book shines as he lays out a 25 point plan for creating stability in the face of oil extraction rate depletion. Hi solutions would build local resilience and quickly reduce oil consumption if implemented on a Federal or even local level. Sadly, none of these solutions are being considered at a national level in the US because the paradigm is still so focused on solutions for growth that it ignores solutions for managed contraction. Only one of these 25 approaches is being considered by California, and that’s the legalization of marijuana which could lead to pratical hemp production offsetting the need for many petroleum intensive fabrics and materials.
If Ruppert makes one mistake, it is that he appears to assume the rest of the world will follow the United States down the drain, while collapse for the US appears inevitable, the social fabric in other nations may be able to withstand the challenges of the oil age much better.
So in summary, Ruppert’s claim is that the monetary system, supported by ever expanding supplies in oil will collapse bringing down the system of globalization and the failing infrastructure and weak communities of the US will lead to a long period of civil unrest.
Regardless of your preconceived notions, Ruppert’s book is filled with clear concise charts, graphs, news articles and summaries which outline the magnitude of our current global predicament. I’m not completely sold on the concept of collapse, I think societies tend to seek out equilibrium in the face of dire circumstances. However, complex civilizations have fallen apart when energy sources were no longer accessible (see Ancient Rome and peak wood supplies). What is inevitable is that business as usual cannot and will not continue in the face of physical constraints imposed by reality. It is truly disappointing to see the citizens of North America, and specifically the leadership of its nations, completely unwilling to acknowledge the magnitude of these problems.
September 21, 2015
Too many processes, running down, simultaneously; if you've read William Gibson's description of "The Jackpot" in his
The Peripheral
, you'll stop thanking Romero rip-offs for showing us "the world we live in" and start to fret, quite in earnest, about whom the real truth-tellers of our modern-era are, and whether they're being heeded. Ruppert's take on things is too borne out, too collaborated-on, and too steeped in years' experience to be the lone rantings of some guy in a basement (as the film version, unfortunately, might have led some lazy-hipster reviewers to all-too-easily dismiss as). If he's not the only person you've heard of (James Kunstler comes to mind, and is cited in the text) as pointing his finger in this direction, this book'll go over like a load of bricks; whether it stays with you or gets shrugged off is your choice. Highly, highly recommended — particularly if you intend to just squeeze it in between your other readings.
September 3, 2019
As a writer, Michael Ruppert was a helluva speaker. I don't say that to denigrate this troubled, frustrated, charismatic, and ultimately tragic figure, merely to explain the modest three-star rating I gave to his book, CONFRONTING COLLAPSE (previously released under the more prosaic title A PRESEIDENTIAL ENERGY POLICY), which I believe ought to be read, or at least skimmed, by everybody in the Western world.
Like many people, I came to an awareness of Ruppert through the excellent (and terrifying) biopic-doc "The Collapse," which was about the idea of Peak Oil and what will happen to world civilization as oil production inevitably collapses -- inevitably because oil is a finite, non-renewable resource which is rapidly running out. The documentary shook me so badly (and I don't consider myself all that easy to shake) that I sought out the book upon which it was based to hear his theories, opinions and warnings in more detail. Yesterday, after about two years of reading the book in tiny installments, I finally finished.
Ruppert's thesis in the book is simple. All of modern civilization is founded on oil. Everything from gasoline to plastic to resin to pesticide to paint to synthetic rubber to toothpaste, and very much else, is manufactured from petroleum by-products. Petroleum also powers our jetliners, our cars, our buses, our motorcycles, our tractors, our trains, our Navy destroyers and our tractors. It heats our homes, allows us to farm and to transport food, to extract raw material and to ship it, and to create and sustain all of our infrastructure (think: garbage collection, police cars, etc.). Everything we do in daily life is founded directly or indirectly on oil, from brushing our teeth to throwing a light-switch to driving a car to shopping at the grocery store to making love (condoms are made from petroleum by products, i.e. plastic). The total supply of oil on the planet, however, is now "past peak," meaning that more has been burned than remains in the ground, and the supply is dwindling faster and faster because commercial use of oil is going up everywhere in the world, especially developing nations like China and India, but most especially in energy-ravenous America. Ruppert believes, and there is considerable evidence to support, that all of human civilization is in a death spiral which will accelerate as oil usage surges even while the oil supply shrinks toward the zero point (zero point is not, incidentally, zero oil: it is the point where obtaining oil becomes so expensive and energy-intensive that there is no return for mining it...think of it in these terms: if you're starving, and somebody tells you there's a strawberry on top of a mountain, you'll burn 3,000 calories obtaining the strawberry but only 10 from eating it, rendering the journey pointless). This will produce a collapse -- power, food and other basic necessities of modern life will no longer be available in sufficient quantity for our population, and will lead to a huge die-off which will encompass wars, riots, and anarchy.
The driving force behind the collapse is obviously our gluttonous appetite for the energy and products oil provides us, but Rupert argues, also the blind greed and sociopathic disregard for human life which is characteristic of modern governmental systems, be they socialistic, communistic or capitalistic. Our desire for profit and comfort are pushing us faster and faster toward the cliff which Peak Oil represents, and rather than address the problem, he points out that all nations seem to be doubling down on aggressive acquisition of oil (through drilling and if necessary, war) while making meaningless, lip-service commitments to the environment and alternative sources of energy. One of the key arguments of the book is the jinxed relationship between money (fiat currency) and energy, which accelerates the collapse by building an infinite-growth paradigm: very crudely put, our economy must have infinite growth or it will stagnate and collapse, but the resources we base our currency and our growth around, are not infinite.
All of these arguments are well-presented and difficult to refute on any level without resorting to sophistry or name-calling ("You're just a prophet of doom/conspiracy theorist!"), or the use of wobbly statistics and ideas that rely more on optimism and hope than fact. Nobody, after all, wants to believe our civilization is on its last kick and that our children or grandchildren will grow up in a dystopian future. On the other hand, some of the conclusions Ruppert reaches, and some of his predictions, are less impressive; the main difficulty with the book is that Ruppert, while highly intelligent and very knowledgeable, is really more of a blogger than an author. His writing style varies from arresting to amateurish, gripping to boring, and like many people with martyr complexes (he committed suicide in 2014), he has a tendency toward egotism and would-be omniscience. This makes a 220-page book feel like it's 1,000 pages, which is why it took me aeons to read it when I usually burn through books of this nature in less than a week. It is also why I prefer Ruppert as a public speaker (watch his videos or the documentary), or even as an article-writer and blogger, to a book-length author.
Having said that, I really do feel that CONFRONTING COLLAPSE is a book which ought to be read or at least skimmed by anyone who is still whistling past the petroleum graveyard. Our species (and all species on this planet we dominate) are in an existential struggle against our own excesses and the paradigms we have developed to live safe and comfortable lives. It is well past time that someone in power accepted the unsustainability of our way of life and enacted radical changes to meet the future, instead of telling us a few electric cars and some recycling will save the day.
Like many people, I came to an awareness of Ruppert through the excellent (and terrifying) biopic-doc "The Collapse," which was about the idea of Peak Oil and what will happen to world civilization as oil production inevitably collapses -- inevitably because oil is a finite, non-renewable resource which is rapidly running out. The documentary shook me so badly (and I don't consider myself all that easy to shake) that I sought out the book upon which it was based to hear his theories, opinions and warnings in more detail. Yesterday, after about two years of reading the book in tiny installments, I finally finished.
Ruppert's thesis in the book is simple. All of modern civilization is founded on oil. Everything from gasoline to plastic to resin to pesticide to paint to synthetic rubber to toothpaste, and very much else, is manufactured from petroleum by-products. Petroleum also powers our jetliners, our cars, our buses, our motorcycles, our tractors, our trains, our Navy destroyers and our tractors. It heats our homes, allows us to farm and to transport food, to extract raw material and to ship it, and to create and sustain all of our infrastructure (think: garbage collection, police cars, etc.). Everything we do in daily life is founded directly or indirectly on oil, from brushing our teeth to throwing a light-switch to driving a car to shopping at the grocery store to making love (condoms are made from petroleum by products, i.e. plastic). The total supply of oil on the planet, however, is now "past peak," meaning that more has been burned than remains in the ground, and the supply is dwindling faster and faster because commercial use of oil is going up everywhere in the world, especially developing nations like China and India, but most especially in energy-ravenous America. Ruppert believes, and there is considerable evidence to support, that all of human civilization is in a death spiral which will accelerate as oil usage surges even while the oil supply shrinks toward the zero point (zero point is not, incidentally, zero oil: it is the point where obtaining oil becomes so expensive and energy-intensive that there is no return for mining it...think of it in these terms: if you're starving, and somebody tells you there's a strawberry on top of a mountain, you'll burn 3,000 calories obtaining the strawberry but only 10 from eating it, rendering the journey pointless). This will produce a collapse -- power, food and other basic necessities of modern life will no longer be available in sufficient quantity for our population, and will lead to a huge die-off which will encompass wars, riots, and anarchy.
The driving force behind the collapse is obviously our gluttonous appetite for the energy and products oil provides us, but Rupert argues, also the blind greed and sociopathic disregard for human life which is characteristic of modern governmental systems, be they socialistic, communistic or capitalistic. Our desire for profit and comfort are pushing us faster and faster toward the cliff which Peak Oil represents, and rather than address the problem, he points out that all nations seem to be doubling down on aggressive acquisition of oil (through drilling and if necessary, war) while making meaningless, lip-service commitments to the environment and alternative sources of energy. One of the key arguments of the book is the jinxed relationship between money (fiat currency) and energy, which accelerates the collapse by building an infinite-growth paradigm: very crudely put, our economy must have infinite growth or it will stagnate and collapse, but the resources we base our currency and our growth around, are not infinite.
All of these arguments are well-presented and difficult to refute on any level without resorting to sophistry or name-calling ("You're just a prophet of doom/conspiracy theorist!"), or the use of wobbly statistics and ideas that rely more on optimism and hope than fact. Nobody, after all, wants to believe our civilization is on its last kick and that our children or grandchildren will grow up in a dystopian future. On the other hand, some of the conclusions Ruppert reaches, and some of his predictions, are less impressive; the main difficulty with the book is that Ruppert, while highly intelligent and very knowledgeable, is really more of a blogger than an author. His writing style varies from arresting to amateurish, gripping to boring, and like many people with martyr complexes (he committed suicide in 2014), he has a tendency toward egotism and would-be omniscience. This makes a 220-page book feel like it's 1,000 pages, which is why it took me aeons to read it when I usually burn through books of this nature in less than a week. It is also why I prefer Ruppert as a public speaker (watch his videos or the documentary), or even as an article-writer and blogger, to a book-length author.
Having said that, I really do feel that CONFRONTING COLLAPSE is a book which ought to be read or at least skimmed by anyone who is still whistling past the petroleum graveyard. Our species (and all species on this planet we dominate) are in an existential struggle against our own excesses and the paradigms we have developed to live safe and comfortable lives. It is well past time that someone in power accepted the unsustainability of our way of life and enacted radical changes to meet the future, instead of telling us a few electric cars and some recycling will save the day.
November 21, 2010
To be sure, Ruppert doesn't know how to write very well, or how to suppress his impulses and give a book that is fully documented and explained.
And yet... this is a gripping book, full of shocking ideas and facts. He sometimes fails to explain them thoroughly, and some of what he says are not conclusively proved, but in their core and essence these are powerful notions that I find myself mulling over months after I've read it. It has -dare I say it?- changed the way I see the world, and has given me an ability to see the bigger picture (and I'm scared). Because his 25-point program is also far from perfect (and he knows it), but the problems are there.
And yet... this is a gripping book, full of shocking ideas and facts. He sometimes fails to explain them thoroughly, and some of what he says are not conclusively proved, but in their core and essence these are powerful notions that I find myself mulling over months after I've read it. It has -dare I say it?- changed the way I see the world, and has given me an ability to see the bigger picture (and I'm scared). Because his 25-point program is also far from perfect (and he knows it), but the problems are there.
December 30, 2009
I stopped reading this book about halfway through. While the information contained within is very interesting and compelling, the author is arrogant and insulting to his readers. While I am interested in finding out more about peak oil and the economic and societal implications, I can't stand to read another page of Ruppert's egotism and seeming hatred for his readers and/or anyone who doesn't agree 100% with his views.
July 15, 2011
This book is a mixed bag,
Much of what he says is true, I already knew about it, and others said it better.
Peak oil, soil erosion, the real cost of ethanol, hydrogen and other alt energy sources.
the general tone of the book is sarcastic rant,
which I could live without.
Also he says the occasional stupid thing,
Like who owns the FED?
Why a collection of jews and the Bush family, of course!
Much of what he says is true, I already knew about it, and others said it better.
Peak oil, soil erosion, the real cost of ethanol, hydrogen and other alt energy sources.
the general tone of the book is sarcastic rant,
which I could live without.
Also he says the occasional stupid thing,
Like who owns the FED?
Why a collection of jews and the Bush family, of course!
August 13, 2018
Pessimistic and unscientific
I had read many books about the energy crisis and have learned to first and foremost review what they have to say about Nuclear Energy. The majority of them fall into the trap of repeating anti-nuclear advocate rhetoric rather than actually looking at the science and engineering available for the topic. Unfortunately this book falls into that same trap glibly repeating the misstatements or outright fabrications of those politically opposed to nuclear energy.
This book was written and released during the transition from the Bush to the Obama eras of national leadership in the USA and most of the gloomiest predictions in it have been delayed by the oil fracking revolution. Whether this delay is short or long term it is indeed only a delay. Finite resources sooner or later are depleted away and infinite growth is only possible with infinite resources, something which does not exist. Thus some of the gloomy predictions in this book may still take place, we just have no way of predicting when. Prepare for the worst and hope for the best.
I had read many books about the energy crisis and have learned to first and foremost review what they have to say about Nuclear Energy. The majority of them fall into the trap of repeating anti-nuclear advocate rhetoric rather than actually looking at the science and engineering available for the topic. Unfortunately this book falls into that same trap glibly repeating the misstatements or outright fabrications of those politically opposed to nuclear energy.
This book was written and released during the transition from the Bush to the Obama eras of national leadership in the USA and most of the gloomiest predictions in it have been delayed by the oil fracking revolution. Whether this delay is short or long term it is indeed only a delay. Finite resources sooner or later are depleted away and infinite growth is only possible with infinite resources, something which does not exist. Thus some of the gloomy predictions in this book may still take place, we just have no way of predicting when. Prepare for the worst and hope for the best.
August 17, 2018
Interesting to read a book from 10 years ago about what the near future holds. Ruppert's predictions will mostly come true at some point, we was just wrong on the timeline. Never underestimate civilization's ability to kick the can down the road using debt.
February 10, 2011
One of the best reasons for moving toward a resource-based economy is that it will enable the entire world to maximize and better use vital energy resources, which have been largely been misused irresponsibly worldwide by greedy corporations and lack of real planning.
If you‘re seeking downright clarity and insight on the peak oil crisis that so many politicians and the corporate media keep trying to deny or mislead us about, do yourself a favor and read Michael C. Ruppert’s Confronting Collapse: the Crisis of Energy and Money in a Post Peak Oil World.
Ruppert is a muckraker—not a name dropper, but a independent and honest journalist who wants us to wake up to the perils of the peak oil crisis. He argues and proves—though he shouldn’t have to—that non-renewable energy resources are depleting because of natural scarcity, and more importantly because of the choices we, especially energy-producing corporations, have made and are making in how we use these resources.
Most people are not educated about the energy crisis. While we feel the oil shortages and demands at the gas pump, far too many of us are ignorant of how dependent we have become on natural energy sources.
Ruppert informs his readers that not only does 7 gallons of oil go into the production of each and every tire on the road, but that oil is used for all plastic items we purchase, pharmaceuticals, the food we buy in the stores and eat in restaurants, and even the gas tanks to power our backyard barbecue. Ruppert makes it clear that “energy, not money, is the root of all economic activity.” Just because we’re willing to pay more at the gas pump doesn’t mean we can head off the peak oil crisis. We can’t buy what’s no longer there. At some point it does dry up. But it is scarcity and market demands that contribute to the negative effects on the world economy. We’re just too ignorant and busy to fully appreciate the impact of the crisis.
The United States uses and consumes 25% of the world’s energy resources, though it only makes up 5% of the world population. When you are reminded that “60% of the known oil resources of the planet is in the Middle East,” and how long the U.S. been dependent on the oil from that part of the world, then it’s not hard to figure why there is so much conflict between the U.S. and the oil producing world.
It’s troubling to read Confronting Collapse because Ruppert can’t pretend, like the politicians and corporate media do, that there are viable solutions to the problem. You may be surprised and dismayed by how Ruppert explains that the long cherished energy resources we thought would be an answer to the oil depletion are not as viable as we think. Solar, wind, and tidal energy, “clean coal” (which there is no such thing) natural gas, ethanol, and hydrogen-powered vehicles not only depend on oil and other energy resources to get produced, they don’t, not even collectively, make a dint in the energy demands of the entire planet.
At this point, if you’re still wondering what is the point of the Confronting Collapse, here it is in a nutshell: “The term ‘sustainable growth,’ is the quintessential oxymoron. Those expecting to get repaid can only do so if there is a continuous stream of new borrowing (i.e. growth) at the bottom. Those at the bottom can only make payments if they grow, and they will only make money if people buy their products or services—frequently by borrowing…and infinitum. Until there is no more energy.”
The economic paradigm has to change because the one that exist today encourages and sustains greed, waste, division, selfishness, and even violent structural corruption. In the present economic order, the monetary system is the root of all evil in the world. It’s responsible for causing people to commit murder for money, steal, rob, and lie to make a buck, or millions of dollars.
Towards the end of his book, Ruppert boldly claims, “As short as this book may be—as flawed as some will find it—I know that it is far superior to any plan that has been articulated anywhere, or anything that Barack Obama has moved on since his inauguration.” He’s absolutely right, and this critique doesn’t even just apply to Obama, but to most politicians who simply don’t have a clue or just not honest enough to confront the energy crisis in ways that it needs to be approached.
Ruppert is not a politician. He’s not getting rich off of his pronouncements and projections about depletion of energy resources, so you owe it yourself to consider his analysis just as much or even more than listening to corporate media that has too much investment in energy resources to seriously report about the crisis we’re facing.
For those of you who watched Joseph Peter’s Zeitgeist Movement: Moving Forward, you might remember that Ruppert was one extensively interviewed by Peters. Confronting Crisis is a powerful companion to the Moving Forward video.
By Bakari—TZM member
If you‘re seeking downright clarity and insight on the peak oil crisis that so many politicians and the corporate media keep trying to deny or mislead us about, do yourself a favor and read Michael C. Ruppert’s Confronting Collapse: the Crisis of Energy and Money in a Post Peak Oil World.
Ruppert is a muckraker—not a name dropper, but a independent and honest journalist who wants us to wake up to the perils of the peak oil crisis. He argues and proves—though he shouldn’t have to—that non-renewable energy resources are depleting because of natural scarcity, and more importantly because of the choices we, especially energy-producing corporations, have made and are making in how we use these resources.
Most people are not educated about the energy crisis. While we feel the oil shortages and demands at the gas pump, far too many of us are ignorant of how dependent we have become on natural energy sources.
Ruppert informs his readers that not only does 7 gallons of oil go into the production of each and every tire on the road, but that oil is used for all plastic items we purchase, pharmaceuticals, the food we buy in the stores and eat in restaurants, and even the gas tanks to power our backyard barbecue. Ruppert makes it clear that “energy, not money, is the root of all economic activity.” Just because we’re willing to pay more at the gas pump doesn’t mean we can head off the peak oil crisis. We can’t buy what’s no longer there. At some point it does dry up. But it is scarcity and market demands that contribute to the negative effects on the world economy. We’re just too ignorant and busy to fully appreciate the impact of the crisis.
The United States uses and consumes 25% of the world’s energy resources, though it only makes up 5% of the world population. When you are reminded that “60% of the known oil resources of the planet is in the Middle East,” and how long the U.S. been dependent on the oil from that part of the world, then it’s not hard to figure why there is so much conflict between the U.S. and the oil producing world.
It’s troubling to read Confronting Collapse because Ruppert can’t pretend, like the politicians and corporate media do, that there are viable solutions to the problem. You may be surprised and dismayed by how Ruppert explains that the long cherished energy resources we thought would be an answer to the oil depletion are not as viable as we think. Solar, wind, and tidal energy, “clean coal” (which there is no such thing) natural gas, ethanol, and hydrogen-powered vehicles not only depend on oil and other energy resources to get produced, they don’t, not even collectively, make a dint in the energy demands of the entire planet.
At this point, if you’re still wondering what is the point of the Confronting Collapse, here it is in a nutshell: “The term ‘sustainable growth,’ is the quintessential oxymoron. Those expecting to get repaid can only do so if there is a continuous stream of new borrowing (i.e. growth) at the bottom. Those at the bottom can only make payments if they grow, and they will only make money if people buy their products or services—frequently by borrowing…and infinitum. Until there is no more energy.”
The economic paradigm has to change because the one that exist today encourages and sustains greed, waste, division, selfishness, and even violent structural corruption. In the present economic order, the monetary system is the root of all evil in the world. It’s responsible for causing people to commit murder for money, steal, rob, and lie to make a buck, or millions of dollars.
Towards the end of his book, Ruppert boldly claims, “As short as this book may be—as flawed as some will find it—I know that it is far superior to any plan that has been articulated anywhere, or anything that Barack Obama has moved on since his inauguration.” He’s absolutely right, and this critique doesn’t even just apply to Obama, but to most politicians who simply don’t have a clue or just not honest enough to confront the energy crisis in ways that it needs to be approached.
Ruppert is not a politician. He’s not getting rich off of his pronouncements and projections about depletion of energy resources, so you owe it yourself to consider his analysis just as much or even more than listening to corporate media that has too much investment in energy resources to seriously report about the crisis we’re facing.
For those of you who watched Joseph Peter’s Zeitgeist Movement: Moving Forward, you might remember that Ruppert was one extensively interviewed by Peters. Confronting Crisis is a powerful companion to the Moving Forward video.
By Bakari—TZM member
October 8, 2010
While I'm only rating this *book* three stars, the -issues- it raises are EASILY five-star (or higher) in importance. Everyone should familiarize themselves with the Collapse documentary and the concepts of Peak Oil/Peak Energy and how they interface with our monetary system.
In an interview on the "Collapse" DVD Ruppert says there is more "hope" or more in the way of solutions offered in this book (i.e. as compared to the film which leaves you feeling somewhat hopeless). I found the book interesting to read but the section on "solutions" read like "If I were King for a day" fantasy - stating how existing governments should change and how new laws should be passed that would radically alter the political and economic landscape.
While one could make the argument that he's right or wrong in these suggestions, the simple truth is that they are too radical and far reaching at this point in time and would handily be sent down to defeat by short-sighted money grubbing corporations and politicians. In that sense, they aren't solutions at all. The solutions we need to explore are the ones we can actually impose *in*spite*of*those*cretins. To me these are personal and local in nature because they require the least input from others - they typically only require *us* to act, not politicians, and not corporations.
If you have *any* interest in this subject, I suggest watching the video-series on ChrisMartenson.com - they tell the story in an easy-to-follow format, but with sufficient depth that you truly "get it" when you're done. At that point, you'll be armed with the knowledge of WHAT is coming (though not WHEN) and you'll have the opportunity to decide what you're going to do about it.
In an interview on the "Collapse" DVD Ruppert says there is more "hope" or more in the way of solutions offered in this book (i.e. as compared to the film which leaves you feeling somewhat hopeless). I found the book interesting to read but the section on "solutions" read like "If I were King for a day" fantasy - stating how existing governments should change and how new laws should be passed that would radically alter the political and economic landscape.
While one could make the argument that he's right or wrong in these suggestions, the simple truth is that they are too radical and far reaching at this point in time and would handily be sent down to defeat by short-sighted money grubbing corporations and politicians. In that sense, they aren't solutions at all. The solutions we need to explore are the ones we can actually impose *in*spite*of*those*cretins. To me these are personal and local in nature because they require the least input from others - they typically only require *us* to act, not politicians, and not corporations.
If you have *any* interest in this subject, I suggest watching the video-series on ChrisMartenson.com - they tell the story in an easy-to-follow format, but with sufficient depth that you truly "get it" when you're done. At that point, you'll be armed with the knowledge of WHAT is coming (though not WHEN) and you'll have the opportunity to decide what you're going to do about it.
April 15, 2012
I can't give this anything but 5 stars. He talks about a world that is dealing with the increasing costs of fossil fuels to power our technology. To "get" this book, you have to accept the premise that fossil fuels are a limited resource as are all resources. Then you have to accept the fact that new methods of extracting energy such as tar sands or shale or drilling in the Arctic (signs that we have already passed peak oil production) are not cost effective because they are more energy consuming to get the energy and despoils fresh water to get it- another limited natural resource necessary for life. It goes on from there documenting issues like transportation, population, infrastructure, and alternative energy sources. A must read for those who care about the kind of world our children and grandchildren will inherit. The book ends with 25 steps to take to transition into a culture less dependent on oil.
He uses the analogy of being on the Titanic for running into the end of the iceberg of cheap energy- there are 3 types of people today the same as on the Titanic- those who run around shaking their heads saying what do we do, what do we do? Another group who says "Iceberg? so what. This ship is unsinkable and go back to the bar. And the final group that says, Iceberg- not good. I may know how to build a life raft....do you want to learn? The book challenges people to decide which group they want to join.
He uses the analogy of being on the Titanic for running into the end of the iceberg of cheap energy- there are 3 types of people today the same as on the Titanic- those who run around shaking their heads saying what do we do, what do we do? Another group who says "Iceberg? so what. This ship is unsinkable and go back to the bar. And the final group that says, Iceberg- not good. I may know how to build a life raft....do you want to learn? The book challenges people to decide which group they want to join.
June 9, 2016
Michael Ruppert does a riveting job explaining why the infinite growth paradigm we currently enjoy is not only unfeasible but will ultimately lead to a collapse of modern day civilization as we know. This book is a no holds bar on humanity and human nature. His statistical, scientific, and mathematic analysis is not only irrefutable but unparalled. His predictions are coming true more and more every day. He called the drug smuggling being conducted by the CIA, the 2008 housing crisis, peak oil, rise in gold and water prices, the collapse of Greece, our increasing interest in Iran and the south China Sea and the list goes on and on. All this mind you that he passed away in 2014! Mr. Ruppert is a pioneer and even with his passing we have so much still to learn. If you think you’re ready for the truth this book is for you. If you aren’t don’t waste your time go on with your oil powered life.
January 11, 2012
Great book written in an alarmist, passionate and personal style appropriate for the fact that the "Free Energy" we get from crude oil is unprecedented, irreplaceable and on the way out. A handful of quotes from the book follow....
The human race has failed to plan and prepare for this crisis [Peak Oil] in time to make a stable transition to some other regime
Once cannot put technology into a car’s gas tank or into the tanks of an airliner or a ship. One must put petroleum into these tanks. Technology comes from energy not the other way around
There is currently one barrel of oil discovered (or non conventional oil) for every four or five barrels used and that gap is widening rapidly
The rest of the planet will not sit idly by and watch the United States consume what is left
There were only about 2billon of us here before oil
The human race has failed to plan and prepare for this crisis [Peak Oil] in time to make a stable transition to some other regime
Once cannot put technology into a car’s gas tank or into the tanks of an airliner or a ship. One must put petroleum into these tanks. Technology comes from energy not the other way around
There is currently one barrel of oil discovered (or non conventional oil) for every four or five barrels used and that gap is widening rapidly
The rest of the planet will not sit idly by and watch the United States consume what is left
There were only about 2billon of us here before oil
September 27, 2014
Before the ancient aliens narrative and New Age pseudo-science infected his brain, Mike Ruppert was a pretty smart guy. So this book is a pretty decent summary of peak oil. There are some problems with it though. 1) He's too confident that energy depletion will cause the crash before the status quo causes runaway climate change. Even he came to see this as a dangerous opinion before he died and admitted that the solutions in this book aren't good enough. 2) He tries too hard to make prophetic predictions and at this point it's obvious that his predictions were a bit off. Unfortunately, the mainstream can find ways of kicking the can a little further down the road than he expected. Again, he admitted this himself before he died. So while this book wasn't bad, there isn't really any good reason to read it at this point.
August 14, 2012
This poor guy -- he actually has a number of good ideas, but he's so Frustrated and Exasperated and Angry and Snarky and RIGHT that he sounds like a conspiracy theorist.
One major idea is worthy of serious discussion -- that because we're at Peak Oil, the US and the global economy keep on going nowhere because we can't pump oil out of the ground fast enough to literally fuel a recovery. This state of affairs will continue until the oil extraction rate actually starts to drop, at which point we'll all be faced with economic contraction.
But he needs to put this all out there in such a way as to invite discussion, not so that he sounds like a self-righteous, often-right-and-always-ignored Cassandra.
One major idea is worthy of serious discussion -- that because we're at Peak Oil, the US and the global economy keep on going nowhere because we can't pump oil out of the ground fast enough to literally fuel a recovery. This state of affairs will continue until the oil extraction rate actually starts to drop, at which point we'll all be faced with economic contraction.
But he needs to put this all out there in such a way as to invite discussion, not so that he sounds like a self-righteous, often-right-and-always-ignored Cassandra.
May 4, 2016
This book is very well worth studying for its forecast of the days coming when oil reserves run out suddenly and our oil-dependent world is thrown into chaos. Though we read today of an "oil glut," the "reserves" are really an inflated number for mostly political reasons, and many experts have forecast "peak oil," the maximum amount that can be produced, for over 20 years. The world has been at peak oil for at least the last 10 years, and the fact that oil companies have resorted to deep ocean drilling (resulting in over 200 horrific "blowout" accidents and ocean pollution) is proof that the easiest oil to get has already been depleted.
September 1, 2010
The future is dark.
Ever thought of oil actually running out,I mean seriously? Well M.C.R has and in this book he paints a dark,bleak future with economies crshing,serious drops in populations and general mayhem. Don´t worry though he gives us his 25 point plan for your survival.
Interesting look at economies,food,gereral life and our utter need for the black stuff. We all know we need it but this guy breaks down everything connected to it,and I mean everything.
Loved it!
Ever thought of oil actually running out,I mean seriously? Well M.C.R has and in this book he paints a dark,bleak future with economies crshing,serious drops in populations and general mayhem. Don´t worry though he gives us his 25 point plan for your survival.
Interesting look at economies,food,gereral life and our utter need for the black stuff. We all know we need it but this guy breaks down everything connected to it,and I mean everything.
Loved it!
April 4, 2012
Content of the book aside for a moment, I find this Ruppert guy completely fascinating. He could easily come off as a conspiracy theorist, or as a doomsday prognosticator, but he seems to narrowly escape painting himself as such. Fascinating character. who knows he may be right, so buy a gun, be friendly to your neighbors, get some alternate energy sources, and don't forget to pee all over your backward; good for the crops you will need to grow.
March 17, 2013
Not as comprehensive as Crossing the Rubicon, Ruppert's real magnum opus, however it is a good bitesize chunk illustrating the problems the US (and the wider Western world) face in a time of unprecedented crisis not seen, in the slightest sense, since The Great Depression. It also includes some recommendations for any political elite who want to take note, although, as Ruppert shows quite clearly, the "perfect storm" of crises is playing right into their hands.
March 26, 2011
No more oil? A scary inevitability according to Author Ruppert. I gave him five stars for his timely research. Will it all come down by 2040—my 95th birthday! If you are younger his book should be a lesson in finding the sign posts along the journey of life. Does this road come to a dead end? Read on....
April 11, 2010
Scary. Just very scary.
June 29, 2010
Wanted to read this after seeing the documentary (which I highly recommend). Scary stuff.
July 30, 2011
Interesting and insightful, especially regarding oil.
September 16, 2010
Great ideas. Terrible writing.
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews