E-Book Overview
In their provocative and original book, the authors argue that energy can become a tool for environmental protection, that energy and environment are not by definition in conflict with each other and that by pooling energy production and environmental protection ideas energy can be part of a solution rather than the problem. This book is firmly grounded in reality (given the demands of China, India and other developing economies) and makes specific proposals: a radical rethinking on energy investment strategies; massive incentives to develop alternative fuel technologies; a ground-breaking public awareness strategy to redirect consumers and policy-makers to embrace fundamental (though essentially painless) change in consumption patterns. The solutions that Howell and Nakhle offer are unapologetically offer short term. This is because they view the problems of climate security as short term. But their solutions have long term consequences. Their important and novel approach makes this book essential reading for an understanding of today's bewildering environmental debates.
E-Book Content
OUT OF THE ENERGY LABYRINTH
“A terrific book, not least because of its topicality. I am fed up with reading about climate change with only pious references to what might be done about it. Here is a practical politician grappling with that question in some detail.” – Simon Jenkins, journalist and author
“A serious and thoughtful attempt to grapple with the complexities of the energy challenge and foreign policy. The authors carefully distinguish between the immediacy of the energy security problem and the longer term issue of climate change. They are prepared to take clear stands on controversial issues, such as ‘peak oil’ and the science of climate change, not to mention American foreign policy. They are also remarkably direct regarding Europe’s energy vulnerabilities but appropriately dismissive of the pursuit of ‘energy independence’.” – James R. Schlesinger, former US Secretary of Defense and Energy Secretary and now head of a White House task force on energy policy
OUT OF THE ENERGY LABYRINTH Uniting Energy and the Environment to Avert Catastrophe
As power prices gyrate, energy uncertainties mount, global warming dangers increase and the oil-rich Middle East sinks into deeper chaos – a guide to the maze of myths, illusions, fears, hopes, personalities, events and opportunities which shape the twinned debates on energy security and climate security.
By
David Howell and Carole Nakhle
Reprinted in 2008 by I.B.Tauris & Co Ltd 6 Salem Road, London W2 4BU 175 Fifth Avenue, New York NY 10010 www.ibtauris.com In the United States of America and Canada distributed by Palgrave Macmillan a division of St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York NY 10010 First published in 2007 by I.B.Tauris & Co Ltd Copyright © 2007 David Howell and Carole Nakhle The right of David Howell and Carole Nakhle to be identified as the authors of this work has been asserted by the author in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patent Act 1988. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or any part thereof, may not be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. ISBN: 978 1 84511 538 8 A full CIP record for this book is available from the British Library A full CIP record is available from the Library of Congress Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: available Designed and Typeset by 4word Ltd, Bristol, UK Printed and bound by TJ International Ltd, Padstow, Cornwall, UK
CONTENTS
List of Illustrations List of Maps Acknowledgements Introduction
viii x xi xiv
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