Powerdown: Options and Actions For a Post-Carbon World

By Richard Heinberg, 2004

A short pithy book, updating his previous The Party's Over: War, Oil and the Fate of Industrial Societies. The picture looks even more grim as he describes what will be our future and all the reasons why we're not going to be saved by some miracle of technology or market economics. He also makes it the reader's responsibility to prepare for this future in his chapter "Building Lifeboats: The Path of Community, Solidarity and Preservation".

An easy 200 page read, but the Bigger Brain did not want this responsibility. After finishing this book BB wanted to do something absorbing and cleansing like sifting compost to escape from this burden. This is a gloves-off, hope-stripping narrative that clearly states the prognosis and the way out. The Bigger Brain hungers for the truth and thrives on meaty topics, but doesn't feel prepared for the effort it will take to make a bid for survival.