– Customer review on 26/08/2011

I have been following Lester Brown's work ever since he founded Worldwatch Institute in the early 1980's. He has since left Worldwatch and now leads the Earth Policy Institute. I urge all readers to go their web site while reading this book. You will get more related information.

This book is one of the best summaries of the current global environment crisis. Check out what the book says about the global water crisis and the global crisis of fisheries. In reading this book, it is hard not to get angry with our world's leaders, particularly those in the rich nations. There are so many solutions to global problems that have been known for years such as drip irrigation but these are not being adopted on anywhere near the scale that is needed.

The best part of the book is Chapter 13, "Saving Civilization". If you have a limited amount of time read this. This details solutions. Brown even has a global environmental reform budget, $110 billion a year, a tiny sum in global standards that could do so much for environment but it's not being done.

My problems with the book rest with overly optimistic predictions. According to most respected predictions the share of coal will rise in the next ten years in the world energy production. Wind and solar power are still a tiny fraction of world energy production. However, in spite of these faults this book is very worthwhile.

Brown is right on target with his view that America needs nothing less than a national mobilization similar to what we did in World War II.

If you go to my profile, I have a Listmania list of books related to Future Watch Studies.