Summary
The Long Emergency: Surviving the Converging Catastrophes of the Twenty-first Century is a book by James Howard Kunstler (Grove/Atlantic, 2005) exploring the consequences of a world oil production peak, coinciding with the forces of climate change, resurgent diseases, water scarcity, global economic instability and warfare to cause major trouble for future generations.
(publ. Atlantic Monthly Press)
The book's principal theme explores the effects of a peak in oil extraction on American society as well as the rest of the world. In both this book and in his other writings, Kunstler argues that the economic upheavals caused by peak oil will force Americans to live in more localized, self-sufficient communities.
It was followed by two other books, Too Much Magic (2012) and Living in the Long Emergency (2020).
Synopsis edit
Kunstler's premise is that "cheap, plentiful" and easy-to-find oil is the foundation of industrial society and the pervasiveness of its effects is not widely appreciated. Through the 21st century, hydrocarbons like oil and natural gas will become increasingly difficult to obtain, becoming increasingly expensive and ultimately unavailable. Scarcity of petroleum will cause significant problems for transportation and generation of electrical power. In addition, shipping of food and manufactured items will become increasingly expensive, ultimately prohibitively so. Also, natural gas is vitally important to food production as it is the raw material for much of commercial crop fertilizers. In the industrialized West, most food production and manufacturing is performed far from, and generally abstracted away from the consumer.
The author further argues that alternative sources of energy will be insufficient. As petroleum sources become scarce, environmentally harmful or risky technologies such as coal and nuclear will become necessary but not sufficient for our energy needs. Hydroelectric, solar, and wind power, even in combination with coal and nuclear, will also be far from sufficient. Kunstler does not consider hydrogen to be a true energy source since one cannot drill into the earth and obtain hydrogen. Hydrogen must be extracted from other energy sources, such as natural gas or using electricity at a total net loss of energy.
Kunstler states that, as energy becomes scarce, transportation will become difficult or impossible, causing food and other necessary commodities to become unavailable in many communities. It will be necessary for local communities to become self-sufficient for food production, but many communities will be unable to do so, particularly large cities. The result will be mass starvation, disease, and civil unrest. Kunstler suggests that governments will be incapable of managing these problems. This period of scarcity and collapse will possibly last for a long time, hence the "long" emergency of the book's title.
Kunstler, a long-time critic of suburban design, advises people should begin learning to grow food.
Reception edit
In his review for the Daily Camera, Jim Charlier praised the book as a powerful and urgent contribution to doomsday literature, challenging conventional thinking with its proposition of temporary human ascendancy and recommending it as essential reading.
See also edit
Further reading edit
- Akers, Keith (2 February 2006). "Peak Oil and the Coming Long Emergency". compassionatespirit.com. Archived from the original on 2 February 2006. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
- Alexander, David. "Review of The Long Emergency". Living in Peace on Our Planet. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
- Alter, Lloyd (15 May 2005). "The Long Emergency: a Long Review". TreeHugger. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
- Barrett, Brendan F. D. (3 December 2010). "Long Emergency on Planet Eaarth". Our World. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
- December, John (16 May 2005). "Book Notes: The Long Emergency: Surviving the End of the Oil Age, Climate Change, and Other Converging Catastrophes of the Twenty-first Century by James Howard Kunstler". December Communications, Inc. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
- Del Mastro, Addison (21 November 2017). "An Interview With James Howard Kunstler". The American Conservative. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
- Goodman, Leslee (October 2009). "The Decline And Fall Of The Suburban Empire". The Sun Magazine. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
- Hartman, Jason (15 November 2013). "HS 186 - The Long Emergency with James Howard Kunstler". the Holistic Survival Show. Hartman Media. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
- Howells, Ken (27 April 2007). "The Long Emergency". Everything2.com. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
- Kaminski, Frank (9 March 2015). "A review of James Kunstler's The Long Emergency 10 years later". Resilience. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
- Krumpe, Ed (18 November 2013). "The Long Emergency by James Howard Kunstler" (PDF).
- Kunstler, James Howard. How Do You Like the Long Emergency So Far?. TEDxAlbany 2010. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21.
- Kunstler, James Howard (April 7, 2005). "The End Of Oil". Rolling Stone. No. 971.
- Kunstler, James Howard (1 January 2006). "The Long Emergency". Orion Magazine. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
- Lacey, Josh (1 September 2005). "Review: The Long Emergency, The Monster at Our Door and A Crack in the Edge of the World". the Guardian. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
- Lenoir, Bill (15 June 2010). "TEotWaWKI Book Review: The Long Emergency". TEotWaWKI Diary: End of the World Survival, with or without Zombies. Centreville, VA. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
- Little, Amanda (25 May 2005). "An interview with doomsaying author James Howard Kunstler". Grist. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
- Lynn, R. R. (2009). It's Not the End of the World, but You Can See It from There: Legal Education in The Long Emergency. U. Tol. L. Rev., 40, 377. https://www.utoledo.edu/law/studentlife/lawreview/pdf/v40n2/Lynn_RevFinal.pdf
- McGreal, Ryan (16 May 2005). "The Long Emergency". Raise the Hammer. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
- McNamee, Gregory (March 15, 2005). "The Long Emergency". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
- O'Reilly, Tim (16 July 2005). "The Long Emergency". O'Reilly Radar. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
- Welzer, Steve (2006). "Facing Up to What Confronts Us". Green Horizon Magazine.
- Wooldridge, Frosty (6 November 2008). "First Change - The Long Emergency, Part 1". News With Views – Where Reality Shatters Illusion. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
- Wooldridge, Frosty (10 November 2008). "First Change - The Long Emergency, Part 2". News With Views – Where Reality Shatters Illusion. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
- "The Long Emergency: Surviving the Converging Catastrophes of the 21st Century" by James Howard Kunstler. Noted Author's Books of Our Time. Massachusetts School of Law. May 6, 2012. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21.
External links edit
- Official website
- Full text PDF
- Google Books
- Excerpt published in Rolling Stone
- Summary from United for Peace of Pierce County
