The book’s subtitle - “How to Survive and Thrive in the Sustainable Economy” makes, what the author calls The Great Leap Sideways, a bit scary.
To the contrary, Turner shows us that the leap to a sustainable economy is well underway, we just can’t really see it. Part of the reason is that things are still very much in the grass-roots phase, but those roots have spread everywhere.
Our entire way of life, and when I say "our" I mean the entire planet, is based on the gift of stored energy that are fossils fuels. These fuels power, transport, light and heat our entire lives. Without it we would be in caves.
But we’ve reached the limits of what fossil fluels can do for us. Yes, climate change. Yes peak oil. Yes pollution. Believe them or don’t - it really does not matter. Things will change because they must.
If you find all of the news stories about the end of life as we know it keeps you up at night, Turner will help to ease your fears. He gives many examples, primarily Denmark and Germany, of how our way of life can not only continue but expand in harmony with nature.
And if you think about it, the opportunities to make money and change the world are nearly limitless. All we have to do is reinvent everything. The internet did that to communications and knowledge, changing the energy structure will be profoundly more lucrative and it will guarantee humanity’s survival.
So, if you are a climate change denier, believe that alternative forms of energy will wreck our economy or that there is no way it can take over from fossil fuels, don’t bother reading this.
My belief is that it will happen regardless. The pure economics of maintaining the status quo will become too expensive anyway.
This book is brilliant and inspirational.
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| Chris Turner |
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