Saving the Planet With Plan B 2.0. Interesting interview over at Wired with Lester Brown of the Earth Policy Institute talking about his latest book Plan B 2.0. The interview focuses on Brown pitching environmentalism through economics such as how we can evaluate the “true cost” of oil. He also talks about how to make people realize those costs through restructuring our taxes (ie: pay less income tax, pay more for gas) which is something Sweden is doing as we speak. Some choice quotes from the interview:
Socialism collapsed because it did not allow the market to tell the economic truth. Capitalism may collapse because it does not allow the market to tell the ecological truth.
Roosevelt banned the sale of private automobiles in the United States. For nearly three years. That was his response to Pearl Harbor, mobilizing an enormous arms-production effort. But Bush’s response to 9/11 was, “Go shopping.”
If you want to learn more on the topic, check out Brown’s book (which is available for free online). I’d also recommend The End of Oil; although it sometimes struck me as poorly organized and did not qualify certain claims as much as I would prefer, it was a thorough overview of the world’s energy economy.