Hitting the Wall examines the combination of two intractable energy problems of our age: the
peaking of global oil production and the overloading of the atmosphere with greenhouse gases.
Both emerge from the overconsumption of fossil fuels and solving one problem helps solve the
other. The misinformation campaign about climate change is discussed as is the role that
noncarbon energy solutions can play. There are nine major components in the proposed noncarbon
strategy including energy efficiency and renewable energy. Economics and realistic restraints
are considered and the total carbon reduction by 2030 is evaluated and the results show that
this strategy will reduce the carbon emission in the United States to be on track to an 80%
reduction in 2050. The prospects for clean coal and acceptable nuclear are considered and
there is some hope that they would be used in an interim role. Although there are significant
technical challenges to assembling these new energy systems the primary difficulty lies in the
political arena. A multigenerational strategy is needed to guide our actions over the next
century. Garnering long-term multiadministration coherent policies to put the elements of any
proposed strategy in place is a relatively rare occurrence in the United States. More common
is the reversal of one policy by the next administration with counterproductive results. A
framework for politically stable action is developed using the framework of energy tribes where
all the disparate voices in the energy debate are included and considered in a messy process.
This book provides hope that our descendants in the next century will live in a world that
would be familiar to us. This can only be achieved if the United States plays an active
leadership role in maintaining climatic balance.Table of Contents: Introduction The End of
Cheap Oil Carbon - Too Much of a Good Thing Carbonless Energy Options Conventional Energy
Policy for Whom? Call to Arms References
