Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization

Lester Brown has taken on the daunting task of examining in painstaking detail, the scope of the interconnected problems we face on this planet. The cascade of crises between global warming, water shortages, starvation, environmental refugees, species extinction, desertification, and failed states producing terrorism are all leading to catastrophe. Hard to put down, if for no other reason than it makes it impossible to sleep, the first half of the book is truly terrifying. But Brown takes equal pains to analyze and document the efforts that need to happen to turn this into a web of solutions equal to the task at hand. Some of these efforts are already happening, others are proposed, but all are achievable and for a pricetag that is less than half the U.S. military spending so far in Iraq. Lester Brown is stunning in his grasp of details, but what he doesn't address is the need for deep underlying change in the cultural values of how we live. His solutions are practical, achievable, and realistic, but not philosophical. They aim to mitigate the crisis and make civilization sustainable, but do not address the underlying break from Nature that has led to our domination and exploitation. But given the scope of Plan B, that would be a different book, and one could say he has accomplished quite enough in this impressive manifesto for our planet. (see Waking the Global Heart: Humanity's Rite of Passage from the Love of Power to the Power of Love One can see no reason whatsoever not to make Plan B the worldwide plan for the future. Everyone should read this book.

Two years ago Lester R. Brown was introduced to me by another who had noticed I had Al Gore's book, An Inconvenient Truth. The recommendation of Brown's book Plan B 2.0 Rescuing a Planet Under Stress and a Civilization in Trouble proved true. Brown could have won the Nobel Prize for his book and for his organization the Earth Policy Institute. However, a Nobel Prize to Brown would have passed under the media radar. Gore had reached the top of the best-sellers list. It was the beginning of a big year for Gore. With Gore as a winner, controversy ensued, bringing airplay week after week. Brown is yet the master. Brown advocates mobilization in his new book, a reflection on the scale of the challenge and the "wartime speed" of the response that is called for. Beyond mobilization, I find significant Brown's call for the creation of an honest market, one that tells the ecological truth. Writes Brown, "How will we respond to our children when they ask, 'How could you do this to us? How could you leave us facing such chaos?' These are questions we need to be thinking about now - because if we fail to act quickly enough, these are precisely the questions we will be asked." Brown goes on to note how the global economic accounting system leaves costs off the books which carries consequences. "If we can get the market to tell the truth, then we can avoid being blindsided by a faulty accounting system that leads to bankruptcy." Brown's discussion of the increasing number a failing states is also significant. Brown suggests a link between the degree of state failure and the destruction of environmental support systems. Spreading political instability across borders could disrupt global economic progress. The day calls for addressing the business of a sustainable plan - for mobilization. This is it.

This is the third iteration of the Plan B series. They just keep getting better. This book delivers beautifully in laying out the unprecedented challenges faced by humanity as we move into the 21st century. Plan B thoughtfully examines the critical global issues of our time: fresh water scarcity, soil depletion, deforestation; desertification; fisheries collapse; habitat destruction; species extinction; extreme weather; global warming, energy policy, and human population growth. Though the subject matter is sobering, it is presented in highly engaging and convincing fashion. Lester Brown and his support team show that we humans are our own worst enemy. But the book is hardly all gloom and doom. There is a decidedly wise and positive course offered in these pages. Plan B shows that we are capable of cleaning up the mess we have made of our planet. It includes a clear, reasonable, and immanently doable public policy blueprint that offers hope for an equitable, life affirming, and environmentally sustainable future for all life on Earth. Anyone interested in a single volume that will get them up to speed on the world's most pressing issues should look no farther. Plan B 3.0 by Lester Brown is as good as it gets.