What's ahead?

These unsettled times have led to a boom in predictions. The economy is in upheaval, energy prices are unstable, the climate is under stress and political forces are being realigned. Amid the change and uncertainty, people are looking for a clear way forward.

Publishers have recognized the opportunity: There are several new books this spring that peer into the future, offering both policy prescriptions and bold predictions.

Political scientist Thomas Homer-Dixon is the editor of Carbon Shift, a collection of essays by Canadian academics and journalists, including The Gazette’s William Marsden, that address two closely related questions: How do we assure future energy security and how do we act on climate change?

It’s a predicament for policy-makers. If the world is running out of conventional oil, as some experts warn, many of the hydrocarbon alternatives like coal and heavy oil would add significantly to greenhouse gas emissions.

Meeting the world’s insatiable demand for energy while reducing emissions at the same time seems like an intractable problem. The essayists in Carbon Shift can’t agree on what the priorities should be – something the reader is likely to find frustrating.

Montreal Gazette