Peak Oil: Out of Gas at Last?

Eight Energy Titles To Pique Patron Interest

The enduring prospect of sky-high fuel prices concentrates the collective mind wonderfully on energy issues, maybe even the large ones like resource depletion, climate change, and our own ravenous rates of consumption (of everything). The following recent and forthcoming titles reveal a wide range of responses to the energy crisis; most prescribe cures for our oil addiction, while a couple are purely descriptive of “peak oil,” the point at which oil production goes into a terminal decline, and attendant issues. Starred entries are highly recommended for all collections. [How libraries will play a role in this new post-peak oil world is outlined in Debra J. Slone’s “After Oil,” LJ 3/15/08, p. 29


Hakes, Jay. A Declaration of Energy Independence: How Freedom from Foreign Oil Can Improve National Security, Our Economy, and the Environment. Wiley. 2008. c.256p. bibliog. index. ISBN 978-0-470-26763-9. $27.95. SCI

This readable history of recent U.S. energy policy by a former Carter administration energy bureaucrat who now heads the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum is, not surprisingly, most laudatory when considering his former boss’s efforts in the energy portfolio. Looking back at the period from 1977 to 1982 (when oil imports dropped by half), Hakes notes the two- to six-year time lag it takes for federal legislation to manifest itself and offers this kernel to citizens: “Any politician who promises immediate results is probably going to make things worse.” He offers seven ways the nation can regain its energy independence, the most intriguing and refreshing of which is perhaps his call to make energy conservation a patriotic duty. Hakes’s insights into the politics of energy make the book especially relevant this voting season, and it would be a good addition to larger collections.

Library Journal