Gusher of Lies: The Dangerous Delusions of "Energy Independence" » (Bargain)

Robert Bryce is one of America's foremost energy journalists. He is currently the managing editor of Energy Tribune and a contributing writer for the Texas Observer. The author of Pipe Dreams: Greed, Ego, and the Death of Enron and Cronies: Oil, the Bushes, and the Rise of Texas, America's Superstate, he lives in Austin with his wife, Lorin, their three children, and a hyperactive bird dog named Biscuit.

A surprising, irreverent, and scrupulously reported deconstruction of today's fashions in energy policy

New York Post

Bryce does a fantastic job of helping people understand the sheer magnitude of energy flows that would have to be replaced to attain energy independence, and conclusively makes his case that pursuing energy interdependence is a superior objective.

Author's Note     ix
Introduction: The Persistent Delusion     1
Why We Think We Want Energy Independence
Imports Are Us     15
The Emotional Appeal of Energy Independence     19
The False Promises of Energy Independence     47
From Dominance to Dependence: American Energy History, Rhetoric, and the New Realities
The Global Energy Power Shift     85
1972: Texas Taps Out     89
1973: The Embargo, Militarism, and Rhetoric     93
September 15, 2004: The Non-OPEC Peak Meets Surging Demand     107
September 27, 2004: The Neocon Crusade Begins     115
The Impossibility of Independence
Skepticism and Thermodynamics     125
The Best Buy Effect     129
More Efficiency, More Fuel     137
The Ethanol Scam     145
Sidebar: The Ethanol Timeline     197
Running Out of (Natural) Gas     199
Nuclear Power: Megawatts from Foreign Uranium     203
The "Opiates of Energy Policy": Coal-to-Liquids and Imported Coal     211
Solar: The 1 Percent Solution     217
Hot Air     223
Sidebar: Thomas Friedman's Maginot Line     231
The World of Interdependence
The View from Jubail     237
The Rise of Dubaiand the "Shift in Gravity"     243
Isolate Iran? Don't Count On It     247
A Few Suggestions     253
Sidebar: What about Fuel Taxes and Carbon Taxes?     259
Conclusion     287
U.S. Imports of Strategic Mineral Commodities, Their Uses, and Key Suppliers     293
The Set America Free Manifesto, Released on September 27, 2004, at the National Press Club, Washington, D.C.     299
A Survey of Fuel Sources: A Comparison of Their Land Use Requirements, Water Use, Energy Ratios, and CO[subscript 2] Emissions     302
Notes     305
Bibliography     357
Index     361