Lives Per Gallon: The True Cost of Our Oil Addiction
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Book Overview
How much would you pay for a gallon of gas? $2.50? $10.00? Would you pay with the health of your lungs or with years taken from your lifespan? The infamous "pain at the pump" runs much deeper than our wallets, argues Terry Tamminen, former Secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency and current Special Assistant to California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Petroleum may power our cars and heat our homes, but it also contributes to birth defects and disorders like asthma and emphysema, not to mention cancer. In Lives Per Gallon, Tamminen takes a hard look at these and other health, environmental, and national security costs hidden in every barrel of oil.While the petroleum industry is raking in huge profits, Tamminen shows, it is studiously avoiding measures that would lessen the hazards of its products. Using the successful lawsuits by state governments against big tobacco as a model, the author sets forth a bold strategy to hold oil and auto companies accountable and force industry reform. He also offers a blueprint for developing alternative energy sources based on California's real world experiences.Certain to be controversial, Lives Per Gallon is an unblinking assessment of the true price of petroleum and a prescription for change. The choice is clear: continuing paying with our health, or kick our addiction and evolve beyond an oil-dependent economy. How much would you pay for a gallon of gas? $2.50? $10.00? Would you pay with the health of your lungs or with years taken from your lifespan? The infamous "pain at the pump" runs much deeper than our wallets, argues Terry Tamminen, former Secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency and current Special Assistant to California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Petroleum may power our cars and heat our homes, but it also contributes to birth defects and disorders like asthma and emphysema, not to mention cancer. In Lives Per Gallon, Tamminen takes a hard look at these and other health, environmental, and national security costs hidden in every barrel of oil.While the petroleum industry is raking in huge profits, Tamminen shows, it is studiously avoiding measures that would lessen the hazards of its products. Using the successful lawsuits by state governments against big tobacco as a model, the author sets forth a bold strategy to hold oil and auto companies accountable and force industry reform. He also offers a blueprint for developing alternative energy sources based on California's real world experiences.Certain to be controversial, Lives Per Gallon is an unblinking assessment of the true price of petroleum and a prescription for change. The choice is clear: continuing paying with our health, or kick our addiction and evolve beyond an oil-dependent economy.
Format:Hardcover
Language:English
ISBN:1597261017
ISBN13:9781597261012
Release Date:October 2006
Publisher:Island Press
Length:262 Pages
Weight:1.11 lbs.
Dimensions:0.9" x 6.3" x 9.2"
Related Subjects
Business Business & Finance Business & Investing Economic Policy Economic Policy & Development Economics Engineering Environment Environmental Economics Environmental Policy Industries & Professions Natural Resources Nature & Ecology Oil & Energy Petroleum, Mining & Geological Political Science Politics & Government Politics & Social Sciences Popular Economics Public Policy Science & Math Social Sciences Sociology Technology TextbooksCustomer Reviews
5 ratings
If anything, puts the problem too mildly
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 18 years ago
Terry Tamminen points out the stupendous costs of America's oil addiction. I certainly recommend the book, if only as a starting point for discussion. I found the section on hydrogen particularly interesting. I had been under the impression that hydrogen was more of a boondoggle pushed by the oil and gas companies than a serious transportation technology. I can't say that I'm convinced that hydrogen will play the large role that Tamminen thinks it will, but maybe there's some value there. Tamminen misses entirely one of the largest contributors to the costs of our oil addiction: parking. Parking sounds harmless enough, but free and subsidized parking costs the U.S. economy hundreds of billions of dollars every year. Most U.S. localities have parking requirements that require businesses and residences to provide a certain number of parking spaces. Everybody pays for providing and maintaining these spaces, even people who don't own a car. The result is that enormous amounts of land and money are wasted on parking lots and parking structures. Free parking works like a fertility drug for cars. For a more thorough discussion of this issue, I would suggest pairing Tamminen's book with Donald Shoup's "The High Cost of Free Parking."
The Ugly Truth About Fossil Fuel and More
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 18 years ago
Terry Tamminen has put together a monumental expose' of the true cost of our fossil fuel addiction and the U.S auto industry collusion to mislead both consumers and government alike on the health hazards of fossil fuel exhaust- not much different than tobacco smoke and that industry's playing-down the health risks of their products. The history of oil use is well covered including wars and potential wars over it's control, government subsidies, fossil fuel contribution to global warming and the global crisis we face when the oil reserves run out. After reading about the multiple ways that fossil fuel consumption has polluted air, water and land, one is left with a feeling that the world oil supply will hopefully run out sooner than later. Tamminen paints a bleak picture of the corruption and pollution of fossil fuel use, but he also gives positive coverage of the emerging clean/green ZEV (zero emission vehicles) technology such as electric, hybrid and hydrogen fuel cell propulsion and electric generating systems coupled with solar, wind, and photovoltaic systems to replace the out-dated fossil fuel systems. Also covered are the many things individuals can do on their own to reduce their personal energy consumption footprint, i.e., use low-watt bulbs, drive a hybrid or electric car and boycott wasteful products- buy green. Collectively, these actions add up and make a huge difference in total energy consumption while sending a strong message to the merchants of toxic products that their products are no longer desired.
Lives Per Gallon....a Five Star Stunner
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 18 years ago
I just finished Lives Per Gallon and am both stunned and inspired. Not only does this book reveal the shocking horrors of our reliance on oil...but it made me want to do something about it. This is a page-turner that kept me riveted. A Must Read.
Lives Per Gallon
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 18 years ago
This book reads like a mystery novel but weaves together a compelling mountain of facts that illustrate what President Bush has referred to as America's "addiction to oil." Tamminen's book explores in depth the severity of the consequences of that addiction, from demonstrable public health impacts to dependence on regimes that don't like us. But more importantly, this book identifies a number of solutions to move us away from our dependence on oil. Too many well-written books do a thorough job of outlining the problem, but few authors take the time to discuss solutions. Reasonable people will disagree about what are the best solutions to our addiction, but Tamminen's book offers a menu of tools that can begin the discussion.
Hi. My name's John, and I'm addicted to oil.
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 18 years ago
If only there were a twelve step program for America's oil addiction. Of course, we'd all drive to meetings in our SUVs. This book is so much more than a chronicle of how the infernal combustion engine and the petroleum industry have made billions riding roughshod over the planet. It's a call to action. If you've ever done an intervention (or wanted to do one) for a friend who was hooked on something and killing himself/herself, then read this book and realize that your friend is the earth and everyone on it. Terry Tamminen's book makes us see that we're all caught in an oil spill.
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