Review: Plan B 4.0 – how to save civilization

Plan B 4.0 by Lester Brown is just what I needed to read right now – everyone is talking about how our environment won’t survive if we continue with business as usual, but Brown is one of the few people talking about what we might do instead to create a sustainable future. He wants to cut carbon emissions by 80% by 2020, and he’s got a plan…

Brown is a respected, long-term member of the environmental movement, and president of the Earth Policy Institute in Washington DC, USA, which is a research institute. He’s got a plan for how the world can de-carbonise our energy system and transport system, reduce population, feed the world, reduce poverty and restore the Earth’s systems to a healthy state. It’s a tall order, but his plan relies only on existing technology and plans that have been tested on smaller scales around the world – no waiting for a magic pony here!

Plan B 4.0 (it started as just plain “Plan B”, but he updates it regularly to take new information into account) has nothing to do with what is politically possible. It’s about what we have the technology and the skills to do, and what the science says we must do if we want to survive.

• “The Challenges” is a summary of all the environmental problems the world is facing, along with all the social, economic and political impacts these have. Most writers put this kind of warning at the end of the book, and it was nice to get it over with at the beginning for a change, then move on to the solutions…
• “The Response” is a very long list of all the changes we can make to prevent CO2 emissions, fix our cities and our agriculture and our oceans and so many other things. It also features success stories where these technologies and techniques have already worked. I found these really emphasised that we actually have a chance at figuring out this mess, if we are clever enough and act quickly enough.
• “The Great Mobilization” is where Brown addresses how his plan could actually be put into place: what politicians will need to do. There’s also a lengthy notes section at the back, showing where you can find out more about the details he describes.

In case you were wondering, Brown doesn’t see an increase in nuclear power, and favours a carbon tax over cap and trade. I’m not sure I agree with all of his suggestions, but hey, he’s done the research and I haven’t! The middle section is very list-like, so it’s easier to read in short bursts.

Recommended?
Plan B 4.0 makes a great companion book to The Weather Makers (about the science of climate change) and Climate Code Red (about the impacts of climate change). It’s great for anyone looking for a realistic global plan for what could be done to avert this disaster, and fix a few other problems along the way for good measure.

If you’ve been keeping up with all the little plans for alternative technology and sustainable systems around the world, you might not see much new here. But most of us get stuck in our own little concerns, and if you’re in the mood for a broader perspective, Brown is what you need.

If you’re interested but on a tight budget, Brown has put up a free download of Plan B 4.0 on the Earth Policy Institute website. You can download the whole thing or just the bits you’re interested in, which is very generous indeed.