Summary: This page provides an introduction to Lester Brown, Plan B (all versions), prepared by Professor Wayne Hayes. This introduction intends to prompt readers as to what to look for in Brown and how this fits into the context of our course, ENST209, World Sustainability.
I have assembled some notes to guide your study and our discussion of Plan B. This page serves as an introduction to the book: Why Brown Plan B?
This is a timely and comprehensive overview, rich in fact and detail. Note the 72 pages of footnotes. The book is categoized as science/environment.
Brown is highly respected and has been doing this for a long time. View a recent video of Brown speaking.
The study, assembled by a team at Earth Policy Institute, is empirical but carries an urgent tone. (See History Channel video on dire implications of Peak Oil.)
The book is accessible, affordable, readable, and clearly aimed at a concerned USA audience.
Context and overview:
The study is global in scope, but stresses civilization, as in the subtitle: Mobilizing to Save Civilization. I prefer to speak of human habitation of the Earth (and your place as a temporary dweller on the planet), shedding the assumptions (literacy, urbanization, etc.) of a single presumed civilization. Pluralism and diversity, however, can be overlooked if a single overarching civilization is presumed.
A general theme that works is that of overshoot: the stress imposed by human habitation of the Earth exceeds the carrying capacity of the Earth. Another way to put it comes from the Brundtland Report: the load of the Worlds humans have constructed exceeds and diminishes the carrying capacity of the Earth. Brown amplifies this by contrasting natural tipping points versus political points. Note that Jim Hansen, the pre-eminent climate scientist, has soured on the Copenhagen Climate Conference and also on cap-and-trade, December, 2009. (See also Scientific American coverage of Copenhagen.)
Brown contrasts the eco-economy with what might be regarded as a virtual financial global economy. This policy-related point is essential: A centerpiece of Brown's Plan B policy prescription is a revenue-neutral carbon tax -- not cap-and-trade.
Plan B provides solid, empirical, timely policy analysis but totally evades discussion of feasibility and agency: Who does what? This question frames the last section of World Sustainability, which we call the enabling analysis.
Plan B is rich in detail but the interdependence of the Earth's systems creates the daunting complexity of the analysis. Please try to grasp the interconnections detailed in the book. The book can be overwhelming. Use the index. Grasp the challenge posed by the global crisis.
From here we will try to connect the global crisis as articulated by Brown to a policy prescription for World Sustainability. The pages under construction as of 12/6/2009 are:
Brown identifies four main goals:
Notice that these goals reference human well-being and the vitality of Nature. This intersects with the framework of World and Earth, originally defined in the Brundtland Commission report --- notice the title of the overview.
The sheer detail and daunting scope of Plan B presents a challenge in presentation. The load on the Earth comes from population and from economic growth, which originate somewhere and should be made explicit. These variables can be geographically and historically identified. The biomes, the natural systems of Earth, that suffer overshoot are extensive and ubiquitous, but should also be identified and examined. Brown, however, says it early: "There is no box." This means as well that there is no overall conceptual container by which to orderly arrange a way to digest and explain Brown. We will try to frame Brown here.
Brown raises a number of topics that run as themes through his book. You should have a grasp of each and understand how they interact. I have arranged them in two categories: as world, or human-induced demands on the Earth, and as ecosystems that provide the Earth with its carrying capacity to endure the load. The question posed within this framework are these:
The first two questions point to framing an agenda, where we should start. The last two questions refer to appropriate policy.
The list posed by Plan B include these artifacts, or Worlds:
The carrying capacity factors that are natural to the Earth include this list:
Finally, note good news cited by Brown regarding the human inhabitation of Earth. Lots of success stories and even progress is cited, but these cases and events may be engulfed by the global crisis. We don't know.