Peak Oil, Economic Growth, and Wildlife Conservation

About this book

This book focuses on one of the most important issues affecting humankind in this century – Peak Oil or the declining availability of abundant, cheap energy – and its effects on our industrialized economy and wildlife conservation. Energy will be one of the defining issues of the 21st Century directly affecting wildlife conservation wherever energy extraction is a primary economic activity and indirectly through deepening economic recessions.

Since cheap, abundant energy has been at the core of our industrial society, and has resulted in the technological advancements we enjoy today, the peak in world oil extraction would potentially have major impacts on civilization unless we prepare well in advance. One potential economic solution covered in Peak Oil, Economic Growth, and Wildlife Conservation would be a Steady State Economy with a stable population and per capita consumption, particularly in such industrialized countries as the United States. Furthermore, the lack of cheap, abundant energy directly and indirectly affects conservation efforts by professional societies and federal and state agencies, and NGOs concerned with wildlife issues. We need to recognize these potential problems and prepare, as much as possible, for the consequences stemming from them.

Contents

SECTION I: THE ENERGY DILEMMA
Chapter 1. Peaking of World Oil Production
Chapter 2. Energy Return on Investment (EROI), Liquid Fuel Production, and Consequences for Wildlife
Chapter 3. Implications for the Economy and Environment of Alternatives to Fossil-Fuel Energy

SECTION II: ECONOMIC CONSIDERATIONS
Chapter 4. An Institutionalist Perspective on the Economy and Price of Oil
Chapter 5. The Conflict between Economic Growth and Wildlife Conservation
Chapter 6. The Steady State Economy as the Sustainable Alternative to Economic Growth

SECTION III: FUNDAMENTAL CONFLICTS
Chapter 7. Economic Growth and Wildlife Conservation in the North Pacific Rim, highlighting Alaska and the Russian Far East
Chapter 8. Oil and Gas Development, the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, and Our Wildlife Heritage
Chapter 9. Peak Oil and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
Chapter 10. Impacts of Offshore Oil and Gas Development on Marine Wildlife Resources
Chapter 11. Alberta Oil Sands Development and Risk Management of Canadian Boreal Ecosystems
Chapter 12. Environmental and Wildlife Impacts of Oil Shale Production in the Western United States

SECTION IV. WILDLIFE CONSERVATION AND FUTURE
Chapter 13. Future Trends in Wildlife Conservation and Management Programs
Chapter 14. Response of Professional Societies and Conservation Organizations to Peak Oil and Economic Growth
Chapter 15. Envisioning an Alternative Future

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