ABSTRACT
We can now see clearly the growing scale of the devastation wrought on our ecosystems, societies and economies by climate change. Ours is a world in which more people 1 consume more resources, 2 pollute more and are increasingly addicted to the rapidly vanishing fossil fuel resource. Oil and gas are vital to the way we generate energy, grow, fertilize and refine food, make materials, move goods and people, keep ourselves warm or cool and do most of the work of our increasingly unequal and energy-hungry societies. As oil prices soared towards $150 a barrel in July 2008 food and energy costs rocketed and house prices collapsed. We are witnessing the beginning of the decline and fall of the Oil Empire, a transnational phenomenon that has placed the likes of you and me on the pinnacle of Maslow’s triangle (Figure 16.1) and will see us, eventually, fall from it. This final chapter is about how, in the light of all that has been covered in this book, we might start re-engineering our aspirations, infrastructures and lifestyles for a softer landing in a hotter, post-fossil world. Maslow's triangle. https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780080961279/21f0f057-f8a3-491c-b3cf-9162df4b5fa7/content/fig117_OC.jpg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/>
