Possible Futures: Individual & Community Transition
These resources focus on "do-it-yourself" and community-based actions. Most likely, this is where the real transition will occur—unless you really expect government, corporations, and the FIRE sector to actually act wisely and sustainably (not to mention "on your behalf").
Prosperity Without Growth (2009): Thorough (134-page PDF), objective analysis of our predicament. Conclusion: "growth" paradigm must be abandoned for "prosperity." [I am still making my way through this document.]
Electrifying the Railroads: Alan Drake has fairly rigorously calculated the costs and benefits of electrifying U.S. railroads and drastically reducing transportation of goods by truck. Benefits far outweigh the costs! First U of an intended series of articles entitled "A Citizen's Guide to an Oil-Free Economy." Recommended.
Wilberforce Award 2010: $1 million from Dick Smith to a sub-30 individual who best contributes to humans understanding that Endless Growth Is Not Sustainable.
The Complexity Myth effectively punctures the complex-is-better BS we've been fed, and explains why simplicity is such a good idea (Keith Farnish, Dec 2009). Recommended.
Warren Johnson: Muddling Toward Frugality (1978): Though >30 years old, this book still belongs here: most of it still (sad to say) applies to the modern predicament. Johnson has a guardedly hopeful outlook, and even 30 years of negligible progress hasn't altered his view that a slower, sustainable, more frugal society can be attained without high-level planning as individuals and small groups learn by trial-and-error (muddling).
Lessons from Lifestyle Change Leaders: Results from a survey of >2000 Americans who have undertake various lifestyle changes in the face of climate change and energy issues.
The Basics of Resilience: Chris Martenson (Crash Course) outlines steps to consider at a personal and family level for responding to our predicament. See also links to additional posts at the end of this one.
Pat Murphy: Plan C: Community Survival Techniques (2008): Communities, not individuals, are the key to navigating the transition with dignity. Good book, but his blunt excoriation of many aspects of modern American lifestyles and values may alienate mainstream readers who aren't at least partly familiar with the story. So don't start with this book!
Cuba: The Power of Community (DVD) Engaging 55-min documentary about Cuba's predicament after the collapse of the USSR: almost overnight, Peak Oil was attained. No doubt some of the rough edges of life in Cuba were smoothed for the movie, but that doesn't undermine the useful messages about thriving in the transition (community-oriented focus, urban gardening, elimination of fertilizers and chemical pesticides, etc.).
Speaking to the nearly converted: Thoughtful post and discussion (TOD, June 2009) about discussing PO and other changes with people who have already thought a bit about them.
Sharon Astyk: Depletion and Abundance (2008): Book starts with a brief overview of Peak Oil and Climate Change, but focus is on the present and on domestic issues, with very personal takes on child rearing, home schooling, marriage, intergenerational households, etc. She discusses realistic ways that a family can conserve, reduce, and re-use while strengthening health, family, and community, and highlights the importance of developing community links.
Down the Rabbit Hole: Philosophical post and discussion about energy, investments, and the future (The Oil Drum, Feb 2009).
Overcoming Systemic Roadblocks to Sustainability, Beddoe et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2009): Discusses the type and implementation of a cultural transition needed for sustainable, high-quality human life on Earth. No discussion of population or overshoot.
Jack Spigarelli: Crisis Preparedness Handbook (2002): Useful anywhere long-term breakdowns in services and stability are possible. That certainly includes here (Earthquake Country), and might soon apply to anyone anywhere.
Matthew Stein, When Technology Fails, rev. (2008): "A manual for self-reliance, sustainability, and surviving the Long Emergency:" water, food, shelter, first aid, sanitation, heat, power, clothing, metal-working, and a lot more.
Scott Kellogg & Stacy Pettigrew, Toolbox for Sustainable City Living (2008). DIY guide with coverage of food, water, waste, energy, and bioremediation. Skips some standard stufff covered in other guides, and covers many less common but still useful topics (e.g., not veggie gardening, but chickens, muschrooms, and insects). Urban focus throughout.