Infinity's Rainbow: The Politics of Energy, Climate, and Globalization Book

Ready for a dramatic lifestyle change? This book outlines the dire climatological and economic effects that are sure to ensue if mankind continues to pollute and to deplete the earth's bounteous resources at an accelerating pace. The author presents evidence showing that we are not only using up fuel sources and clean air and water, but provoking a sea change in the planet's ecology. He draws a dire conclusion about the consequences for everything from food supply to global political stability. He argues that the failure of the US and other nations' political systems to deal with these issues has driven the planet's ecology to the brink of collapse. In clear, non-technical language, the book provides an integrated assessment of current problems involving climate, ecology, energy, politics and economics. Systems theory is used to explain these linkages and the causes and consequences of human actions upon them. In addition, the author gives a detailed, clear analysis of how humans process information in order to learn to deal with the world-and in particular how to deal with crisis situations. The book supplies the cold hard facts (including charts and statistics) to back up the author's argument, describes how the impending crises have arisen from mankind's values and actions, and serves as a call to action for radical change to set civilization on a more promising path to long-term survival. The author places particular emphasis upon the role of multinational corporations in causing hydrocarbon resource depletion and global warming, and in blocking effective political responses to these challenges. The legal doctrine of corporate personhood, which allows these artificial "persons" tocapture control over human political systems, is analyzed. He further observes that corporatism could not have gained so much political control without the support of the public, especially the religious right, and Dispensationalists in particular who believe that we have entered into the final period of history during which the Bible's prophecies will be carried out-literally. The sooner we see the destruction of our earthly paradise, the sooner they hope to get to heaven. Such beliefs are neatly exploited by those who have a more venal interest in promoting slash-and-burn technologies. An insightful call to arms about our precarious 21st century. That this is the crucial century few can now doubt, and Byron sees this well. - Gregory Benford, author of DEEP TIME Mike Byron holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of California, Irvine. He teaches all aspects of Political Science and Political Economy in local colleges in the San Diego area. He has published a number of peer-reviewed professional papers, and has presented many papers at international conferences. Dr. Byron has also written numerous newspaper opinion pieces and he is a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Sociocybernetics. He was the Democratic Party's candidate for United States Congress in California's 49th Congressional District in 2004.