The first thing I noticed when reading Beyond Fossil Fools is way Mr Shuster comes across: he writes as though he's in the room talking to you, and guiding you through the points he makes very clearly. Everything makes sense.
Beyond Fossil Fuels actually made me completely rethink the way I've been approaching this whole topic. I originally focussed on energy in terms of climate change, but then I read the opening of the chapter which focusses on climate change, which reads "Global Warming - The Great Distraction". It completely blew me away, and at first I was doubtful.
As I read on though, I began to understand the point Mr Shuster was making, and this paradigm shift caused me to reevaluate the nature of this site. That's no small impact on me! "Energy is destined to be the single most important issue of this century.", as he puts it.
The main themes of the book are renewable energy: which are likely to work and which will just supplement our use; fossil fuels: the problems they cause that aren't even related to global warming; nuclear power: how this is the only source of energy which will get us through an energy crisis and other social problems (drought and famine, and the requirements of a growing population), as well as a plan with timeline to get us off fossil fuels before we suffer any terribly adverse effects - but we have to act now.
Who is Joe Shuster?
I'll let him explain, actually. This is taken from the preface...
Who am I and why have I written this book?
I am a successful chemical engineer, entrepreneur, and businessman, and now I see dusk settling on my career and life. I want my children and grandchildren, as well as billions of others who live on this planet, to look into a future as bright and bountiful as the future that beckoned me for most of my life.
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