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From Publishers Weekly:

Supplies of the resource may already have entered a period of rapid decline, with Saudi Arabia, long the world's largest oil producer, possibly passing the peak point of production just as demand from China surges. Maass exposes the staggering destruction oil has wrought in countries less well-known as energy suppliers. The author recounts how the greed of Western oil companies, governments and consumers have propped up such vicious and corrupt dictatorships as that in Equatorial Guinea, where flights run nonstop from the destitute capital to Texas. The author's Toxic Tour of Ecuador uncovers more cause for concern, like the fact that more oil has been spilled into that country's rain forests and stretch of Amazon than were spilled by the Exxon Valdez in Alaska. Reported from countries ranging from Russia to Nigeria, Maass's heartfelt and beautifully crafted book reveals how one of oil's darkly magical properties is that it erases inconvenient memories. (Sept. 23)

*****

"Question: What do you see as the most necessary change that needs to be made to begin to curtail the strife that is associated with oil production?

Peter Maass: We need to curtail our appetite for oil. We already know that the burning of fossil fuels harms the atmosphere. We need to understand--and I hope my book provides some help on this--that our dependence on oil has warped countries that provide us with the substance. If we become less reliant on oil--which means becoming more conservation-minded and efficient, as well as developing renewable energy on a broader scale than is already underway--we will not feel a need to go to war for oil’s sake, or to support a dictator for oil’s sake. And if prices go down because the stuff is no longer so valuable to its consumers, perhaps the countries that have been harmed by oil will begin to recover. For all of us, consumers and suppliers, it will be a long and painful process. But it can be done."

*****

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