3 Jan 2006
Robert Hirsch Tells It Like It Is…
One of the leading figures in the peak oil community is **Robert Hirsch**. I have written about him previously at Transition Culture, his ‘Hirsch Report’ has been hailed by many as one of the most important pieces of research in this area. The report was asked to look at how far in advance it would take to prepare for the peak, rather than when the peak would be. The results shocked even Hirsch and his team. The scale and magnitude of the challenge they identified was such that Hirsch admits to feeling overwhelmed; it took a few months before he felt able to go out into the world and be constructive and positive about the challenge of oil peak. Hirsch has not given that many interviews (at least not many that I have come across..), so I was fascinated to see that David Room of **Global Public Media** has just posted an interview with Hirsch. It is fascinating, sobering and illuminating listening.
As you will have seen from my previous posting, someone I admire greatly is Michael Shuman of the 
If I might be so presumptous as to suggest a few things you might like to read in the New Year…. here are 10 books I am really enjoying that you might find useful if you are interested in designing solutions for energy descent. They are things that I have found to be useful recently, either in part or as a whole, and I hope they prove to be of use to you. They are in no particular order, and there are many others that could have gone in here instead. I am told making lists is a peculiarly nerdy male thing to do, as in Nick Hornby’s ‘High Fidelity’, but there you are. What to do. You might like to add below any others that you feel to be essential reads. Wishing you an abundant and peaceful New Year.
In case you missed it, this is really worth watching. Peak Oil on **Newsnight**, 40 of the programme’s 50 minutes dedicated to it. It only stayed on the BBC website for a day, but luckily, Global Public Media copied it and you can 
