Lester Brown's Plan B. Begins Reaction Paper

Technology, with regards to both energy use and energy production, needs to be a key driver of this change. This is one area where private enterprise can take the lead. Brown notes that there is a significant amount of inertia at the government level, but private enterprise does not suffer that constraint. The development of new technologies must be guided in the direction of making changes in our energy usage patterns, to stop the flow of carbon into our atmosphere

There is a role for government policy, however. Brown points out those changes in technology, manufacturing processes and resource usage, and energy production, can all be driven by a combination of government action and private enterprise. Government makes rules that can spur enterprise in a specific direction. A ban on one substance causes enterprise to seek alternative technologies. Funding for infant industries and tax credits for research encourage specific forms of development.

Brown's idea about designing cities for people is one of the most critical factors in his argument. Drawing on the ideas of Jane Jacobs, he argues that cities should not be designed around automobile usage but around the needs of people. High density breeds efficiency. Understanding the ecology of cities and designing them around maximizing efficiency, minimizing pollution and minimizing waste is the path forward, and Brown is right to highlight this as critical to success.Cities need to find ways to communicate with each other about the best ideas to meet these challenges.

Brown has put together an excellent broad-based work that not only shows what needs to be done, but highlights that there are already people doing it. This latter idea is important, because it makes the challenges we face seem less daunting. Being able to meet these challenges means reducing the complexity of our lives and systems, so that each individual challenge is manageable. Our problems arose as the result of finding solutions to other problems -- we fly so that we can remain connected, we eat meat because it is more filling - but we can address the problems in the same way, by solving individual problems as we can find solutions for them. Eventually, and I think Brown is right about this, we will have a patchwork of different solutions that will form an entirely new way of living, which is sustainable, healthy and puts the earth on the road to recovery......