Plan B 3.0 road map: Start here
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We are here
According to world-renowned economist Lester Brown, it's all possible. Not only is it possible, but to save civilization for future generations, it is imperative.
Image credit: NASA's Visible Earth series
Can you imagine it? In Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to save civilization, Brown hands us a road map to worldwide prosperity and sustainability.
Not only does he show us how worldwide prosperity is possible, he sets a budget for achieving it--a realistic budget to end global warming and poverty.
Did I mention Dr. Brown is a world-renowned economist? He knows his stuff. And he says this is doable.
That's the primary take-home message of Plan B 3.0. We can do this. To save ourselves, we must do it before 2020. That's just eight short years from now. If we start now, we can do it. Are you up for the journey?
Start here. Begin your trek to building a sustainable economy. You're not alone. Millions of people the world over are on similar paths. Join us.

All the problems we face can be dealt with using existing technologies. And almost everything we need to do to move the world economy back onto an environmentally sustainable path has already been done in one or more countries.
Lester R. Brown in
Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization
Lester R. Brown
Courtesy Earth Policy Institute
Keep our destination in mind
While you're reading this lens, take care not to get discouraged. Keep in mind our destination: We're building a new, sustainable economy. There is enough to go around. If we act now, we can assure there always will be
- Enough energy
- Enough security
- Enough land
- Enough food
- Enough resources
Decision time
First step: Understand the problem
We cannot fix what we cannot see
Why isn't our economy working?
AND WHY WON'T IT CARRY US TO A GRAND FUTURE?
Here's one example
IT HITS US IN THE POCKETBOOK EVERY TIME WE BUY GAS
Keeping America competitive requires affordable energy. And here we have a serious problem: America is addicted to oil, which is often imported from unstable parts of the world.
President George W. Bush State of the Union address 2006
So what? We can grow our fuel!
Fifty-one cents per gallon FREE
To corn ethanol producers and their suppliers
Cheaper for whom?
Who picks up the tab?
Corn for fuel is good business
Helps the economy
So corn for fuel instead of food is good for all of us, Right?
CORN IS MORE THAN KERNELS, SYRUP AND COBS
Corn is food
or is it?
Production will decline, and the prices for chicken, turkey, pork, milk, and eggs will rise. A number of Iowa's pork producers could go out of business in the next few years as they are forced to compete with ethanol plants for corn supplies.
How Biofuels Could Starve the poor
C. Ford Runge and Benjamin Senauer
Cropland for food dwindling
Here's a sound bite for you
The grain it takes to fill a 25-gallon tank with ethanol just once will feed one person for a whole year.
Lester R. Brown
Inside Greentech - Quote o' the week
Here it is again, from Runge and Senauer
What about that "One tank of gas = one full belly"
FOR A WHOLE YEAR
Plan A not working
Two things you can do right now
It's all up to us--you and me--and the choices we make
1st important contribution
Buy a re-usable water bottle and help slow global warming while saving hundreds of dollars/year on bottled water
Replace your bottled water with tap water
CARRY IT IN THE KLEEN KANTEEN
David Kiley in Business Week
Klean Kanteen 18 oz Steel Flat Cap Bottle
Amazon Price: $15.00 (as of 05/27/2012)![]()
List Price: $21.95
Used Price:
The Kleen Kanteen is lightweight, has a wider mouth for easier cleaning, is non-toxic, and totally eco-friendly. It comes in a variety of sizes, including a small one with a Sippy-cup top for your little ones.
2nd important contribution
Ask your congressperson to sit down and talk about mobilizing to save civilization now
Dr. Brown says ...
People often expect me to suggest lifestyle changes, such as recycling newspapers or changing light bulbs. These are essential, but they are not nearly enough. Restructuring the global economy means becoming politically active, working for the needed changes, as the grassroots campaign against coal-fired power plants is doing. Saving civilization is not a spectator sport."
- Lester R. Brown
Set up a community meeting with your congressional representative
Invite your friends and neighbors
Hand deliver the book to your elected officials in Washington, D.C.
Because we can't do it alone and they'll listen to us when we sit down face to face
Want to show your congressional delegation just how serious you are about global warming and ending poverty? Visit them in Washington. They pay attention to constituents who go out of their way to talk with them. 
Plan your trip to Washington here and get good deals from Orbitz.
Can we do it? Yes!
After the video, go to President-Elect Obama's website and tell him why you think America needs to ramp up a war-time mobilization to save our civilization.
There's more
Read the book to find out which country has taken over the US in consumption of all but one commodity, and learn what that commodity is. How long before we're second, or third, in consumption of all major commodities? What will that mean for our quality of life? For quality of life globally? How many cars, cell phones, I-pods, McDonalds and Walmarts can the world sustain?
Test your knowledge!
In his preface to Plan B 3.0, Brown states that China now uses more basic resources than the United States in all but one commodity. Yes, the US, with it's mere 3.2 million people, compared to China's 1.3 billion people, is still using more of one basic resource. Which is it? The answer in the upcoming lens on the global economy and our place in it.
Want the full Plan B story?
GET THE BOOK!
Buy it! If you can't buy it, check it from your local library. If they don't have it, ask them to secure it on an interlibrary loan. If you can't wait, read it online for free, and if you're so inclined, make a donation to the Earth Policy Institute to help defray the costs of hosting the book.Plan B 3.0: Rescuing a Planet Under Stress and a Civilization in Trouble by Lester R. Brown
Have you read it?
VOTE IF YOU'VE READ THE BOOK
Your vote here helps me track how many visitors have read the book. After you vote, make it count--hit the refresh button.
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Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization (Substantially Revised) by Lester R. Brown
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Learn more about Plan B 3.0 and Lester Brown
What are you doing to build a better future for our children and grandchildren?
CELEBRATE YOUR SUCCESSES HERE
We're all on this journey together. Share yours here.
Please, if you post a comment, make it count. Your opinion is important.
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michael_kapsner
Jun 19, 2011 @ 4:21 pm | delete
- Thanks for the lens. Have to say I have always been bothered buy the idea of burning food (ethanol). Seems to me that people are more important than getting 2 tons of steel down the road.
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Fusion_Economics
May 9, 2009 @ 7:56 pm | delete
- This is a great lens! You have put together a great collection of tips and information to help people. When you get a chance, I'd love it if you'd stop by my lens and say hello.
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saffiandemi Apr 14, 2008 @ 5:39 am | delete
- This is a very informative lens. I live in the UK and petrol prices (currently £1.08 a litre!!) is quite a concern. I also fill my bottles back up with tap water and have worried about hygiene but those bottles from amazon look great and I hope to find a similar alternative over in the UK. Great lens!
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Mar 17, 2008 @ 9:42 pm | delete
- This is such an important topic. I hope you get a lot of visitors who take the message to heart.
I re-use everything I can, combine all my errands into one trip, and turn off all electric devices when not in use. I teach my children to love and treasure the natural environment around them.
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Ethanol - Can it solve our energy needs?
Is it worth the cost?
- Corn Dog: The ethanol subsidy is worse than you can imagine
- By Robert Bryce - For the last generation, ethanol has been America's fuel of the future. But there has never been more hype about it than there is today
- Tariffs and Subsidies - The Literal Cost of High Fructose Corn Syrup
- by the Accidental Hedonist -- A good explanation of why high fructose corn syrup replaced sugar in most of the soft drinks and packaged foods we eat; also explains why ethanol costs all of more in taxes, rising food prices, and more
- Why Ethanol Production Will Drive World Food Prices Even Higher in 2008
- by Lester R. Brown -- We are witnessing the beginning of one of the great tragedies of history. The United States, in a misguided effort to reduce its oil insecurity by converting grain into fuel for cars, is generating global food insecurity on a scale never seen before
- Plan B - How to Stop Global Warming
- by Bryan Walsh -- It's called eco-anxiety - free-form worry triggered by concerns about the worsening fate of the planet - and if you suffer from it, you might want to give Lester Brown's new book, Plan B 3.0, a pass
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by Graceonline
This page is one of a series focusing on Lester Brown's book, Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization.
The purpose of these pages is to break Plan...
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