From the McFee Library...

I recently finished up a few books that I enjoyed for different reasons. First off was Rob Schultheis's "Fool's Gold:...." This book is of the Ed Abbey ilk, telling tales of Telluride and the Four Corners area from his arrival there in 1973. Crazed miners, drug trafficking and a still pristine landscape are all related in great detail. This is a quick and light read. As a Four Corners resident it was neat to read about the places I myself love. Ed Abbey comparison aside, Schultheis has his own, entertaining and meaningful style that's hard not to enjoy.




Next up was "Natural Capitalism: Creating the next Industrial Revolution". This book had many themes. Among them were: sustainable production, energy efficiency and above all, calling into question classic economic theory. In particular, how classic economics/accounting does not account for the side effects of removing a forest, destroying a watershed, exhausting a resource or polluting the air. It's an interesting theory - would we still call a coal fired power plant "n profitable" if we took into account the degradation in air quality and quantified that? Probably not. Also, why do we tax production and not waste?

This is not some hippie, enviro book. It takes a very scientific look at how we WASTE....and how we waste is not sustainable. What I liked most about this book was that it provided examples, however small, where progressive thinking has lead to efficiency and conservation without sacrifice. It's easy to point out the problems...as many books do. The author at least tries to illustrate real world solutions that may well work on a larger scale.