First published 2009
Christopher Steiner explores what happens when oil prices climb relentlessly upward. The engineer turned journalist traces how expensive gas transforms American life in unexpected ways. Suburban homeowners discover their properties become worthless as commuting costs soar. Workers embrace telecommuting to avoid travel expenses. Trains replace airplanes as flying becomes unaffordable. Families abandon northern states because heating bills grow prohibitive. Cheap plastic goods disappear from stores as production costs spike. Steiner reveals how these changes trigger innovation and technological breakthroughs. The domino effect restructures society completely, but the transformation brings surprising benefits alongside disruption. What begins as economic pressure becomes an engine for progress and renewal.
Genres: science, business, economics, environment, non-fiction, 21st-century
Vibes: thought-provoking
Tropes: speculative-fiction
288 pages · Hardcover · Grand Central Publishing