Lifeblood: Oil, Freedom, and the Forces of Capital (A Quadrant Book)

Writing from the perspective of a cultural geographer, Professor Huber describes the links between petroleum and Americans' "spatial experience of freedom" as it developed under US capitalism. Beginning his overview in the 1920s, I was surprised that he makes no mention of our interstate highway system, but Huber's focus is theoretically deeper than my simple-minded expectation. He is not just recounting a history of the technology but is especially concerned with the interdependence of oil and neoliberalism, and with the "privatized geography of wealth accumulation centered on the home and automobile." He concludes that the biggest barrier to energy change is not technology but the culture and politics that have been produced through energy consumption. Readers with similar interests will certainly want this book.