Daniel Lerch Post Carbon Institute

Daniel Lerch

Publications Director

Daniel Lerch is Publications Director of Post Carbon Institute, serving as lead editor and manager of the Institute’s books and reports on energy resource constraints and community resilience. He is also the author of Post Carbon Cities (2007), the first major local government guidebook on the end of cheap oil, and founding chair of the Sustainable Communities Division of the American Planning Association.

Daniel has presented to professional, government, and public audiences across the United States and abroad, and has been interviewed for numerous media outlets including The New York Times and Business Week. He has a Master of Urban Studies from Portland State University in Oregon, and has worked with urban planning and sustainability issues for over fifteen years in the public, private and non-profit sectors.

Articles / Blogs

America’s Feel-Good Oil Bonanza
Daniel Lerch
January 20, 2014
00100Think back to early 2004. Oil cost around $40 per barrel1—on the high side compared to the previous few decades but not much out of the ordinary. Gasoline still cost under $2.00 a gallon for most of the country....

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Resilient against what?
Daniel Lerch
October 16, 2013
00000 In this era of climate change, we love talking about “resilience”: New Orleans rebounding from Hurricane Katrina in 2005; Central Europe braving freezing, then flooding, and then extreme heat in 2010; Australia making it through 17 years of...

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Reports

Resilient Against What?
Daniel Lerch
October 16, 2013
This survey found that leading US municipalities already have a more sophisticated understanding of resilience, involving economic, energy, and social challenges—and they're putting it into action through policies, regulations, and programs.

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Making Sense of Peak Oil and Energy Uncertainty
Daniel Lerch
June 28, 2011
00000Missing Attachment There are currently no viable substitutes for oil at current rates of consumption. Although alternatives to oil do exist for many of its uses, they are generally vastly inferior to oil in their energy content and in...

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Books

The Post Carbon Reader: Managing the 21st Century’s Sustainability Crises
John Kaufmann, Daniel Lerch, Bill Sheehan, Anthony Perl, William Rees, Tom Whipple, Stephanie Mills, Peter Whybrow, Michael Shuman, David Orr, Cindy Parker, Chris Martenson, Brian Schwartz, Richard Gilbert, Warren Karlenzig, Wes Jackson, David Hughes, Rob Hopkins, David Fridley, Gloria Flora, Joshua Farley, Hillary Brown, Michael Bomford, Asher Miller, Zenobia Barlow, Sandra Postel, Richard Heinberg, Erika Allen, Bill Ryerson
October 10, 2010
00000Missing Attachment How do population, water, energy, food, and climate issues impact one another? What can we do to address one problem without making the others worse? The Post Carbon Reader features essays by some of the world’s most...

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Post Carbon Cities: Planning for Energy and Climate Uncertainty
Daniel Lerch
October 1, 2007
00000Missing Attachment Post Carbon Cities: Planning for Energy and Climate Uncertainty is the first major guidebook on peak oil and global warming for people who work with and for local governments in the United States and Canada. It provides...

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Articles / Blogs

America’s Feel-Good Oil Bonanza

Resilient against what?

Reports

Resilient Against What?

Making Sense of Peak Oil and Energy Uncertainty

Books

The Post Carbon Reader: Managing the 21st Century’s Sustainability Crises

Post Carbon Cities: Planning for Energy and Climate Uncertainty