American Scientist reviews Lester Brown's Plan B 2.0:  

...Something must be done soon. "At issue," says Brown, "is whether national governments can stabilize population and restructure the economy before time runs out." But Plan B 2.0  is not a doomsday scenario; rather, the book is decidedly upbeat. Brown notes that destructive environmental trends that result from human activity can be dealt with using existing technologies, as some countries have already demonstrated. Denmark, for example, already uses wind power to produce 20 percent of its electricity.

Brown recognizes that the aims of reducing global poverty and of preserving and restoring the environment are inextricably linked. Estimates of expenditures necessary to address these interrelated goals constitute the heart of his Plan B. Brown estimates that achieving what he refers to as "basic social goals" (universal primary education, adult literacy, a school lunch program as well as assistance for preschool children and pregnant mothers in the world's 44 poorest countries, reproductive health and family planning, universal basic health care and improved availability of condoms) would cost, worldwide, about $68 billion per year. Reaching "Earth restoration goals" (reforestation, topsoil protection, water-table stabilization, restoration of rangelands and fisheries, and protection of biodiversity) would cost about $93 billion per year, he believes. But even the sum of these two figures ($161 billion) is only a fraction of the roughly $975 billion he says represents the world's total annual military expenditures. Reallocation of just one-sixth of that total--or, alternatively, reallocation of one-third of the $492 billion the United States spends--could therefore help ensure the survival of civilization. The U.S. military budget reduced by one-third would remain several times greater than that of any other country.