Doug Fine has led an exciting life as a journalist, reporting from war zones in exotic countries. But that was excellent training for his adventures in living locally on the Funky Butte Ranch in New Mexico. Farewell, My Subaru: an epic adventure in local living is Fine’s account of his venture into carbon neutral living.

With the help of a local expert, Fine converts a ROAT (ridiculously oversized American truck) to run on veggie oil from greasy restaurants. The only drawback is the “powerful craving for Kung Pao chicken” he gets whenever he drives it. Next he has solar panels installed on his home to generate enough electricity to become independent of the power utility.

Fine wants to eat locally too, so he buys two young milk goats, (nicknamed Melissa and Natalie), who quickly acquire a taste for his rose garden. Meanwhile, a marauding coyote (nicknamed Dick Cheney) quickly acquires a taste for Fine’s nervous chicken flock. Fine also tries deer hunting to supplement his meat supply, but he doesn’t really fit in with the local hunters: “I might have been the only hunter in New Mexico history to have his laptop, complete with wireless internet, with him as he aimed for dinner…I had packed local bean burritos for the trip, so Sadie (the dog) and I ate quite splendidly as well. As we dined, we listened to NPR.”

Includes helpful websites and statistics, plus recipes for Kung Pao Chicken and Grilled Rattlesnake Dijon.