The main focus of this entry is dealing with the drying weather. It has been a couple of months since we had substantial rain, though summer this year was particularly wet. The grass is still green. But looking around the cultivated areas the bare soil is looking rather dead and lifeless, dusty even. To a casual observer it seems hard to believe that I have only just watered my lettuces once last weekend, and my brassicas a week before that. As in they got no water, even when I sowed the seed. Recently I put some valuable imported Quinoa seed strains into my summer vegetable garden green manure rotation to make sure I successfully bulked up my seed supply for next year. They germinated in a week, in recently disturbed dry looking soil, with no rain falling. The green manures around them are coming up as well. The deadness and dustiness of the soil is actually part of the system. By minimising the amount of leaves drawing on the soil moisture you extend the useful lifespan of your ground water reserves. This means you need to weed meticulously (a topic for an upcoming post). When irrigation isnt an option a last gasp trick to save a struggling crop in drying soil is to thin out every second plant. Those remaining will usually quickly perk up, giving you half an edible crop rather than all of an inedible one.

So why do people anxiously water their newly planted seeds? Unless you are well into a substantial drought there is no point in doing so- it is mostly to feel like you are contributing to the growth. Seeds germinate by absorbing humidity within the air spaces in the soil. Being trapped in water logged soil is often detrimental as the availability of oxygen for growth declines, and also because it usually lowers the temperature of the soil and slows germination. This is especially critical for sowing warmth loving crops early in spring when the soil is already cooler than the air.

Normally people water far too shallowly to have much effect anyway. They rely on cues such as the amount of moisture sitting on leaves or flying through the air to feel like they are doing a good job. In reality the moisture that matters is invisible, deep in the soil. By deeply cracking open that soil (without necessarily turning it) you help the soil to drink deeply when the heavy rains come, and give your plants a fast track to growing deep roots down to the stored water.

Watering newly planted seeds also carries some dangers. You are effectively making a promise to those seeds that you will supply them with all the water they need, regardless of how the season progresses. If you manage to keep your seedlings perfectly and generously moist during a dry season for a few weeks, or a month, but then forget to look at them for a week or two you can expect them to suffer severe moisture stress or death. In contrast if you put your seeds in and let the natural store of ground water do the job there is much less chance of things going wrong. The seedlings will develop deeper root systems and may appear to grow more slowly at first, but the reduced fluctuations in growth are of great benefit to the quality of the final crop. Planting seeds at the end of a dry season in anticipation of coming seasonal rains is the corollary of this process, and once again it is better to put the seed into dry soil and allow it to decide when it is time to grow. Strong healthy seeds are quite capable of waiting six months in dry soil to grow (though what comes out of commercial packets often lacks freshness and vigor).

When you do need to water, and it is quite reasonable to expect to water fast growing tender vegetable crops, you will want to do it properly and as infrequently as possible. The trick is to never exceed the soils capacity to take up the moisture, which for most of the heavier soils on the sunshine coast means a long slow dribble into the ground. I had a large concrete water tank installed uphill from my vegetable garden for this express purpose, partly as an insurance against future water restrictions. At current usage rates its generous 8000L capacity would keep my water demanding vegetable crops going for at least six months with no rain. The slow gravity feed relies on no external power, and matches my dark soils slow deep thirst. My raised beds come in handy too as they seep from the sides once they are filled up.

Out in the field crops the chickpeas are flowering and setting pods vigorously despite being at the higher, drier end of the row. At the lower, wetter end the shelling peas are are doing well after weathering pidgeon attacks, but would probably like some more moisture. These two crops together form a perfect pair to hedge against the changing moisture levels. Chickpeas will grow well in even our driest years, while the shelling peas will grow through moderate water logging. Plant some of each, varying the balance in response to the season that year, and you have a dependable source of legume protein for winter. It should be pointed out my field crops are never watered. In a region where "record breaking drought" means 700 mm a year you have to reflect on how unirrigated crops like wheat would find such an arrangement perfectly comfortable. The trick is learning to change our crops as the rain levels fluctuate, and to not throw up our hands in despair when the occasional season yields next to nothing.

So in summary try and take simple steps to improve your soils moisture holding capacity to make the most use of our ample but unpredictable rains. Cultivate deeply without completely disrupting the soil structure. Soil organic matter helps but deep decompaction is far quicker, cheaper and more effective (also opening up subsoil mineral stores). Time your sowings and plantings to make maximum use of rain when it comes, and liberate yourself whenever possible from the hose!

I have uploaded some photos of the farm. From left to right, top to bottom we have:
1- Winter vegetable crops coming along
2- Summer vegetable area with trash pile and green manures
3- My beloved rooster Clarence
4- Field row showing the first plantings of carrots and parsnips
5- Field row with shelling peas on cowcane
6- Same row as 5 showing chickpeas at drier end
7- Recently solarised row (being prepared for maize, kidney beans and pumpkins in spring)
8- Unsolarised row oversown with random green manures and crops (to be solarised for spring buckwheat soon)

My dream budget in no particular order, as the brain turns...

Grants and loans for individuals and communities to develop their own food production at the local level.

A commitment to community housing - no person should be on the street unless they choose to be there.

A commitment to agricultural and manual arts education.

A re-priotitizing of infrastructure development funds from road and air to rail and sea. This includes the establishment of solidifying not only the major seaports, but also boosting the number and quality of the minor ones across Australia.

A commitment to water.

A commitment to the "greenstream" energy technologies. We always talk about "alternative" energy as being solar, wind, geo, wave, etc. Well, this mindset needs to change, dagnammit! Many of the technologies are here, waiting to be implemented! These ain't alternatives, these are ECONOMICALLY VIABLE, , ENERGY-PRODUCING ENTITIES.

Make the energy playing-field equal! Subsidize the greenstream tech to the same level as the polluters, or cut the subsidization to the polluters!

A commitment to small-business enterprises that are willing to take on and meet the challenges of the new economy with creative and/or long-lost ideas and solutions.

A commitment to simplification of the rules of co-operative enterprises.

A commitment to innovation and invention.

A commitment to bartering.

A commitment to the farmers. These men and women are, I believe, being taken for granted by Government and by us as citizens. They need our help. Without the farmers, well...I suggest that you look into how "civilization" was formed in the first place.

Peace in our communities.

Hi everyone, Geoff here. This is the first time that I have every logged onto a blog or forum for anything and that's after 15 years using a computer. I have been researching PO and the coming energy crisis for a while now and have a vested interest as I am working to sell my property in Perth and relocate my family, wife Veronica and two boys Jack 3 and Harry 1, to a bush block somewhere outside the CBD. Great to see a Perth PO site finally, here is a great link if you are interested in further research on what population growth and energy consumption over the next couple of years is going to result in, see the link below. Anyway I hope to stay in touch with the growing crowd of people interested in PO and raising awareness and working toward developing sustainable living. Cheers and bye for now
http://www.mnforsustain.org/oil_duncan_r_olduvai_theory.htm
Geoff

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Interview with Bill Tannock, Secretary and Treasurer of the
Organic Growers Association of Western Australia (OGAWA)
Perth 12 May 2008

Today I met with Bill and Faye Tannock. I explained our plan for Post Oil Perth to Bill and asked for his advice on the plan, as well as help in finding mentors amongst the members of OGAWA.

Bill, who practices Biodynamic gardening, provided heaps of information about OGAWA.

• OGAWA has about 200 members who are professional organic growers. At present, most professional members supply to large companies like Coles or Woolworths, their produce is shipped to the eastern states, and whatever is needed for Perth is shipped all the way back again! Clearly this won’t be sustainable situation when transport costs escalate much further.

• OGAWA has about 150 additional Perth members who are either personal organic growers, or source their food needs via OGAWA members. These members tend to be well educated, middle aged folks motivated towards an organic diet by health concerns. They are split into 3 suburban groups that meet independently each month.

I was heartened by the strong activity of OGAWA in Perth…. It looks like a great place to start prospecting for mentors to help others learn how to grow their own food.

Bill stressed the need to teach people not only how to grow food, but also how to set up the right ecology to control pests and maintain living soils. Here I could envisage a fruitful marriage between organic practices and Permaculture to meet this goal. He also emphasized the need to correct soil deficiencies inherent in our ancient, worn out landscapes before reasonable productivity could be achieved.

Bill remarked that farmers markets were springing up all over Perth! Promoting the further growth of this phenomenon is integral to the Post Oil Perth strategy.

Bill also made many other useful suggestions, such as other groups to link to and potential patrons for POP.

I am looking forward to publishing an article about POP in the OGAWA newsletter soon, and presenting to OGAWA meetings in the near future.

Thanks Bill!

One of the real benefits about being part of the Post carbon Institute is the credibility it confers when we respond to irresponsible journalism. The article in question is the lead editorial in today's The Intelligencer (wwwphillyburbs/intel.com). The following was my response. I hope they print it, though at 469 words it's a bit long. They've printed longer.

RESPONSE TO INTELLIGENCER EDITORIAL SUNDAY MAY 11, 2008
New energy, new conservation will cost us a tiny fraction of the cost of not acting.

The lead editorial in the May 11, Sunday edition of the Intelligencer, "Nothing's for free: new energy, new conservation will cost us", takes issue with Governor Rendell's assertion that his $850 million Green Jobs, Energy Independence Strategy (SS HB-1) will not cost the taxpayers. This "straw man" debate ignores the real and very deadly issue of the costs of continued inaction to the economy of Pennsylvania, the nation, and the world.

The proven truth is that every dollar invested in energy conservation and renewable energy has been repeatedly shown to return $4 to $10 or more in savings and benefits to taxpayers. As a trained energy auditor I see proof of that every day. Merely eliminating inefficient use and the ubiquitous waste of energy can save taxpayers billions of dollars.

Instead of haggling over what such programs will initially cost, and what they might return a little later, we do much better to look at the cost of inaction. The best work on that was the Review completed in October 2006 by Sir Nicholas Stern, head of the (UK) Government Economic Service.

"..the Review estimates that if we don’t act, the overall costs and risks of climate change will be equivalent to losing at least 5% of global GDP each year, now and forever. If a wider range of risks and impacts is taken into account, the estimates of damage could rise to 20% of GDP or more."

The editorial implies that the Governor's claim that his proposals won't cost the taxpayer anything is "nuts". What is really insane is Pennsylvania's continued failure to take meaningful local action to address global climate change. And since Pennsylvania is the third worst CO2 emitter in the United States, and twentieth worst emitter of any political jurisdiction in the world we have a lot of catching up to do. An $850 million down payment on long overdue action is chickenfeed when compared to the alternative. The possibility of inaction costing 20% of Pennsylvania's GDP "now and forever" is the real risk and the real benchmark to watch. And it's a cost our children would pay.

And that is just the financial risk. What about the secondary costs? The report concludes: "Our actions now and over the coming decades could create risks of major disruption to economic and social activity, on a scale similar to those associated with the great wars and the depression of the first half of the 20th century. And it will be difficult or impossible to reverse these changes."

Is that the legacy we want to leave our children and grandchildren? Is this how our generation wants to be remembered? To deny that this could happen is the greatest insanity of all.

Larry Menkes: Coordinator
ECLA PA (a Relocalization chapter of the Post Carbon Institute)
(215) 328-9128 home 267.992.8020 cell
Sustainability advisor to the Ivyland Foundation for Historical and Architectural Preservation
Bucks County Environmental Stewardship Council
Delaware Valley Green Building Council Residential Working Group

Things are heating up!

Better get a handle on them now... and take action.

You can see why I'm worried - check out the latest Peak Oil Facts and ideas for Peak Oil survival here

But don't worry.... here at Post Oil Perth we have a cunning plan which you can check out for yourself here.

Let us know what you reckon, and above all, SPREAD THE WORD!!!!

Posted at http://sustainourrights.blogspot.com/2008/05/beaverton-farmers-market.ht...

Beaverton Farmer's Market

I have been waiting months now for the farmer's market to come back in Beaverton. Last year was the first year my wife and I went to the farmer's market on a weekly basis. In the past we visited the Beaverton farmer's market once or twice, but never really bought much of anything. A few years earlier we went to the Tigard farmer's market (over in the Garden Home neighborhood), but it was smaller and we didn't get too many items there.

Last year due to health issues and a more concerted effort to eat locally, we decided to start going to the farmer's market on a weekly basis sometime in the early summer. At first we got a few items, some tomatoes, berries and maybe a sweet onion or two. After a few weeks we expanded to more fruits and vegetables. We would experiment, look on line or go to my cooking bible, Fanny Farmer, to find out how to cook what we got. By the end of the market we were getting dozens of items, bringing our own bags and going to our favorite booths for specific items.

The first day today was a good one. The market was packed and about three fourths of the spaces were filled. Since it is early in the season there weren't many fruit or vegetable options, but a lot of plants and seedlings. There was a lot of asparagus, rutabaga, leeks, leafy greens and even a stand selling tomatoes. There were some booths selling wine, cakes and breads. What I was amazed to see were how many booths were selling seafood and pork. In the past I would see one or two booths, but today I saw at least five. Although I need to eat less meat, I might start eating more local meat which looks to be of better quality than what I usually find in the supermarket.

So we got some asparagus, use half tomorrow night as a side with dinner and the rest in a stir fry later in the week. Four beefsteak tomatoes to use for a sauce with pasta. My wife got a bunch of rutabaga to make me a pie and has promised to not feed me the leaves ;-). A leek to most likely use with the chicken I will be making for dinner tomorrow. And for dinner tonight, a fresh bunch of kale and Yukon gold potatoes to use in a soup with linguca sausage and white beans, served with a sourdough rye bread that we bought on the way out of the market.

I look forward to the upcoming weeks where more fruits and vegetables will start showing up. This will give me an opportunity to make some old favorites and to try anything that I somehow missed last year. Thanks to the Beaverton farmer's market for allowing me to become more of a locavore.

Protect your family from West Nile Virus AND chemical sprays. Join your county’s NO SPRAY list. If you do not want to be sprayed with chemicals by the mosquito abatement district, complete the example plan below MAIL OR FAX IT to your county abatement officials.

A new state law allows you to join a no spray list by submitting a plan for how you will control mosquitoes. As individuals, we can make a difference by removing mosquito breeding grounds around our homes, repairing tears in window screens, and covering up or wearing repellent when active at dusk and dawn.

The choice to submit a plan needs to be a commitment for the full length of the mosquito season. If the mosquito no-spray list is going to be successful, it has to be taken seriously.

Members of the Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides worked with Ada County Mosquito Abatement to develop sample plans. View sample plans http://www.adaweb.net/departments/weedpestmosquito/SamplePlans.asp or use the one at the end of this email. Select the mosquito controls that fit your situation and send the plan to your county officials.

Please share this information with your family, friends and neighbors who may be interested in participating in the no spray program.

For more information on mosquito control, West Nile Virus and sample mosquito control plans, visit http://www.pesticide.org/pubs/alts/mosquitoes/wnvguidelines.html.

*************************SAMPLE MOSQUITO CONTROL PLAN *****************************

Name ________________________________________

Street Address _________________________________

City, State & Zip _______________________________

Size of Property _______ acres

AVERAGE URBAN YARD

Description of land: Residential home on less than 2 acres with sprinkler and drip irrigation, birdbath and a water fountain. (example only)

I/We Will Use the Following Mosquito Controls:

1. Mosquito source reduction

a) I/we will schedule irrigation to prevent standing water in yard and will allow ground to dry adequately between watering.

b) I/we will walk property and remove vessels (buckets, toys, etc) that collect water.

c) I/we will maintain constant agitation and flow through water fountain to prevent standing water.

d) I/we will change water in bird bath at least every three to four days

e) I/we will change water for pets in outdoor bowls daily.

f) I/we will clean gutters.

2. Personal protection

a) I/we will inspect window screens and repair or replace screens with holes.

b) I/we can wear long sleeves and long pants and/or use mosquito repellants when active in yard at dawn and dusk.

3. Mosquito predation

a) I/we will make a special effort to provide and maintain habitat for wildlife (birds, bats, frogs) that eat mosquitoes and mosquito larvae.

______________________________

Name and Date

Send to:

Ada County Weed, Pest, and Mosquito Abatement

975 E. Pine St.

Meridian ID 83642

Fax Number (208) 577-4631

I recently found a great way to store meats that does not involve the use of preservatives or any special equipment. The whole process involves very basic, easy to make tools.

You can dry the meat and berries using a smoker or solar drier.

You can shred the meat using a grinding stone.

You can heat the fat using a solar cooker.

You can store the final product in any air tight container, in an underground cellar or something.

It stores for a very, very long time (not totally sure yet just how long, but I would guess a year or more)

It provides your body with everything it needs to stay alive and mobile. Over a cold winter is an example of when it would come in handy.

It doesnt need to be cooked or anything once it has been made.

Anyway here is the article I read with some really good information, at the bottom there is a link to the article, which also contains the directions on how to make pemmican.

"Pemmican is a Native American word roughly translated as "travel food made for long trips." A compact source of concentrated energy needing no preparation on the trail, Native American pemmican often included bear fat, berries and anything else that was nutritious and available. The energy bar traces its roots back to the Middle Ages. Crusaders tucked an energy bar, called the panforte (a mix of flour, honey, shortening, nuts and dried fruit), into their tunics to give them a lift during long marches.

Pemmican may be one of the world's perfect foods. It is only pure protein, fat, and carbohydrate . . . n perfect ratio. It gives the body the densest nutritional value in a simple, hand-feeding manner. Its high energy ingredients keeps one from being hungry yet feeds the body everything it needs. It is very simple, easy to carry, easy to eat, and tastes incredible.

Why speak about this meat-and-fat food on a fitness website?

We are all looking for the perfect food to eat, which is delicious, nutritious, satisfying, easy, and quick on the go. Let's face it, the reason why "fast food" is so popular is because we can eat it at any time, and it allows us to get on with our busy schedules. But what if there was a healthy alternative which takes no longer to prepare than an average dinner, is actually rather fun, last without refrigeration, and can take up to 2 weeks to eat, staying fresh the whole while?

I myself am reducing my meat-foods. I highly respect my vegetarian friends, so I have found a meatless pemmican bar which suffices to curb hunger and give nutritional support.

Meat Pemmican is a mixture of dried meat and suet which is eaten unheated, and which keeps for years under reasonable conditions. The first recorded use of pemmican was by North American tribes (particularly the Assiniboin of Dakota and the sub-arctic peoples), by whom it had been used for generations. It became more widely known in the 19th and early 20th centuries as a staple for polar explorers. Although it is unlikely that pemmican has been made for long enough to have impacted on nutritional aspects of human evolution, it happens that pemmican recreates what was probably a dietary staple for one, two or three million years.

As a fan of history, I've always known about pemmican. Native American peoples carried it for traveling on their hunts, I've always known that these Native Americans are quite healthy, active, and relatively disease-free cultures, when not eating processed foods of today.

I was re-introduced to pemmican by Ray Audette, author of Neanderthin, and Jon Benson, nutritionist and fan of paleolithic ("cave-man") eating. The theories of Paleolithic diet are simple: our bodies work better on foods we were meant to have: which is anything hunted, picked, or gathered. For a very basic overview of paleolithic nutrition, click this Paleolithic explanation.

When meeting Ray personally, he gave me some of his own home-made pemmican to try. He and thousands of people, hundreds of thousands, throughout time, swear by its energy and even its taste. I am giving you Ray's recipe as well as my own details.

Note: do not be afraid that you are eating fat. Fat is needed by your body, period, and the 'whole fat versus non-fat' argument is becoming very heated. You will stay slim longer on eating sensibly with 'natural' healthy fats, than by eating processed foods which say "non-fat" but give you additional chemicals, fake fats, and harmful trans-fats."

Click here for full article and recipe to make pemmican.

Sourced from http://www.physicalmind.com/pemmican.htm

Post Oil Perth had its first meeting last Saturday. There were 4 of us (I'm out of the shot because I took it!).

Rob (right), who is presently in the US Navy, was visiting Perth on a short stop over. Soon to leave the Navy for civvy life, he's pretty worried about where life in the US might be headed as peak oil heats up (and how to convince his lovely wife to move out with him to the country to grow food!).

Cal (center) had plenty of advice to offer on swaying one's partner by degrees....the condensed version sounded something like this: "Start by suggesting a nice little farm as a 'weekender', then build a shed on it, then when she says she won't live in a shed, show her some house plans to choose from!" Pretty clever, eh?

Cal and his family is setting up a farm down in Dandaragan, and is soon to erect a shed to live in while he builds a house.

Graeme (left) is my partner. We are already living in our shed in Bullsbrook which he is infill-building around us with straw bale.

Over bangers from the barbie, we fleshed out a "cunning plan" to transform Perth into a post oil ready state by 2012.

I will keep you posted on our progress as we go!

Wow!

Did you hear the news this morning? International banker Goldman Sachs has come out with a report that predicts the price of oil could rise to between $150 and $211 a barrel by October this year! (It's currently $US123 a barrel).

Check out the story here: http://www.bigpond.com/news/business/content/20080508/2238730.asp

Photo: Food Riots in Haiti

The Transport industry in Australia is predicting a crisis in transport costs and food prices that will ultimately have to be passed onto consumers.

Geologist Dale Allen Pfeiffer claims that the coming decades could see spiraling food prices and massive starvation on a global level such as never experienced before. He describes the scenario we are heading for in detail in his article "Eating Fossil Fuels" which you can see at http://www.mnforsustain.org/oil_eating_fossil_fuels_pfeiffer_d.htm

You can also view a news video on current food riots occurring now in 33 countries around the globe at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAtyjrehu94

Food production is already heavily dependent on massive fossil fuel inputs - for each calorie of food produced, nine are used - as fertilizer and pesticides, transport and of course diesel. Rising oil prices are also seeing the use of food crops for biofuels - an additional factors driving a dramatic increase in the global price of cereals, a trend which is set to intensify.

What is more, high oil prices not only influence the food system, they influence the entire economy and virtually all of its industrial, agricultural and service sectors - thousands of manufacturing, transportation, and industrial processes, all set to become more expensive.

Better get those fruit trees in now guys!!!

In this month’s Relocalize, we're turning an eye to transportation—specifically new and old ways to use or replace the good ol’ automobile. And we’re not the only ones. Millions of Americans are now paying over $4 per gallon for the first time.

Every single day, $1.34 billion is spent fueling Americans’ driving habits. In April, American drivers spent more than $37 billion on gasoline—the most in U.S. history. That’s more than a 7% increase over the previous month and 21% over April 2007. And we haven’t hit the peak travel season yet, when prices tend to be highest.

Granted, gas prices in the U.S. are still relatively low, compared to places like Scotland where prices reached $8.30 a gallon and shortages have taken place. But people are paying attention. The downturn in the economy and skyrocketing food and fuel expenses have led to fewer sales of new cars and trucks—particularly SUVs and other gas guzzlers.

In the midst of a heated primary contest, it’s not surprising that the presidential candidates have jumped into the fray, with debates, campaign ads and countless news pieces furiously promoting or deriding the validity of a "gas tax holiday." First Republican nominee, John McCain, and then Democratic candidate, Hillary Clinton, came out in favor of a plan to suspend the 18.4 cent federal gas tax and 24.4 cent diesel tax during the summer months. Democratic candidate Barrack Obama stands opposed.

We’ll leave it to you to decide if this plan makes any sense. But here are some quick facts to consider. Should Congress pass this "gas tax holiday," it’s estimated that:

• The federal government would lose about $9 billion in tax revenue.
• When the State of Illinois suspended its 5% sales tax on gasoline in 2001, gas prices fell only 3% while costing the state $175 million in revenue. So where did the rest of the money go?
• Over 280 economists from across political party affiliations have signed an open statement opposing the gas tax holiday on economic grounds, including several Nobel Prize winners.
• The American Road & Transportation Builders Association estimates that the loss of nearly $9 billion dollars in tax revenue could lead to the loss of roughly 300,000 highway-related jobs.
• In the meantime, the average savings per driver over the three months comes out to about $28 or about 26 cents a day.

Though editorial boards and economists of all stripes have come out against the "gas tax holiday" as either fiscally unsound or at best a band-aid for very serious energy issues, scant attention has been paid to some of the more obvious, effective and meaningful ways to reduce the pinch at the pump.

Let's start with the obvious: driving less. Now, before I get painted as impractical, let's just consider two relatively benign ways to reduce fuel costs more than the suspension of the federal gas tax:

• Combine errands. Driving just ten less miles a week will save you more money than the "holiday" ($1.64 vs. $1.29).
• Carpool once a week. The average commute in the U.S. is 27 miles a day. So, driving just one fewer day every two weeks will also save you more money ($2.22 a week).

Next, more effective. Again, since the federal gas tax is only about five percent of the cost of the average gallon of gasoline, it's not hard to come up with solutions that are as or more effective (not to mention, way way cheaper). Here are just a few:

• Drive smarter. Keeping to the speed limit, avoiding quick starts and stops would save the average driver as much as $260 a year, or nearly $10 a week.
• Keep your tires properly inflated. This would increase the average car's fuel efficiency by about 3% or $1.39 a week.
• Change your air filter every six months or 10,000 miles will increase your fuel efficiency by about 10%. Even after you factor in the cost of a new filter, you'll still save more money than from any "gas tax holiday."

The point I'm trying to drive home is not that these alternatives will solve the oil problem. In fact, only one thing will do that: getting off oil. Rather, the point is simply this: Since there are so many simpler and more cost effective things that people can do themselves to reduce the cost at the pump, can we please, please elevate our national discourse to meaningful policies and solutions that are worthy of the energy crisis we face?

**Posted from http://sustainourrights.blogspot.com/

Over the past few months there have been a number of news items about the shortage of rice. While this can and may become a crisis around the world, it's not a real issue here in the US. But then again is it?

Rice is a staple around the world, mostly in Asia and Africa, just as potatoes are a staple in the standard American diet. Think about it, when you go to a fast food restaurant they offer you fries and not rice. When you are eating out at a restaurant your meal will most commonly come with a potato side dish. You can get rice, but only if you ask for it. This is why the US exports more rice than probably any other country in the world. We grow alot of food here, but more rice than we need.

Other nations in East Asia grow much of their own rice, but they would sell extra to other nations. They are facing shortages so they are keeping more for themselves. This means that these nations will buy from other areas, such as the US. This will help rice farmers here, they will have new markets that they can sell to who normally would not purchase American rice.

But does this mean there will be shortage of rice here in the US? Most likely not. Will it be hard to find rice over the next few weeks? Most likely it will. People have a tendency to panic when they here a sound byte from the news. This has been known for months now, but because people will only go on small amounts of information, they panic. Of course if you were purchasing imported rice, then you might want to stock up, but for the rice grown domesticaly there will be enough.

Since I blog elsewhere, I probably won't blog here. But I thought I'd point out where you can find my posts.

• TerrieMiller.com - this is my personal weblog where I let myself write and post about anything. For this audience, the categories of most interest are Permaculture, Consumerism, and Green...and there is a lot of overlap in those categories!
• Critter Geek - this is my web site and blog about animals; about being a smart pet owner and amateur naturalist.
• Citizen Science Projects - a weblog about citizen science -- data collection and investigation activities done by people as personal community projects.

I'm happy to have found Relocalize.net and look forward to poking around this site!

Our group hasn't been keeping this site updated since we use the oilawareness.meetup.com/216 site and our primary form of communication, but we do have 170 members and have been very active of late working with the cities of Chapel Hill and Carrboro on Peak Oil resolutions. No matter where you are in the process - skeptic, paralyzing trough of reality, early stages of powering down, or an experienced activist/low net-carbon emitter we are here to help and invite you to contact us or come to one of our events. You can join the group at the meetup.com site to receive notification of events.

A YouTube video

"My response to an email circulating to '300 million people!' about boycotting major gas companies -

I'd just like to take a moment and comment on the flaw of this plan."...

---

In this video Cassandra stresses how driving less is a way to save money while doing good at the same time.

Toban Black
(http://tobanblack.net/blog)

On Monday May 5, 2008, the Bellingham City Council will vote on a Resolution to establish a Peak Oil Task Force. In the coming weeks, Whatcom County Council will consider a similar Resolution.

Why is this important? I'll borrow from Daniel Lerch, of the Post Carbon Institute to answer that question. If I had to sum up his book "Post Carbon Cities: Planning for Energy and Climate Uncertainty" in just a couple of paragraphs, it would be as follows.

“The issue is that we are likely entering a period of increasingly frequent and large fluctuations in oil prices and supply,” Lerch has said. "We have changing demand and supply factors, instability in oil producing regions, and inherent difficulties in forecasting oil production."

The proposed task force would primarily be about our community facing the long term challenges associated with Energy Uncertainty, and coming up with recommendations on how best to address these challenges.

The long term challenges include attempting to answer the following questions:
How will the global economy adjust?
How will this impact our regional and local economy?
How can our local municipalities set meaningful budgets?
How can our local municipalities make long range land use and transportation plans?
How can our local municipalities best serve its citizens and the local business community?

How will we be able to do all of the above with such uncertainty in the price of the most important material to the global economy?

Obviously there are aspects of this issue that need to be dealt with on a federal level, but as Metro Councilmember (Portland’s regional govt) Rex Burkholder said, “It’s local government that has the job of looking out for citizens’ interests on a day-to-day basis...Threats of major disruption of our oil supply, or skyrocketing costs for fuel, are direct threats to our communities. We have to respond. We can’t wait for leadership from Washington.”

Lerch: "Identifying and mitigating community vulnerabilities is one of the more important - if often unwritten - expectations we have of our local governments...Changes in a fundamental economic factor like the price of oil - or a fundamental environmental factor like average temperatures - can have unexpected system effects that are difficult to predict.

"...the challenge for municipalities is not to predict the future, but to approach the future with the right tools and the right information."

Below is how the local news media is covering the story.

The Bellingham Herald: City Council to look at gas-price effects
Goals include education and emergency Plan

NW Citizen article by Craig Mayberry: Peak Oil Task Force

See also previous discussion on transportation that included Peak Oil at NW Citizen:

The Joke Is On Us

Transportation Discussion Continued

See what Portland did, setting the template for Peak Oil Task Forces:
http://www.portlandonline.com/osd/index.cfm?c=42894

And a wealth of info about municipal planning for Post Carbon Cities

The Resolution and the accompanying Briefing Paper can be found in the city's pdf file of the evening's agenda:

ftp://ftp.cob.org/council/packets/2008/05_may/05/packets/05may2008_AB17942.pdf

I acknowledge the owners of the land upon which I write, the Kaurareg nation.

Living up here in the Torres Strait means that sometimes things take a bit of time to get done. On Friday night, just before the long weekend began, I lost both the lighting and the fans on my electrical switchboard. This happened as I turned on a light. The wiring is a bit worn and tired in our unit. Because a State government department handles my dwelling, I need to go through some paperwork to get things done. But, it's a long weekend, and I didn't feel much like trying to go through the effort of getting a sparky over here to do the work, let alone having to go through the bureaucratic hoops that one must go through to get something done without paperwork.

I viewed this as an opportunity to live with the lights out. Well, not exactly. I still had my powerpoints, so I've been able to set up a couple of lamps. Nonetheless, it's been pretty undramatic. I think that I would probably be able to get things done around here without any lights. It was pretty comical around 5 p.m. when I remembered that I still needed to fold laundry, clean the bathroom, and make a couple of dishes (yep, still have the oven circuit working too). I could have moved the lamps around, but didn't want to go through that trouble either. So, I ran around, got things done, then the sun went down.

Guess what? Things are fine.

To live without much light at night just means that I have had to adjust my schedule a bit. Not a huge drama. I am very very thankful that the powerpoints didn't go as well. Otherwise I would have had to find the sparky, pronto. You know, when I think about it, the only massive dramas that I would have around here without powerpoints would be refrigeration and the computer. OK, the stereo. The stove. The fans...the washing machine...hmmm...

Maybe it would be a little more daunting than I'd first thought.

So, let's think about powering down...could I do this western lifestyle on only one powerpoint?

Stove and oven? Well, it's pretty hot here - replace it with a solar oven. Or convert to gas.

Stereo? Might be able to get by (might have to get by) with an mp3 player and a set of headphones and/or small speakers that are powered by rechargeable batteries that get their energy from the sun. Keeping the music close to the ears requires less energy than cranking the speakers. However, it would be a drag when you want to get your groove on with others.

Ceiling fans? It would be a drag to be in the house without them. I refuse to use air conditioning even when it's 34 and 80% humidity, but the fans take the edge off. A solution to this is devising some kind of contraption that would use solar PV to directly power a fan to which it is attached through some kind of simple circuitry. It provides a relatively simple solution: when do I need the fans most? When the sun's beating down on the roof. Would probably want to connect a rechargeable cell of some sort so that I could turn it on when going to sleep in the summertime.

Computer? There are low power options out there. The 1 laptop per child program uses hardware that is power-pack free; battery charging is based on a hand crank.

http://laptop.org/

It may be possible that the myriad of laptop power packs in existence could be adapted to a portable solar charger that could augment or fully charge the battery. Who knows.

The washing machine? Hmmm...Without completely going back to the scrubbing board, it is possible that a few compromises could be made to improve chances of still using electric. Would a low-powered, smaller, front-loader do the trick? Could it do the trick on a power-point supplied by solar? Definitely no dryer!

These compromises could be managed, with growing pains, without the need for energy storage. Energy storage is one of the main factors confronting us today as we travel down the road to sustainability. Intermittency of renewables is often cited as an excuse for not upscaling them. Come on people, surely we can do better than this!

I'm not going to get into a debate about the power requirements of blowdryers, irons, and hair curlers or straighteners or whatever the heck we're doing to our hair these days. Quite simply, creased clothes and naturally occurring hair aren't going to send our communities into a tailspin (our nightspots, on the other hand, may never be the same). A real problem as far as our western civilization is concerned is a steady supply of energy for refrigeration. Yes, there are gas fridges, but these are still pretty darn dear, and gas won't last forever either. We may need to consider some adapting on this front as well. It may be beneficial for somebody out there to do some experimental work on refrigeration temperature profiles that reflect intermittent power delivery based on diurnal sunshine patterns (or a decrepit power grid). Could our food get by if we had a fridge that, say, could get down to 1 or 2 degrees whilst the sun was up and running a solar cell? Knowing that we lose a great deal of heat during the time that we open the fridge, do we as humans have the planning capacity to keep the door closed after the sun goes down? (I'd like to think so!) Maybe we wouldn't be able to keep our milk fresh for two weeks, but maybe it would still sort us out for 3 or 4 days? Still better than the alternative.

Power tools? This could be problematic. Many such tools are high-powered, just like the irons and blowdryers, meaning that they use a lot of energy in a short period of time. Sorry, but we might need to get used to going back to hand drills, hand saws, and screwdrivers, and community efforts. In my own opinion, we built a lot of great stuff before power tools anyhow. It just takes longer. What with inflation, mortgages, and rent being what they are, it is hard to say whether we're going to need many more new houses. I reckon that it's safe to say that some of us are going to be looking for somebody to rent out the second bedroom to help the mortgage. And that some of us are going to be asking around to see if we can stay on the sofa for a couple of days or years.

We are going to have to get used to things taking longer. We are going to have to become better planners in our everyday life. We are going to need to adjust our habits. We need to become consciously aware of the notion that instant gratification just isn't going to be there like there was. Things are going to slow down. I reckon that'll be a good thing for a lot of us anyhow.

The moral of the story is, this weekend without light has been a good, easy, thought-provoking exercise in peak energy. In the same way that a few empty petrol bowsers in Scotland in the last week was a good exercise for the UK.

Anyhow, I'm going to turn on the light in the oven to see if that potato bake is done.

Peace in our communities.

80+ West Marin citizen met at the Dance Palace in Point Reyes Station, on 2/28/08, to work on their shared vision. Then again on 4/7/08, 75 people in this community came together to work on that vision, setting priorities for the next 3 to 5 years in each of 12 categories. The notes to each of these two meeting are attached.

Here are the initial reasons I'm running against Richard (Funding the War) Durbin, and I'm finding more:

* * I'm running with the Green Party, the Longhouse Coalition see platform 2008 Platform, short version.pdf
92K View as HTML Download
and the New Broom Coalition (NBC) www.newbroomcoalition.org to unseat IL Senator Richard Durbin because he is voting to fund the war.

My 3 year old grandson and I went to Durbin's office with Kathy Kelly's Occupation Project in 2006 to ask Durbin to sign a commitment to end the war. I was shocked Durbin wasn't available to us, didn't want to talk with us. His office staff told us to either leave or be arrested, and I knew this was not proper behavior for a "servant of the People!"
Two years later, Durbin is still funding the war.

See cost of the war: cost.url
1K Download

* * I'm running to unseat Richard Durbin because he's not supporting impeachment. The world has to know we don't support Bush and Cheney! We don't want them getting a pension and all the perks of leaving the office, either.

* * I'm running to unseat Richard Durbin because in 2005 he rightly started Congress looking into U.S.torture policies, and then tearfully apologized!

** I'm running because Durbin knew there were no weapons of mass destruction in 2002, before we invaded Iraq, and publically admitted it April 28, 2007! Who is he responsible to and for?

See Youtube:
Crooks and Liars » Sen_ Durbin Drops Bombshells on the Senate Floor.htm
89K View Download

I run on the platform of peace and fairness, rights of indigenous people, restoring the Constitution, seeing Bush and his administration take responsibility for their actions and having corporations understand their part in protecting the environment, human rights, public health and safety, employees and local communities.
I am for deep education reform, national single-payer healthcare, and poison prevention for our air, water, soil, food, vaccinations, and electromagnetic fields. I'm for decriminalizing natural substances, erring of the side of caution, and respecting all aspects of Mother Nature.

Do not send money. Please join my campaign yahoo group. You will be sent e-flyers to forward on to friends and others around the country and world. If you like our platforms and send the e-flyers, you will be supporting other Green, LHC and NBC candidates, too.

Thank you for sharing the best kept secret, Green candidates take an oath not to accept corporate donations and PAC money. Second best kept secret is IL has 61 Green Party candidates in the Nov. election!

Thank you, all peace-maker/problem-solvers, for your consideration and mutual support.

Blessed be,
Kathy