The Pencil Warrior
Local Solutions Needed to Respond to Global Challenges
Dave Wheelock for the Socorro, NM, Mountain Mail
March 6, 2008

Our city is not prepared for the great changes coming our way. I am not referring to the pressures posed by rapid population expansion in the western states, a nationwide economic recession, or the buildup of pollutants and toxins in our life systems. While these large scale issues have the capacity to greatly affect our community, we remain like the proverbial frogs sitting in the pot of heating water. Rather than jumping out (or finding a way to turn off the flame), we compromise our quality of life to stay in the pot. But neither global warming nor the end of the era of fossil fuels will offer such compromise.
While discussion of the potential consequences and mitigation of climate change have finally gained traction in the public arena, the issue of peak oil remains relatively covert. Nevertheless a growing number of petroleum industry analysts, whose business is to track and predict global crude production, assert an undulating plateau of supply has been reached, with a permanent decline likely as soon as 2010. Significantly, the trajectory of natural gas production also seems to be at or near a similar downslope. As with climate change, we likely have entered a brief pause after which options will rapidly close down due to mounting shortages. $10 gas, anyone?
The incredibly low prices of oil and natural gas have in just a few generations blinded us to our utter dependence upon them for our economy and lifestyle. We so take them for granted that we have real difficulty conceptualizing what life will be like in a post-carbon world, let alone accepting that many of us will likely experience that world firsthand.
Our cheap energy culture has evolved to rely on petroleum-based systems for our food, medicine, manufactured goods, power (including heating and cooling), transportation, and leisure activities. Even the most fundamental element of our survival, water, is largely dependent on fossil fuels for sanitation and delivery.
It is increasingly accepted that even with massive and immediate commitment to all known forms of alternative fuel and energy – solar, wind, hydro, biomass, biofuels, nuclear, whatever – we will soon be forced to adapt to massive disruptions to our power and transportation systems in their present forms.
Fortunately some folks have shaken off the blinders. Around the world citizens from every walk of life are forming study groups and engaging local governments in making the transformation to a less energy intensive future. From the slogan “lessening our dependence on foreign oil” they have deleted the word “foreign.”
The most direct means for achieving this goal are embraced in a strategy of “relocalization” – reducing consumption while producing locally. In addition to developing sustainable ways to provide for our clean energy needs, we citizens will need to recall much of the knowledge lost in a headlong flight to dependency on distant markets enabled by cheap fossil fuels. Cultivation of food and medicines, manufacture of clothing and hard goods, fostering of our children and elders, even entertainment and the arts will be increasingly performed by our neighbors and ourselves. In these vital pursuits, we will be fortunate if our area’s original inhabitants are still in the mood to share their centuries of region-specific knowledge.
While the road ahead will not be an easy one, it could be a deeply satisfying one. Sources for exploring the possibilities already exist; a good one can be found at Relocalize.net, where you can join or add to a network of some 182 “post carbon groups” engaged in a fascinating variety of learning and interaction.
Local government exists to serve local needs, and there is an urgent need for civic leaders to be involved in planning for their communities’ long-range future. History is full of episodes – as unnecessary as they were chaotic - resulting from governments’ failures to present rational strategies to populations faced with crisis. As our reliance on distant and dwindling resources to fulfill our needs begin to make less and less sense, we will need new strategies to cope with a slower-paced, less wasteful, and more localized lifestyle.
A unique tool for identifying and addressing our community’s vulnerabilities to uncertainties of energy and climate is Post Carbon Cities, a guidebook written for local governments by Daniel Lerch of the Post Carbon Institute. The manual’s executive review and a slideshow can be found at postcarboncities.net/guidebook.
Socorro’s strengths, weaknesses, and resources –as those of Magdalena, Reserve, and San Antonio - are as unique as her people and history. We should begin to develop local solutions to global shortages, while we can.

Dave Wheelock, davewheelock@yahoo.com, is a member of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin living in Socorro, NM. He holds a degree in history from the University of New Mexico. Mr. Wheelock’s views do not necessarily reflect those of the Mountain Mail.