Alliance for a Post Petroleum Local Economy - APPLE Shasta

Community Forum

Molly Brown — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 16:56:23 -0800

Start: 2008-03-13 18:45

End: 2008-03-13 20:45

Alliance for a Post Petroleum Local Economy - APPLE Shasta

How Then Shall We Live?

Molly Brown — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 15:31:44 -0700

I invite comment and dialogue on this topic, starting with comments from John Roshek and me.

Molly

http://www.indyweek.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=88636

Posted on APRIL 18, 2007:

THIS ISLAND EARTH
As ecological anxiety increases, the search for radical solutions begins

By Marc Maximov

What a Way to Go: Life at the End of Empire A film by Tim Bennett and Sally Erickson

After Eden: The Evolution of Human Domination by Kirkpatrick Sale Duke University Press, 200 pp.

Hope, Human and Wild: Three Stories of Living Lightly on the Earth by Bill McKibben, with a new afterword Milkweed Editions, 232 pp.

[image-1]On a freezing night last November, a crush of concerned citizens packed into the General Store Café in Pittsboro for a special screening by Chatham County documentarians Tim Bennett and Sally Erickson. What a Way to Go: Life at the End of Empire, a bleak, relentless, ecological horror film, played to a rapt house. While most Americans shrug off global warming as somebody else's problem, at this film's conclusion the viewers sat in a circle to discuss the inconvenient truths it raised. If Bennett and Erickson were recruiting fellow foot soldiers in the battle for our planet's future, we were a Coalition of the Willing. But after the show the practical obstacles to saving the planet were all too clear: We all strapped ourselves to thousands of pounds of steel, fired up noxious internal combustion engines, and drove off into the night.

Judging solely by the increased media attention, people are finally starting to confront the implications of a damaged planet (global warming was even the cover story of the March 12 issue of Sports Illustrated). On Feb. 2, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released its most strongly worded warning to date, telling us that it is now a near certainty that human activity is responsible for the rise in world temperatures.

The greater American populace is ready to respond to the panel's increasingly dire warnings the same way it's responded in the past—by doing absolutely nothing—and with few exceptions, our brave leaders are also poised to spring into inaction. For those who actually care about the plight of the natural world, the film screening in Pittsboro, with its disjunction between good intentions and effective action, illustrates the staggering odds stacked against any chance of meaningful change in our society's consumption patterns.

Even if our hearts and minds are in the right place, it's our bodies, what with all the eating and schlepping around, that are taking us, environmentally speaking, to the other place (16 percent more efficiently in a Toyota Prius!). Since practical solutions at a scale that would effect real change are almost impossible to imagine, much recent environmental thought has focused on simply diagnosing the problem.

The well of anxiety tapped in What a Way to Go is finding many outlets, including Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth, and in new books. One such tome is Kirkpatrick Sale's After Eden: The Evolution of Human Domination, in which he examines the archaeological record in search of the pivotal events that sent us on our destructive path. Earlier philosophers have cited the rise of civilization as the crucial moment, and, indeed, civilization is a prime culprit, with its established pattern of turning harmless bands of wandering apes into plunderous, continent-spanning ant colonies. Surprisingly, Sale places the turning point 60,000 years earlier, while people were still hunting and gathering for their supper. In the popular imagination, "hunter-gatherer" is a catch-all term for pre-civilized peoples, whose ostensibly diverse modes of living are fundamentally alike; by contrasting late-period homo sapiens with its ancestor homo erectus, Sale argues that one hunter-gatherer is not like another.

Sale's story begins 70,000 years ago, with the eruption of Mount Toba, a huge volcano on the island of Sumatra. Notable eruptions of the last few centuries, like Mount St. Helens, Pinatubo, Krakatoa and Tambora, were all puny compared to the apocalyptic Toba event. The invention of writing was still many millennia in the future, so we can only imagine the eruption's terrifying effect on the people who lived through it, people whose anatomy and intelligence were identical to our own. Temperatures plunged and the Earth fell into a persistent volcanic winter, decimating animal and plant populations around the world. Most of our ancestors are thought to have perished. The survivors were forced to find new sources of food.

Where before people had hunted and trapped small game and scavenged for lions' leftovers, excavations from this period show dramatic improvements in weaponry and a change in the animals brought home for dinner. Capable now of bringing down fearsome big game like rhinos, elephants and the giant cape buffalo, this was the moment, according to Sale, when man first imagined himself atop the natural order, separate from and superior to his fellow creatures. Large mammals, their populations already devastated by the Toba event, had a new enemy to contend with, a superpredator. The Sixth Extinction was underway.

Sale, a historian and self-described neo-Luddite, author of a dozen books on a variety of subjects, is careful to point out in the preface that he's not a scientist. He relies on the latest findings of archaeologists and anthropologists, but his assertions are broader and more speculative. His central point is that the prehistoric "advances" celebrated in the first chapters of history textbooks were not inevitable steps on the road to greatness; rather, they were crisis responses to environmental pressures, each one a lamentable stumble in a long decline. Along with big-game hunting and agriculture, Sale disparages the taming of fire (which enabled "farming with fire," and the ability to rapidly affect ecosystems on a large scale); cave art (those lyrical images at Lascaux and Altamira were actually sinister signs of dissociative magic); even language (symbolic thinking led to the distinction between "self" and "other," which validated conquest and social inequity).

Sale's most speculative hypothesis concerns early human psychology. Prehistoric "advances" undermined the mental health of our ancestors, he argues, by alienating them from their life-giving habitat, leaving their descendents with a psyche that's "delusional, and can be maintained only by tortuous ideas of self-importance and wrathful practices of self-enhancement." Our only hope of redemption is a return to the Eden of the title, which refers to the long, peaceful reign of sapiens' immediate forebear, homo erectus. In its 1.5-million-year stretch on Earth, eight times longer than our own, erectus lived in harmony with its fellow creatures. Our survival, according to Sale, depends upon recapturing the primal erectus consciousness we still possess.

While After Eden is a thought-provoking attempt to understand the rapacity that is now so clearly characteristic of homo sapiens, too much of its argument consists simply of turning traditional notions of progress on their heads; progress becomes regress, triumph is recast as failure. It's a reductive, dogmatic primitivism: In vilifying beautiful cave paintings, and in assessing the mental health of Cro-Magnons, Sale makes his ideology do some heavy lifting. Finally, his solution to the present ecological conundrum, a return to the erectus mindset, is an appealing idea, but he admits that, even if we wanted to, we couldn't all run off and become erectus-style hunter-gatherers. It's hard to visualize practical next steps to take to reclaim our erectus mentality.

Like After Eden, What a Way to Go! builds its argument from a survey of experts. Alternately personal and political, Bennett intersperses his family's home movies, campy stock footage and interviews with friends and family with comments from an assortment of authors, scientists, visionaries and cultural critics he and Erickson met when they circled the country by train in the fall of 2005.

Their choice of conveyance was apt, as the film's most memorable image is an extended metaphor that likens our civilization, on its inexorable, self-destructive hurtle, to a runaway train. We're riding to our doom on the rails of peak oil, climate change, mass extinction and population overshoot. The engine is the collection of cultural myths that perpetuate a way of life that's profoundly out of balance. So far the ride has been smooth enough to lull most of the passengers to sleep. It's the dark tunnel ahead that has the filmmakers worried.

Bennett and Erickson certainly did their research. No fewer than 20 experts populate the film, including anarcho-primitivist authors Daniel Quinn (Ishmael) and Derrick Jensen, local environmental scientists like Duke's William Schlesinger and Stuart Pimm and UNC-Chapel Hill's Douglas Crawford-Brown, and other eco-luminaries like Richard Heinberg, Jerry Mander, Richard Manning, Chellis Glendinning and Thomas Berry. With so many experts speaking on so many subjects, the filmmakers decided to organize the film with title pages of topics and subtopics, which gives it the flavor of a PowerPoint presentation. Those already up on their science and well-versed in the tenets of deep ecology won't find much they haven't heard before; but for the average concerned citizen, it's a broad and comprehensive summary.

Sustaining a single, unvarying note of earnest despair for most of its two-hour running time, the compounded effect of all the bad news begins to feel numbing. But it also builds a powerful momentum as one expert after another distills a great many vital and disturbing issues to their essence. Perhaps, in light of the monumental challenges we face, our first reaction should be despair. As Bennett solemnly intones, "I have read many books about the world situation, and I have noticed a curious thing: the happy chapter.... I don't like happy chapters. They've lulled me back to sleep. They suggest that somebody, somewhere, somehow, is handling it. I can just go on with my life."

For those willing to do the hard work of changing deep-seated cultural habits, there's a crying need for the far-sighted to show the way. One such is Bill McKibben, author of the 1995 book Hope, Human and Wild: Three Stories of Living Lightly on the Earth. (On Wednesday, April 18, McKibben will appear at Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh. See Calendar Spotlight on page 34.) In that book, which has just been reissued with a new afterword, McKibben describes three examples of what the cover promises: "True stories of living lightly on the Earth."

McKibben's first true story is of his adopted home, the Adirondacks of upstate New York, and the remarkable resurgence of forests and wildlife in the Eastern United States. The area was almost entirely cleared for farmland in the early centuries of American settlement, but now, with the farmers long gone westward, the woodlands are returning, at a rate of a million acres a decade (an area larger than Rhode Island) in New York State alone. McKibben's two other real-life cases are about a pair of peculiar Third-World locales: the Brazilian city of Curitiba and the Indian province of Kerala.

In Curitiba, a series of chance events in the early 1970s resulted in the appointment of 33-year-old Jaime Lerner as mayor. Lerner is an architect and planner whose rare combination of idealism and pragmatism made him one of the most effective and visionary mayors in the world. Under his watch, though Curitiba's population soared like those of Brazil's other large cities, newcomers were better integrated than in the endless, filthy slums of Sao Paulo or Rio de Janeiro, and the city remained pleasant and livable. The transportation system is one reason for this, and it's the city's most notable success. With an efficient network of dedicated express lanes for buses, some of which carry up to 300 passengers, the Curitiban system is essentially an above-ground subway, at one-hundredth the cost; as a result, citizens of Curitiba use significantly less fuel than the average Brazilian, even though they're more likely to own cars.

Kerala is another example of people doing more with less. Its per capita income is one-seventieth that of the United States, typical for India; yet its life expectancy, literacy levels and low birth rates are equivalent to America's, far better than the rest of the nation. The people are well-educated and healthy, and they take an active part in the political life of the state. While in many respects Kerala's impressive statistics are an aberration in the Third World, McKibben is quick to point out that Kerala, like Curitiba, is no utopia: Unemployment is high and the economy is stagnant. What it is, most importantly for Americans, is a counterargument to the pervasive idea that a high level of consumption is necessary for a high quality of life.

In the new afterword to the 2007 edition of Hope, McKibben relates continued positive developments in Curitiba and Kerala (the news from the Adirondacks is mixed); even more promising, some of their innovations have spread to other parts of the developing world. Ideally, we in America could learn from their examples as well. "The lesson," he writes, "is that some of our fears about simpler living are unjustified. It is not a choice between suburban America and dying at thirty-five, between Wal-Mart and hunger.... The average American income is seventy times the average Keralite one—there is some latitude for change."

The question of whether we humans have damaged our habitat has been definitively settled. Now the question is whether we have the will to change. Can we eat more sustainably and locally? Can we plan our cities on a human scale? Can we do without so much stuff? For the first time in human history, we have proof that the local insults we've perpetrated on the natural world have accrued to a global ledger, with unknown consequences for the planet and every living thing on it. Each generation likes to think it occupies a special place in history. The 6.5 billion souls currently drawing breath may have the strongest claim yet.

For information on What a Way to Go: Life at the End of Empire, visit www.whatawaytogomovie.com.

Alliance for a Post Petroleum Local Economy - APPLE Shasta

A Proper Connection to Food

David Strongman — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 15:32:53 -0700

Alliance for a Post Petroleum Local Economy - APPLE Shasta

Scientists Detail Climate Changes, Poles to Tropics

Molly Brown — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 09:10:35 -0700

Alliance for a Post Petroleum Local Economy - APPLE Shasta

Potluck and Talk on Ashland Community Garden

Molly Brown — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 20:41:41 -0700

Start: 2007-04-12 18:12

End: 2007-04-12 21:00

Alliance for a Post Petroleum Local Economy - APPLE Shasta

Ad Hoc Steering Team Meeting,

Molly Brown — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 07:54:32 -0800

Start: 2007-03-08 12:00

End: 2007-03-08 14:00

Alliance for a Post Petroleum Local Economy - APPLE Shasta

Community Garden meeting

Molly Brown — Sat, 27 Jan 2007 16:45:52 -0800

Start: 2007-02-01 19:00

End: 2007-02-01 21:00

Alliance for a Post Petroleum Local Economy - APPLE Shasta

Living Sustainably and Happily

Molly Brown — Mon, 01 Jan 2007 10:39:19 -0800

FOOD FOR OPTIMISTS

This article appeared in the Ode issue 6

For more and more people the unending stream of media reports on failures, frauds, violence, setbacks and frustration has become a source of growing discomfort. But optimism can still triumph over cynicism. A practical guide for those who want to stay optimistic and healthy.

Choose your information sources carefully

Television news is more entertainment than news. Many local newspapers are advertising vehicles and, therefore, are seldom controversial. Beware of psychic pollution. Learn how to put news in its proper perspective. Many of us suffer from information overload and can become addicted to dramatic news with its life-or-death pitch. This is a manufactured reality, like a drug or alcohol high. Limit your digestion of sensational news. Don't allow your thoughts to become dominated by the lives of strangers and events you cannot control. Be ruthless about what you allow into your mind. Make an agreement with yourself about how much time you will worry about a given subject each day. Stick to it. You will notice a difference in how you feel.

Make your world smaller

The domination of media and advertising can overshadow our personal lives with a bigger, more fearful world. We have to choose which world holds our allegiance. If we really look around our own lives, in our own towns and our neighbourhoods, we see that things are not as fearful or violent as they are often portrayed in the media. We have to trust the reality of our own lives. Get close to your world. Go out walking in the woods near your house or in your neighbourhood. Get to know your immediate environment by getting to know your neighbours and spending more time at home. You will find that a comforting reality exists all around you.

Grow a progressive community

When we feel oppressed by circumstances or by society, it is often because we feel alone. It's important in tough times to find a community of like-minded people. In the early years as parents, questions about our children bring us together, and these early communities can sustain us through our whole parenting lives. We can also develop communities of people who share the same political, social, environmental, or spiritual beliefs.

Infuse everyday events with magic and ritual

Make meals a time of community and connection with loved ones. Eat at home more. Ask friends over for dinner. Turn washing, drying, and ironing clothes into acts that add order and rhythm to life. Rediscover the smell of line-dried clothes. Make your home a place of solace and refuge. Create an inspiring and regenerative personal environment. You will feel a difference.

Sing and dance

In the most difficult of times people sing and dance. Get some new music to listen to in the car or at home. Better yet, get together with friends to listen to and play live music. Teach yourself songs in the shower and the car. Dance anywhere. Dance in the living room, in the car, while you're gardening or working outside. Immerse yourself in music, and it will make you feel better.

Choose your companions carefully

In times of oppression and difficulties, it is especially important to keep good companions. Our companions strongly influence not only our opinion of ourselves, but also our state of mind. The dramatic emotions of others can lead us to develop a more negative and hopeless view of the world. On the other hand, companions who have a new sense of things or who talk of life in positive and hopeful terms can help us to feel strong enough to tackle life's challenges. These friends give us courage.

Lead an examined life

Tough times require honesty and self-reflection. It is easy to take things personally when the chips are down. Increased self-awareness allows us to take responsibility appropriately and to let go of what we can't control. It is important to cultivate the habit of self-reflection.

Focus on others

Sometimes when we are absorbed by a problem in our family or in society at large, we lose perspective. We exaggerate our own importance. Our problems become the worst in the history of the world. Helping others, especially children, can put things in perspective.

Become an activist

Find a cause that you believe in and support it at whatever level you can. Give money or time. Become a member. Educate and organise others. Vote. Register others to vote. And remember that activism is not about instant success, but about long-term social change. Talk to your kids about peace. While others may wonder how to talk to children about war, talk to your children about peace. Protect them from overexposure to war talk and war images. It's important to answer their questions openly and honestly, but follow their lead. Include them in conversations about peace and justice. Talk openly with them and others about your beliefs.

Don't be a victim

Often, when times are hard, we bemoan our bad luck. Why me? Why now? When you can refrain from taking life personally, however, you can act more effectively. Tough times will generate courage in proportion to the difficulty of the situation. It is tempting to criticise things as they are without having any idea of how to improve them. Part of the seduction of modern times is the false belief that this is as good as it gets, that things couldn't possibly be any better. The wisdom of living your own reality despite tough times is that your everyday reality ever improves itself; it always gives birth to a more positive future. Spend time imagining solutions to the problems you face in your life or to the problems of society. Talk to your friends about positive solutions. Take action to add at least one positive solution to your life.

Keep your sense of humour

At the heart of an optimistic spirit lies a hearty sense of humour. When you can laugh at yourself and the world, you can keep perspective. When you can't, you know that you need some help. Reach out to others when you've lost your sense of humour. Watch a funny movie or do The Twist. We must create our own personal realities to raise our children with hope and optimism. We must become increasingly active in re-creating democracy in our lives and in our society. Our personal lives parallel the collective. Speak with your own voice and it will uplift others. Work on your own life and it will inspire others. Come together with one another and you will touch others. Keep hope alive for the future, for the children. Children are the evidence that love, not fear, is the answer.

http://www.odemagazine.com/article.php?aID=3744

Adapted with permission from Mothering (May/June 2003). For subscription information: Mothering Magazine Inc., P.O. Box 1690, Santa Fe, NM 87504-1690, United States, info@mothering.com, www.mothering.com.

Alliance for a Post Petroleum Local Economy - APPLE Shasta

How Close to Catastrophe?

Molly Brown — Sat, 16 Dec 2006 17:16:25 -0800

Alliance for a Post Petroleum Local Economy - APPLE Shasta

Benefit Workshop: The Healing Potential of Non-ordinary States of Consciousness

Molly Brown — Sun, 26 Nov 2006 21:04:52 -0800

Start: 2007-02-02 19:00

End: 2007-02-03 19:00

Alliance for a Post Petroleum Local Economy - APPLE Shasta

Benefit Workshop: Finding One's Role in the Great Turning

Molly Brown — Sun, 26 Nov 2006 20:54:56 -0800

Start: 2007-02-24 09:00

End: 2007-02-24 19:00

Alliance for a Post Petroleum Local Economy - APPLE Shasta

Public forum and meeting

Molly Brown — Sun, 26 Nov 2006 20:41:39 -0800

Start: 2007-01-11 18:30

End: 2007-01-11 21:00

Alliance for a Post Petroleum Local Economy - APPLE Shasta

December meeting CANCELLED

Molly Brown — Sun, 19 Nov 2006 11:07:35 -0800

Start: 2006-12-14 18:30

End: 2006-12-14 21:00

Alliance for a Post Petroleum Local Economy - APPLE Shasta

Friendly Fire

Molly Brown — Sun, 19 Nov 2006 10:58:50 -0800

Author, Affiliation, Date:
David Ehrenfeld, Resurgence, 2006 Issue 239 Teaser:

Most of those advocating the new energy technologies are not suggesting any reduction in overall energy consumption.

Alliance for a Post Petroleum Local Economy - APPLE Shasta

Biodiesel from Algae

Molly Brown — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 10:43:05 -0800

Author, Affiliation, Date:
Green Star Products Press Release, Monday November 13, 2006 Teaser:

Green Star Products Signs Contract to Build 90 Biodiesel Reactors in South Africa

Alliance for a Post Petroleum Local Economy - APPLE Shasta

Processing Acorns for Food

Molly Brown — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 14:00:54 -0800

On Saturday, Nov. 4, 28 people enjoyed Mary Carpelin's workshop on traditional Native American ways to prepare acorns for food. Here are notes about what she taught us:

Processing Acorns for Food

Collect

Collect acorns off the ground. Lay the shells out to dry, one layer thick. Do not dry in the sun.

Shell

Remove the meat from the shells. The outer skin is removed with the shell if the acorns are dry enough. The shells can be cracked with pliers, a rock on a hard surface, pounded with a hammer or any method you find easy. The meat comes out of the cracked shell with a pointed knife.

Grind

Grind the meats to the coarseness of cornmeal. This can be done with a food processor, blender, or pistol and mortar. Be careful not to over grind and turn the meats into a butter.

Leach

Place ground meats inside four layers of cheese cloth. Tie to make a ball. Run or drip water through the ball until the tannin is gone so that the acorns no longer taste bitter. The ball can also be soaked in water and the water changed several times until the bitterness is gone.

Cook

The leached meats can be cooked like oatmeal or baked, taking the place of flour.

Storing

Native Americans stored acorns before processing. They used cedar to keep insects away. An easy way to store acorns would be to put them in a net bag with bay leaves, cedar leaves, or rosemary keep out insects. Hang the bag in a cool, dry place.

The processed flour can be stored if it is thoroughly dried.

________________________________________________________________________

Some of us who have tried leaching acorns since have found running water over the mashed acorns took a lot of time and a great amount of water. I asked Jeff and Cindy Weiss of Bluestone Arc near Montegue how they leach their acorns. Here is their reply:

The trick to quick leaching with minimal amount of water is:

1. After shelling the acorns, use a food chopper to break up the acorns to small pieces, the size of a green pea or so.

2.Dry this for a few days in a dry location.

3.Take the dried nuts, let's say a qt to a half a gallon and put it into a 5 gallon bucket of water, using only about 2 gallons of water to cover the broken acorn pieces. Mix up with a large spoon or your hands and go away. Come back and repeat maybe 5-6 times in a day.

4. By the last rinse taste the bits to see if they are really that bitter.

5. If done, spread out on a stoneware or stainless steel cookie sheet and air dry. If you have a wood stove, set the cookie sheets on metal/stone hot pads. When dry, use a grain/nut mill to grind into acorn meal. If you do not have a grain/nut mill use any blender.

We had a very good crop of white oak acorns this year. We still have several pounds still in the shells. Sampling some of them has revealed no rotting or worm damage. We will process more meal as we need. So far we have put up over 5 lbs of acorn meal. It is great. We use it in pancakes, cereal, breads, and as a thickener for many different sauces.

Good luck to all,

jeff/cindy from the Bluestone Ark

Alliance for a Post Petroleum Local Economy - APPLE Shasta

Peak Oil will change our lives

Molly Brown — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 11:48:39 -0800

Author, Affiliation, Date:
Eric Curren, Augusta Free Press, http://www.augustafreepress.com/stories/storyReader$39709 Teaser:

In crisis lies opportunity. And whatever Washington does, people should start preparing for Peak Oil themselves.

Alliance for a Post Petroleum Local Economy - APPLE Shasta

Bicycle Transportation Plan

Angelina — Wed, 18 Oct 2006 14:24:46 -0700

Greetings!

It was wonderful to see so much support at the Community Bicycle meeting last week at the Stage Door. Thank you so much for showing up.

In a couple of weeks, a smaller "steering committee" will gather in order to discuss the specifics for how and when we will re-introduce Tom Hesseldenz's plan to City Council, so we will not have a formal letter/solicitation for you to sign or submit until further notice.

If you are super motivated to act now, we certainly encourage you to show up for the Planning Commission meeting tonight at 7 pm at the Community Center on Alma St. to voice your support for making the Bicycle/Pedestrian Trails portion of the Circulation Element a high priority on the General Plan Update.

This link may be of interest in forming some talking points at the city and county level:
http://www.bicyclefriendlycommunity.org/howto.htm

Please respond to me personally if you are interested in participating in the Bicycle Transportation Plan Steering Committee, and I will make sure you receive proper notice.

Think positive about Mount Shasta as a thriving, harmonious, sustainable community!

Sincerely,
Angelina Cook

926-2266
reynasolarqueen@yahoo.com

Alliance for a Post Petroleum Local Economy - APPLE Shasta

Bicycle Transportation Plan

Angelina — Wed, 18 Oct 2006 14:20:17 -0700

Greetings!

It was wonderful to see so much support at the Community Bicycle meeting last week at the Stage Door. Thank you so much for showing up.

This link may be of interest in forming some talking points at the city and county level:
http://www.bicyclefriendlycommunity.org/howto.htm

Please respond to me personally if you are interested in participating in the Bicycle Transportation Plan Steering Committee, and I will make sure you receive proper notice.

Think positive about Mount Shasta as a thriving, harmonious, sustainable community!

Sincerely,
Angelina Cook

926-2266
reynasolarqueen@yahoo.com

Alliance for a Post Petroleum Local Economy - APPLE Shasta

How to Manage A Global Energy Crisis: The Oil Depletion Protocol

star man — Sun, 15 Oct 2006 08:21:54 -0700

How to Manage A Global Energy Crisis: The Oil Depletion Protocol October 12, 2006 http://www.satyacenter.com/oil-depletion-protocol by Richard Heinberg Pages: 1: Planning for the Post-Carbon World 2: Adopting the Protocol Planning for the Post-Carbon World "The overwhelming thing we need is a national plan to deal with oil depletion." -- Christine Milne, member of the Australian Senate The Oil Depletion Protocol is a historically significant agreement that promises to set a global precedent for dealing with resource scarcity through cooperation and voluntary moderation rather than competition and conflict. It is inherently simple, calling for a gradual reduction in petroleum consumption according to a transparent formula. And it can be implemented at any level -- internationally, as well as by individual countries, municipalities, businesses, and individuals. The need for such a protocol is becoming increasingly plain. Petroleum is a non-renewable, polluting, and depleting resource on which the world has become dangerously dependent. This in itself should be cause for nations to find ways to reduce their consumption and thus their dependency. However, there is also the problem of uncertain future supply. Long before the last drop of petroleum has been recovered from any given reservoir the possible rate of extraction tends to peak and then fall off for purely physical, geological reasons. Today, most oil-producing countries have already reached and passed their national production peaks and are in steady decline. There is universal agreement that the world as a whole will reach its peak rate of production at some point in the next few decades -- but there is controversy as to when, exactly, the peak will come. While some analysts forecast the maximum flow rate as occurring later than 2030, others say it will be achieved within the next four or five years. Once the peak has passed, global rates of oil extraction will gradually wane, even if demand for oil continues to grow. Unless societies prepare for the event by substantially reducing demand ahead of the event, this will be an oil crisis like no previous one, because it will continue inexorably for decades until rates of extraction have become trivially small. The problem will arise not at the point when oil actually runs out (that moment, everyone agrees, is in the distant future), but at the point when the rate of delivery can no longer match the expectations of consumers. The technical literature on the subject of Peak Oil is robust; for more information please see the "Get Informed" section at http://www.oildepletionprotocol.org, Chart based on data from Exxon-Mobil There is growing evidence that the rate of world oil production has already entered a plateau, indicating the approaching peak. Yet even if the forecasts that place the peak two decades ahead are correct, there is still cause for immediate concern, as analysis undertaken on behalf of the US Department of Energy indicates that twenty years at a "crash program" scale of effort will be needed prior to the peak to prepare societies adequately. This is because most of the mitigation strategies that are possible (developing supplies of alternative fuels or changing transport infrastructure to use fuel more efficiently) will require enormous amounts of investment and many years of hard effort. The world is currently unprepared for a sustained decline in oil availability. Indeed, in nearly every recent year the world has increased its demand for oil by over a million barrels per day. An extended and gradually worsening supply shortfall would lead to economic turmoil. Transportation of people, food, and other goods would be impacted, as would agriculture and the chemicals and plastics industries. Because each of these economic sectors is basic to modern societies, all industries and all segments of the population would feel the effects. High transportation costs would fuel inflation and reduce demand for products while undermining tourism, the automobile industry, and the airline industry. High fuel costs would bankrupt millions of farmers worldwide, leading to an agricultural crisis, while high food transport costs would also conspire to drive up food prices for consumers. While high oil prices would be challenge enough, volatile prices would make matters much worse. Huge levels of investment in new transportation and energy-efficient manufacturing infrastructure will be required over the next few decades, but unpredictable swings in the price of petroleum would discourage both government and the private sector from taking the necessary investment risks. At the same time, oil supply problems are likely to lead to political instability and international conflict. Oil has been a primary strategic resource for decades -- the object of wars, coups, and intrigues. As petroleum becomes more scarce and expensive, competition for supplies will grow and economic turmoil could create conditions for armed struggles, perhaps on a massive scale. Civil or international conflict could in turn exacerbate shortages and undermine investment in new energy sources and technologies and the accompanying processes of transition and adaptation. On top of all this there is the fact that burning oil or releasing it into the environment in the form of petrochemicals produces a range of pollutants. Carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxides from oil combustion contribute to lung cancer, asthma, and cardiovascular problems. Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides contribute to acid rain, damaging the plant life that would otherwise help to clean pollutants from the air. Pesticides, plastics, and chemical components of plastics also make their way into many parts of the natural and built landscapes, causing damage as they go. Some of best-known pollutants, DDT and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), are endocrine-disrupting petrochemicals that affect reproduction and development. Other petrochemicals in common use today also display endocrine disruption effects; for example, bisphenol A (BPA), used to make polycarbonate plastics, is an estrogen imitator and can disrupt the balance of sex hormones in living things that come in contact with it, including humans. Some scientists have linked amphibian population crashes to the presence of BPA. Chart courtesy of NASA and James Hansen However, of all chemical pollutants issuing from the use of oil and other fossil fuels, perhaps none has more worrisome potential consequences than the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2). Burning fossil fuels releases CO2, which traps heat from the Sun, gradually warming the oceans, the atmosphere, and the Earth's surface. The consequences of this warming effect are likely to be a less stable climate, worse storms, the disruption of agriculture, rising sea levels, and pressure on species to adapt to changing habitats. Carbon dioxide is naturally present in the atmosphere in such small quantities (0.036%) that the massive amounts released through the burning of fossil fuels have already measurably altered the Earth's climate. Recent studies have shown that global climate impacts are appearing more quickly and severely than was predicted only a few years ago. A five-year European study of Antarctic ice cores found that current CO2 levels are 30 percent higher than at any time in the past 650,000 years. Moreover, the rates of increase are also extremely high -- 200 times faster than anything seen in the ancient past. The study, released in November 2005, also found a "very tight" correlation between CO2 levels and global temperatures. Meanwhile Greenland's glaciers, once stable, are now retreating rapidly. Ohio State University's Byrd Polar Research Center has found that the Jakobshavn glacier, one of the major drainage outlets of Greenland's interior ice sheet, is thinning over four times faster than was the case during most of the 20th Century; at the same time, the rate at which the ice moves is accelerating. When the Greenland ice sheet melts entirely, as it is projected to do perhaps before the end of the century, the world's oceans will rise by 20 feet, drowning coastal cities such as London and New York. In short, our current reliance on oil is unhealthy and unsustainable. It is imperative, for a variety of compelling reasons, that societies find ways to wean themselves from petroleum dependency as quickly as possible. The Protocol "The proposal to cut oil imports to match depletion rate seems to be simple common sense." -- The Right Honourable Michael Meacher, Member of Parliament, UK The Oil Depletion Protocol is perhaps the simplest and most straightforward agreement imaginable to help nations, and the world as whole, reduce oil dependency. It calls for a reduction in both extraction and imports of oil, with the rate of reduction tied to the rate of depletion. The world depletion rate for conventional oil is currently approximately 2.6 percent per year (this is simply the amount being extracted yearly divided into the amount left to extract). The Protocol essentially calls upon signatory nations to reduce their petroleum consumption by that amount annually. This would provide a target, a gauge of progress, and a cooperative framework for a task that will require many years of sustained effort. The Protocol itself need not specify how nations would make the transition away from oil. Presumably they would rely on some combination of two strategies -- developing supplies of alternative fuels, and conservation in their use of petroleum and its products. But because each nation has a unique pattern of consumption and a unique alternative-energy resource base, it would not be helpful to mandate a single set of practices or priorities to be implemented universally. The terms of a draft Oil Depletion Protocol were initially suggested by petroleum geologist Dr. Colin Campbell, founder of the Association for the Study of Peak Oil and Gas (ASPO), in 1996. They include, principally: * Reduction in extraction by each producing country according to its depletion rate; * Reduction in imports by each importing country according to the world depletion rate; * The creation of a Secretariat to monitor reserves, production, and imports, and to calculate depletion rates. Under the terms of this draft Protocol, production and import restrictions would apply only to regular conventional oil, a category that excludes deepwater oil (defined as greater than 500 meters depth); heavy oil (with a cutoff of 17.5 API); natural gas liquids; synthetic oils from tar sands, oil shale, coal, and natural gas; and biofuels such as ethanol and biodiesel. Oil-producing nations would agree, upon adoption of the Protocol, to submit to an independent audit of their reserves and an ongoing monitoring of production. Importing nations would submit to an ongoing monitoring of imports. Some of the terms of this draft agreement are debatable (it may be preferable, for example, to include deepwater oil in the definition of "conventional" oil, rather than excluding it). And further terms may be necessary, for instance, to specify economic penalties for cheating on production or imports. However, the essence of the draft agreement is clear, simple, and non-arbitrary, and is thus likely to be preserved in any accord actually implemented. Why Is It In Any Nation's Interest to Adopt the Protocol? "Peace and prosperity for your children and grandchildren may be ensured or squandered depending upon whether world leaders commit to work together to overcome the challenges of global peak oil. The Oil Depletion Protocol provides leaders and citizens a model for discussion and implementation of cooperative steps to reverse the unsustainable trend of increased depletion of the world is rapidly shrinking oil reserves." -- Roscoe G. Bartlett, Member of US Congress At first thought, it may seem that the adoption of the Oil Depletion Protocol would run strongly counter to most nation's economic interests. It is true that a voluntary reduction in oil extraction and imports will impose challenges to nations that choose to abide by these terms. However, it must be emphasized that a reduction in the global availability of oil is inevitable in any case, and that if nations simply wait for the peak in production to occur before engaging in mitigation efforts, the negative social, economic, and political consequences are likely to be "unprecedented" in scope (this according to the US government-sponsored Hirsch Report). Three nations have already embarked on a transition away from oil even before being presented with the opportunity to adopt the Oil Depletion Protocol. Sweden: In December 2005, Swedish Prime Minister Gran Persson acknowledged that the global oil peak is a problem that needs to be addressed now, and announced the appointment of a National Commission on Oil Independence with the objective of making Sweden oil-independent by 2020. Iceland: With its enormous geothermal energy resources, Iceland in 2001 officially adopted the goal of making the country oil-free by 2050. This small nation of about 270,000 people has a high per-capita rate of greenhouse gas emissions -- despite the fact that about 70 percent of its energy needs, from home heating to electricity for aluminum smelters, are met by abundant geothermal or hydroelectric power. Only Iceland's transport sector is still reliant primarily on oil and gas. The nation's leaders plan to run its cars, buses, trucks, and ships on hydrogen produced from electrolysis of water. Cuba: The Cuban parliament has passed a measure declaring 2006 to be the year of the Energy Revolution. President Fidel Castro, in a speech delivered November 17, 2005, discussed the goal of reducing all energy use in the country by two-thirds. That nation has already dealt successfully with a dramatic forced reduction in oil consumption, consequent upon the collapse of the USSR in the late 1980s. Kuwait, a major exporting nation, is contemplating a voluntary reduction in extraction rates. Questions have arisen regarding the size of the country's actual oil reserves, and the opposition party in the Kuwaiti parliament has called for production to be cut to a percentage of actual reserves so as to preserve some of the resource and its economic benefits for future generations. This is essentially what is proposed for signatory producing nations under the terms of the Protocol. Some other countries are already in compliance with the Oil Depletion Protocol, or nearly so, and could therefore adopt and implement the agreement with little effort. For example, nations already experiencing steeply declining production are, in that respect, in compliance with the terms of the Protocol, whether they wish it or not. Much the same could be said for poor importing nations that cannot afford to purchase oil at current high market prices. By adopting the Protocol, these nations could make a virtue out of necessity and pave the way toward the global adoption of a policy that would work to the advantage of all nations by stabilizing prices and reducing competition. Other countries, while not on track to implement the terms of the Protocol, are at least beginning to contemplate ways to reduce oil dependency. In the United States, for example, there is widespread and growing concern over increasing dependence on oil imports. The US House of Representatives has asked its Subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality to investigate a motion proposed by Representative Roscoe Bartlett of Maryland: that the United States, in collaboration with other international allies, should establish an energy project with the magnitude, creativity, and sense of urgency that was incorporated in the "Man on the Moon" project to address the inevitable challenges of Peak Oil. In Ireland, the national board responsible for providing policy advice to the government on enterprise, trade, science, technology and innovation, has released a report titled "A Baseline Assessment of Ireland's Oil Dependence: Key Policy Considerations. This report examines the extent to which the Irish economy is vulnerable to oil production peaking, as well as the policies required for preparing for the event. Other countries such as Germany, Japan, Spain, and the Netherlands have made important strides in implementing renewable energy technologies (primarily solar and wind). China and India are also investing heavily in renewables, though their consumption of fossil fuels is also growing. Depletion-based and Emissions-based Agreements The very idea of accepting oil depletion protocols and treaties to guard against irresponsible levels of emissions may not be popular or easily endorsable. Yet, in the annals of history it is clear that epochal crises must be faced. The question is whether they are met with intelligence, resolve, and sacrifice or whether decision makers procrastinate to everyone's eventual peril and suffering. The Rt. Hon. Edward Schreyer, former Premier of Manitoba,Governor General of Canada, and High Commissioner to Australia and the South Western Pacific As noted above, scarcity is not the only reason for voluntarily reducing oil consumption; the environmental impacts of emissions from petroleum use are arguably far more important motivators. An emissions-based treaty (Kyoto) already exists. How is the Oil Depletion Protocol different, and why is it needed in addition to the Kyoto accord? The Oil Depletion Protocol differs from emissions-based protocols (e.g., Kyoto) in emphasis and method. Emissions protocols focus on end-of-pipe outcomes from fossil fuel usage, while depletion protocols focus on the supply of those fuels. For both, the goal is a transition away from the use of fossil fuels. Emissions-based protocols require us to change our consumption of energy resources in order to avert environmental harms, which will in turn impact human society. Depletion-based agreements require us to change our consumption of energy resources in order to adjust to the geological reality of declining extraction rates. Emissions-based protocols begin by creating emissions rights and then ration those rights. The Oil Depletion Protocol more simply rations supplies, starting at the wellhead. Throughout much of the world the general public finds it difficult to understand the science of global warming; therefore, even though there is a general, vague understanding that dangerous climate change is somehow related to human activity, there may be insufficient motivation among the general populace in many countries to endure sacrifice, change habits, or support bold energy policies. Oil depletion is inherently easy to understand. Oil is not a renewable resource; only so much exists, and we began depleting the supply when the first barrel was extracted from the ground. We are at the point now, globally, where the cheap, "easy" oil is gone, and what is left will be more expensive to produce and probably cannot continue to be produced at rates that would match demand under -- business-as-usual -- growth scenarios. With emissions-based agreements there is little advantage to any given individual nation in adoption if other nations that are major emitters do not likewise sign on: the climate for the one nation adopting the agreement won't be improved much, because climate change is a global phenomenon. The real advantage only comes if all nations that are major emitters join the accord. This is not as much the case with the Oil Depletion Protocol. While this plan will yield its greatest benefits (in terms of stabilizing oil prices and reducing competition for supplies) if all nations sign on, any single nation will be much better off adapting proactively to the new regime of scarce oil and higher prices than it would be if it simply continued attempting to use petroleum at existing or increasing rates. And the Oil Depletion Protocol will help significantly with that proactive process of adaptation. However, depletion-based transition plans do not do away with the requirement for emissions-based agreements: the latter will be needed to ensure that nations do not substitute low-grade hydrocarbon resources for oil as they reduce their reliance on the latter, thus worsening the global climate crisis. Depletion-based agreements will help create an economic environment in which emissions-based accords can function. If the world approaches and passes the point of peak oil production without having a proactive depletion-based transition plan in place, the resulting economic and political turmoil will reduce societies' ability to respond to environmental problems resulting from global warming. To summarize: Both emissions-based and depletion-based agreements are necessary, and they will work well together. The next few years may offer humankind its last, best opportunity to avert resource wars, terrorism, and economic collapse as it enters the second half of the Age of Oil. If we grasp that opportunity and succeed, we could set a precedent for cooperative, peaceful approaches to all of the resource problems we are likely to encounter during the coming century. The choice we face is between competition and conflict on one hand, and voluntary moderation and mutual assistance on the other. The first steps toward the latter can be readily taken by endorsing and adopting this simple agreement. Next: Adopting the Protocol >>

Alliance for a Post Petroleum Local Economy - APPLE Shasta

Public forum and meeting

Molly Brown — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 18:19:44 -0700

Start: 2006-11-09 18:30

End: 2006-11-09 21:00

Alliance for a Post Petroleum Local Economy - APPLE Shasta

Climate Change in the Shasta-Trinity-Klamath Region

Molly Brown — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 18:16:30 -0700

Start: 2006-10-26 19:00

End: 2006-10-26 21:14

Alliance for a Post Petroleum Local Economy - APPLE Shasta

Using Acorns: A nutritious local food source

Molly Brown — Sun, 08 Oct 2006 21:24:13 -0700

Start: 2006-11-04 09:00

Contact email:
Molly@mollyyoungbrown.com

Alliance for a Post Petroleum Local Economy - APPLE Shasta

Meeting on bike lanes and paths

Molly Brown — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 17:44:05 -0700

Start: 2006-10-12 18:00

Alliance for a Post Petroleum Local Economy - APPLE Shasta

Richard Heinberg: Peak Oil - How It Will Change Your Life (video)

Molly Brown — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 14:55:28 -0700

Start: 2006-10-12 19:00

Alliance for a Post Petroleum Local Economy - APPLE Shasta

Video and discussion

Molly Brown — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 14:46:22 -0700

Start: 2006-09-28 19:00

Alliance for a Post Petroleum Local Economy - APPLE Shasta

Planning Meeting for the Community Garden

SunnyD — Thu, 14 Sep 2006 20:23:16 -0700

Start: 2006-09-21 19:00

End: 2006-09-21 21:00

Alliance for a Post Petroleum Local Economy - APPLE Shasta

Here is the actual study - Re: Diet and hydrocarbon energy use

star man — Tue, 29 Aug 2006 10:34:15 -0700

Previous post did not include the actual Study which can be accessed in the pdf file found in the link below. star*man

http://us.f604.mail.yahoo.com/ym/ShowLetter?box=Inbox&MsgId=4438_9855304...

Here is a Swedish study on energy embedded in different foods. Majority of it would be more or less applicable here. It concludes that you can reduce the amount of fossil fuel energy you eat by a factor of 3, by eating foods that are produced and processed more efficiently. Local production is one factor, but transportation costs are not the most significant thing. Importing food from Central Europe, which is about like bringing food here from Fresno, adds about 10% to energy use. But ship transport increases energy use by about 150%, and air transport by about 2,000%. About one third of the fossil fuel energy we eat is in drinks and sweets.

Alliance for a Post Petroleum Local Economy - APPLE Shasta

FW: Diet and hydrocarbon energy use

star man — Tue, 29 Aug 2006 08:58:39 -0700

Steve Funk

Alliance for a Post Petroleum Local Economy - APPLE Shasta

Time To Listen

star man — Wed, 23 Aug 2006 10:51:47 -0700

Time To Listen

Time flies through the window
And skies turn to grey
Things we take for granted
May soon all go away
All the things that we love
People, places, things
May only be a memory
In the large scheme of things
In the history of this planet
Will we really just be a speck
Don't really want to find out
Since I know it's going to be a wreck
All I know what to do
Is simply just try and prepare
Though at times it's difficult
Because people are so unaware
When those I love won't listen
It just simply breaks my heart
They are the ones I thought would listen
Instead it could break us apart
All I want is for them to think
Life won't always be peaches and cream
Just because it's not on the news and hidden from you
Don't forget things aren't always what they seem
For those of you who understand
Don't you just want them to survive
To try and think outside the box
So we can all just stay alive
Most won't take me seriously
Most will blow it off or laugh
But those of you who understand
We have all seen the graphs
We are talking in our lifetime
Not the ones ahead
The time to do something is now
That's why this word I spread
Just think for second
Not in 10 years but half
Before the shit hits the fan
Are you still going to laugh
Because I'll be the one
Working hard, prepared to survive
And you'll be the one who's shocked
Wondering how you're going to stay alive
I don't mean to be this blunt
But how else do I get it through
When no one wants to listen
I just don't know what else to do
Because I have done the research
And I do know the facts are long
But I really hate it when those who haven't
Try to tell me that I'm wrong
If global warming and peak oil never happen
Still rather be prepared then not
So go ahead and think I'm crazy
But I won't be the one forgot

Evelyn Michele Cosmides --

Alliance for a Post Petroleum Local Economy - APPLE Shasta

Gas Guzzling Food: "The SUV in the Pantry", by Thomas Starrs

SunnyD — Mon, 21 Aug 2006 17:44:01 -0700

I spend a fair amount of time thinking about how to reduce my family's dependence on energy, particularly energy derived from fossil fuels. I commute to work by bicycle or bus, install compact fluorescents when light bulbs burn out, replace major appliances with the most efficient ones I can afford, and cast jealous glances at my friends who drive hybrids or alternative-fueled vehicles. But until recently, I didn't think of myself as an energy glutton because of the food I eat.

Then I read an astonishing statistic: It takes about 10 fossil fuel calories to produce each food calorie in the average American diet. So if your daily food intake is 2,000 calories, then it took 20,000 calories to grow that food and get it to you. In more familiar units, this means that growing, processing and delivering the food consumed by a family of four each year requires the equivalent of almost 34,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of energy, or more than 930 gallons of gasoline (for comparison, the average U.S. household annually consumes about 10,800 kWh of electricity, or about 1,070 gallons of gasoline).

In other words, we use about as much energy to grow our food as to power our homes or fuel our cars.

Overall, about 15% OF U.S. energy goes to supplying Americans with food, split roughly equally between the production of crops and livestock, and food processing and packaging. David Pimentel, a professor of ecology and agricultural science at Cornell University, has estimated that if all humanity ate the way Americans eat, we would exhaust all known fossil fuel reserves in just seven years.

The implications of agricultural energy use for the environment are disturbing. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, agriculture contributes over 20% of human-caused greenhouse gas emissions, including more than 20% CO2, 55% of methane and 65% of nitrous oxide. In addition, our energy-intensive agriculture industry contributes substantially to soil erosion, loss of wildlife habitat, degradation of water quality from chemical runoff and causes other adverse environmental impacts.

Much of the energy embedded in our food comes from growing grains that require further processing to be eaten. Producing a 2-pound box of breakfast cereal, for example, requires the equivalent of burning half a gallon of gasoline.

Eating high on the food chain is even worse. Eating a carrot or an apple gives the diner all the caloric energy in those foods, but feeding these foods to a pig reduces the energy available by a factor of 10. That's because the pig uses most of the energy just staying alive, and stores only a fraction of the energy in the parts we eat. All told, it takes 68 calories of fossil fuel to produce one calorie of pork, and 35 calories of fuel to make one calorie of beef.

Interestingly, the path to reducing the energy intensity of the food system dovetails nicely with the path to a healthy and nutritious diet. It can be summarized in three simple suggestions.

First, eat lower on the food chain. That means more fruits and vegetables, and fewer meats and fish. Meats, poultry and fish contain necessary proteins, but most American diets contain too much protein - about twice the recommended amount. Since 80% of the grains go to feeding livestock, the amount of energy used indirectly to support our diet of double bacon cheeseburgers is staggering. And, if you do eat meat, then try to avoid animals grown in feedlots or factory pens. They take far more energy calories to raise than free-range, grassfed critters, which have only about a third of the embedded energy.

Second, eat more fresh foods and fewer processed foods. Fruits and vegetables again, but also whole grains, legumes and other less-processed foods, have much less embedded energy. In general, the more packaging, the more processing - and the more energy associated with its production.

Third, buy local. Incredibly, the food items on U.S. grocery store shelves have traveled an average of 1,500 miles. And some foods are much worse. Table grapes grown in Chile, transported by ship to California and shipped by truck to Iowa have traveled over 4,200 miles. In response, some agricultural scientists have proposed ecolabeling programs based on CO2 rankings or broader lifecycle assessments.

These analyses provide better information than just miles traveled. For instance, because they travel by air rather than by ship, Hawaiian pineapples are among the most carbon intensive of foods, contributing about 40 pounds of CO2 per pound of pineapple. That is about 10 times the next highest figure among the foods studied.

In my hometown of Portland, Oregon, individuals and businesses alike are starting to recognize and respond to the public's concerns about fossil food. Grocery stores featuring locally grown and organic products are common. Farm stands, farmer's markets and community-supported agriculture operations are thriving. Here, even fast food restaurants are using local and organic ingredients.

For instance, Burgerville is a local chain that buys exclusively Oregon Country Beef, the branded product of 40 family ranches in the region that produce an all-natural product made without hormones, genetically modified grain or any animal byproducts. Burgerville promotes the fact that customers can trace the source of their food from ranch to table - and play a role in sustaining the local agricultural economy. Another local company, Hot Lips Pizza, worked with a group of Northwest farmers to create a Food Alliance-certified local market for organic wheat and flour, providing customers with pizza that is sustainably grown. It also is really, really tasty.

After all, you are what you eat.

++++

Thomas Starrs is Chair of the American Solar Energy Society. Contact him: chair@ases.org

FROM Solar Today, a SustainableBusiness.com Content Partner.

Alliance for a Post Petroleum Local Economy - APPLE Shasta

No more business as usual

Molly Brown — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 10:42:11 -0700

Author, Affiliation, Date:
Byron King, Published on 11 Aug 2006 by Energy Bulletin Teaser:

What ALI SAMSAM BAKHTIARI (retired senior energy expert,formerly employed by the National Iranian Oil Co.) has to say about Peak Oil.

Alliance for a Post Petroleum Local Economy - APPLE Shasta

Spiritual Challenges of Global Climate Change and Peak Oil

Molly Brown — Sat, 12 Aug 2006 22:20:04 -0700

As I watched the story of global climate change unfold in Al Goreâ€™s film, â€œAn Inconvenient Truth,â€ something happened inside; an inner shift took place. I could no longer regard â€œglobal climate changeâ€ as a threat, as something we needed to work to prevent. I saw that it is already upon us, and has been upon us for the last five or ten years.
The conditions for the changes have been building up over the last hundred or hundred and fifty years, but we might have been able to avert their cumulative effects if we had acted twenty years ago. But most of us in the United States and Canada didnâ€™t. In fact, we made things worse. We continued to use petroleum at ever increasing rates, as if there were no tomorrow. And now tomorrow has come.

Brown-outs and black-outs are already becoming commonplace in large metropolitan areas in the record-breaking heat of this summer. Hurricanes and storms are getting stronger and more frequent. If we look at the evidence, we have to realize that these occurrences are not
going to go away in a few years. These are not simply temporary phenomena that will cycle back to â€œnormalâ€ in a few months or even years. There is no â€œnormalâ€ in a time of global climate change.

I feel like I imagine a person might feel receiving a serious cancer diagnosis, when it is clear that he or she may not get well. Only itâ€™s the whole human race that has received this diagnosis, along with many other species, large and small. Yes, it is possible to mitigate some of the effects by making significant changes in our energy use and our relationship to one another and the environment. But our efforts may be too little, too late. We may die prematurely, anyway.

And just like many cancer patients who cannot or will not change their diet or other habits, we may not make the changes needed. Itâ€™s not up to an individual cancer patient this time, yet it is only by millions of people making individual changes that we might be able to improve our situation. If I reduce my energy use (and waste) significantly, while all my neighbors continue in their old habits, my efforts will have little effect on the outcome. On the other hand, if we all think that is the case and donâ€™t make individual changes, guess what? We are all doomed!

I see my comfortable lifestyle changing radically, and probably uncomfortably, in the very near future. I find myself contemplating things I use daily around the house, wondering which will soon be unavailable to me, and how I might be able to substitute for themâ€”or do without.

We can do some things to prepare: create gardens and greenhouses to grow more of our own food, dry clothes outside, buy fuel-efficient appliances and cars, make bicycles our primary mode of local transportation (weather permitting), reduce our travel, insulate our homes, turn the thermostat up in the summer, down in the winter, let go of energy intensive toys, and so on.

Beyond all this, however, is a deeper issue: how shall we live now with this life-threatening diagnosis? We can take our medicine, make the recommended changes, but it may not be enough. Many will die; will you or I be among them? If we survive, we will need to cope with enormous lossesâ€”of family and friends, of familiar habits and routines, of jobs and economic security, and who knows what more. Huge and unpredictable emotional and spiritual challenges lie ahead. How shall we prepare for them?

I donâ€™t pretend to know the answers to that question, but I do think we will need to keep asking it, and similar questions, as we make our way through the unknown territory ahead.

One response I find right now is in appreciating what I now have, while I have it. Many of us live in such abundance and comfort. Rather than living in fear of losing it, I want to fully enjoy it now, perhaps even more keenly knowing it may not last. Rilke asks God, â€œJust give me a little more time!/ I want to love the things/as no one has thought to love them/until theyâ€™re real and ripe and worthy of youâ€ (Rilkeâ€™s Book of Hours, Macy/Barrows translation).

Buddhism teaches about impermanence, how everything arises and passes away and nothing ever remains the same. We all grow old and eventually die. Not only do little things arise and pass away, but also entire civilizations, whole cultures and economic systems. In the normal course of daily life, it is easy to forget this stark fact, or to think of it only theoretically. Global climate change and peak oil may bring home the fact of impermanence to us in a new way, remind us of the preciousness of human life, and call us to practice acceptance, equanimity, and compassion at new depths.

I believe that the changes that lie ahead will call upon each of us to serve one another and our communities in ways we may never have thought possible. I am convinced that such service will prove to be the most fulfilling experience many of us will ever have had in our lives. It may not be â€œfun,â€ but it will be meaningful and rewarding to our souls. Many of the opportunities for service will come along unexpectedly, which means we will often need to respond in the moment. We will be called to serve in our neighborhoods, on the street, in our work placesâ€”not just when doing designated â€œvolunteer work.â€

A client of mine who lives in Sweden recently spoke of making herself â€œavailableâ€ in a new way, available â€œto do the work of the heart.â€ She has been working with Swedish survivors of the 2004 tsunami through the Red Cross, and was recently asked to meet a flight of refugees from the bombing of Lebanon. At first she thought it was a waste of time, because all she did was give people directions in the airport; anyone could have done that. However, as the crowd thinned down, someone asked her to speak with a man who appeared to be in shock. After sitting with him for a while, she figured out what he needed and found others to bring him food, coffee, and a wheelchair. More importantly, she provided him with a sympathetic ear so he could tell his story of living through three traumatic days of war. Amazingly, by the time they parted, they were laughing and joking together, the man restored to himself. In thanking her, he said he would remember this meeting for the rest of his life.

This story struck me as a model for what may happen to many of us in the years ahead. We may be called upon to listen to and support people going through trauma, strangers as well as friendsâ€”and we may never know in advance when we will be needed. At other times, we ourselves may need help, receiving the same kind of support we have given. We are all in this together.

How then can we best make ourselves available to help when needed? I think it is mostly a matter of clearing away inner and outer encumbrances. Outer encumbrances might be commitments that donâ€™t really serve us (or anyone else) anymore: general busyness, a full schedule, a particularly demanding job, volunteer situations that no longer bring us fulfillment, unnecessary house and yard work, or a difficult relationship that takes a lot of time and energy to maintain.

Inner encumbrances, probably more problematic, include beliefs about ourselves and the world, â€œshouldâ€™s and oughtâ€™s,â€ fears and self-doubt, addictions, habits, and so on. I suspect they would fall into the three causes of suffering according to Buddha: attachment, aversion, confusion. To release these, we need to work on ourselves through prayer and meditation, counseling or coaching, spiritual and psychological self-help books, spending time in nature, journaling, and so on. Suddenly personal growth doesnâ€™t seem like a self-indulgent luxury, but rather a necessary preparation for the challenges ahead.

This is but one important dimension of our preparation. Another lies in our coming together in community, to provide food, clothing, shelter, energy, and other life necessities for ourselves and our neighbors. We cannot survive alone, individual by individual, family by family. We can only survive by helping each other, bringing our varied skills and gifts to bear, sharing what we have, and planning together to obtain what we collectively need. Community building and economic relocalization need to begin right now. Indeed they are already happening, in many towns. Relocalization groups are forming, creating community gardens, improving public transportation, encouraging bike use, working with local governments to change regulations to support truly local economies. I believe our towns and city neighborhoods can be transformed in the process into more friendly, vibrant, sustainable communities.

In facing global climate change and the effects of declining oil supplies, we truly face the unknown. Scientists and economists can make educated guesses, but in a chaotic system, anything can happen. We could have searing heat and drought in one region, torrential rains and sudden freezes in another. The prevailing world economy could respond gracefully and gradually to declining oil supplies, adapting as needed, or it could remain on its crash course for several more years, suddenly reaching a breaking point and collapsing altogether. We will have to learn to live with impermanence, in the moment, making many different sets of contingency plans, with a readiness to change course on short notice. This is an essentially spiritual stance, because it depends on our trusting ourselves and the larger whole of life to adapt and respond.

Can we let go of our limiting beliefs and expectations about how itâ€™s supposed to be? Can we find a new flexibility and openness to change within ourselves? Can we let go of ego-driven desires and demands, and accept whatever gifts come to us moment to moment? Can we surrender to the flow of life and death, blessing those who survive us, and giving thanks for the life we have had? These are some of the spiritual challenges we face in the early years of the 21st century.

Who knows what our descendents will face 100 years from now? May they be living in a healthy, sustainable world and may we play our parts in creating that world for them. I believe we are up to it!

Alliance for a Post Petroleum Local Economy - APPLE Shasta

General Meeting

Molly Brown — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 11:00:53 -0700

Start: 2006-09-14 06:30

End: 2006-09-14 08:30

Teaser:

Monthly meeting to update and plan projects

Alliance for a Post Petroleum Local Economy - APPLE Shasta

Venezuela's Cooperative Revolution

Molly Brown — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 10:54:19 -0700

Author, Affiliation, Date:
July/August 2006 issue of Dollars & Sense: The Magazine of Economic Justice Teaser:

An economic experiment is the hidden story behind ChÃ¡vez's 'Bolivarian Revolution.'