The mission of the Post Carbon Institute is to assist communities in the effort to Relocalize and adapt to an energy constrained world. PCI is an international think, action and education tank with 187(and counting!) community "outposts" in 12 countries offering research, project tools, education and information to implement proactive strategies to adapt to an energy constrained world. The development of Post Carbon Institute came out of concern for the environmental, social, political and economic ramifications of global over-reliance on cheap energy.

Post Carbon Eugene raises awareness of and promotes local, sustainable responses to the global crises of declining supplies of cheap, reliable energy; natural resource depletion; climate change and environmental degradation. We advance and support solutions including: reduced consumption and increased reliance on sustainable local assets, rather than finite global resources. We believe that by responding locally, quickly and effectively to these challenges, we have an opportunity to create communities, food supplies, transportation systems and a local economy that meets our true human needs.

Photo is from the Culture Change Workshop, with Mayor Piercy on far right, at the April 2007 Lane County Relocalization Conference(more in "news..." section)
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5/08- The news and events of the past year are being transferred to the 'News from Our Members', as well as 'Community Blog' and 'Forum Discussion' pages, with mainpage content oriented toward a more broad(newly) Relocalizing audience...

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The goal of relocalization is to rebuild societies based on the local/regional production of food, energy and goods while enhancing governance and culture. It is the pro-active response to declining available(fossil fuel) energy and political, social, and economic trends.

Independent oil industry observers such as Sir Colin Campbell, founder of the Association for the Study of Peak Oil/ASPO, Chris Skrebowski of London's 'Petroleum Review', along with agreement from the Post Carbon Institute, estimate world oil production against all variables will peak by 2010. Permanent shortages will ensue, sending out a dramatic ripple effect into all facets of our modern lifestyles. The incredible significance of this moment can be better understood when reading Dr. Robert Hirsch's very current 2005 study for the U.S. Dept of Energy. From the Exective Summary: "The peaking of world oil production presents the U.S. and the world with an unprecedented risk management problem. As peaking is approached, liquid fuel prices and price volatility will increase dramatically, and, without timely mitigation("10-20 years of accelerated effort") the economic, social, and political costs will be unprecedented..." Read that study on our site: www.relocalize.net/peaking_of_world_oil_production_impacts_mitigation_and_risk_management

Bringing this colossal matter close to home is the landmark 2007 Final Report from the Peak Oil Task Force in Portland. From the Executive Summary:
"...The Task Force sees the potential for profound economic hardship and high levels of unemployment, and it recommends having plans in place to adapt social and economic support systems accordingly. Similarly, contingency plans are needed for fuel shortages that may last for several weeks, well beyond the time considered in existing emergency plans...very long lead times[are]required to change such things as transportation and building infrastructure.... Food is a critical resource, and the American food system has become highly dependent on fossil fuels... Food prices will rise, further straining the ability of low-income households to put food on the table... Unemployment could be a major economic and social issue. This is of particular concern, since social services are already stretched to their limits. Vulnerable and marginalized populations are likely to grow and will be the first and hardest hit by rising oil prices." This document is viewable through our listing here: www.relocalize.net/portland_peak_oil_task_force_releases_final_report_descending_the_oil_peak_navigating_the_transition_from_oil_natural_gas

The most important part of Relocalizing involves each of us. Get to know your neighbors. Engage them on the topic of 'energy uncertainty'. Accept their possible reluctance, but keep moving forward. Relocalize as much as you can of your daily lifestyle. Do you have a garden? Cultivate your gardening skills and share skills. Bring work close to home. Dust off your bike and use it every day. 'Telecommute' to work. Reduce your consumption in all facets. Join us as we engage our civic leaders, AND >make leaders from each of ourselves<. We urge you to make use of the news and events here, as well as throughout the international Post Carbon Institute's various projects, through the Relocalize.net link at the very top of this page. And we look forward to seeing you at our next monthly meeting! See the upcoming events page for more...

From Daniel Lerch's Post Carbon Cities; Planning for Energy and Climate Uncertainty guidebook: "Neighborhoods with a strong sense of community are usually the ones that fare best in the long run: citizens, businesses and local institutions help each other weather short-term challenges, and they organize to meet long-term challenges. The knowledge, skills, experiences, and social capital of a strong community contribute more to a city's resilience over time than any multi-million dollar project.
More than anything else, the resilience that comes from a strong sense of community will help your city meet the challenges of energy and climate uncertainty"


"We are the one's we've been waiting for."

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For follow-up on the April 16th Richard Heinberg/Daniel Lerch presentations: "Lane County and Rising Oil Prices: Preparing our communities for the new era of 'energy uncertainty'", a video DVD is being planned for a nominal amount. If you know someone wanting to view the very latest on Peak and Relocalization planning, from two of the leaders, email requests to deeblack@gmail.com

Be sure to watch this space for more on our monthly Peak forum series, including discussion. More also in "upcoming events" blue box on this page... upcoming presentations include June 12th's "The Climate Change/Peak Oil Crisis and the Human Story: What Role Compassion?" with UO Law School's Tim Hicks, Voluntary Simplicity as lifestyle mitigation, and more...


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Some of the latest in Relocalization planning and mitigation, from April 16th's special guest in Eugene, Daniel Lerch:

http://postcarboncities.net/pcc-execsum

Post Carbon Cities: Planning for Energy and Climate Uncertainty
A Guidebook on Peak Oil and Global Warming for Local Governments

by Daniel Lerch, Post Carbon Cities Program Director

Executive Summary

Post Carbon Cities: Planning for Energy and Climate Uncertainty provides guidance and support to local government officials and staff for meeting three critical goals:

- breaking community dependence on oil,

- stopping community contributions to global warming, and

- preparing the community to thrive in a time of energy and climate uncertainty.


The most direct strategy for achieving these goals is to reduce consumption and produce locally: reduce the community's overall consumption, and develop the capacity of local farmers and manufacturers to provide for the community's basic needs. The more your community can get its energy and basic goods from local sources, the less vulnerable it will be to rising and unstable oil prices, and the less it will contribute to climate change.

Energy and climate uncertainty

Most credible observers now recognize that our global climate faces radical change in the coming decades if we do not take immediate and far-reaching action. Peak oil (the coming high point and subsequent decline of world oil production) is not as widely understood, but presents a similarly complex set of challenges.

Time is short to prepare for peak oil and global warming. At current rates of fossil fuel consumption we will most likely pass peak oil by 2010*, and we seriously risk widespread, catastrophic climate change if we do not begin dramatically reducing global carbon emissions.†

The key problem posed by both peak oil and global warming is ultimately one of uncertainty: these phenomena are creating changes in economies and ecosystems at the global, regional and even local levels that we cannot easily predict. For local governments -responsible for managing local public services, planning for future land use and transportation, and protecting the community's economic and social health- this uncertainty creates a wide variety of risks and vulnerabilities. How will local economies be affected if the price of oil exceeds $100 a barrel? How will regional climate shifts affect the local water supply? Local government decision makers need to understand and respond to these challenges.

Incentives to act locally

As many southeastern U.S. municipalities discovered after Hurricane Katrina knocked out regional fuel pipelines in 2005, state/provincial and federal government agencies do not have the ability to meet every jurisdiction's resource needs in times of crisis. Local governments, however, have the flexibility, capacity and motivation to address risk management and emergency response needs in ways that higher-level government agencies cannot.

Local governments have strong financial incentives to address peak oil and climate change. Reducing local oil dependence and carbon emissions means pursuing energy-efficient buildings, locally-controlled energy sources, compact transit-oriented land uses, alternative transportation modes and other aims that are energy prudent, and thus ultimately fiscally conservative. When the challenges created by peak oil and climate change are not future risks but present problems, those communities that have prepared will have distinct advantages over those that haven't.

Local governments are well-positioned to address peak oil and climate change because they have influence over three key areas of urban spatial and economic development:

» Building construction and energy efficiency. Through zoning codes, building codes and the permitting process, municipalities can encourage building designs that save energy and resources.

» Local land use and transportation patterns. Municipal land use and transportation planning decisions directly influence whether people and businesses will have mobility choices that allow them to save energy and money.

» Local economic activity. Municipal economic development initiatives are opportunities to encourage development in low-energy, zero-carbon directions, by both incentive and example.

What local governments can do

The challenge for local governments is not to predict the future, but to plan for the future using appropriate tools and accurate information. Local governments should take a three-pronged approach to addressing energy and climate uncertainty:

» Identify local vulnerabilities based on a careful analysis of the potential impacts of peak oil and global warming on the community.

» Mitigate local vulnerabilities, and contribute to national and global efforts to limit the damage from peak oil and climate change.

» Plan for long-term changes that cannot be avoided, minimizing the disruptions they will cause and taking advantage of the opportunities they will offer.

Over the last fifteen years, hundreds of local governments in the U.S. and Canada have begun systematically reducing their greenhouse gas emissions in response to global warming. Since 2004, when oil prices climbed beyond 15-year highs, a number of local and regional government agencies in both countries have also begun responding to the threats posed by peak oil.

Drawing from the experiences and examples of these early actors -as well as from consultations with dozens of elected officials, managers, planners, architects, scientists and scholars- here are four initial steps that your own city can take in response to energy and climate uncertainty:

1. Sign the Mayors Climate Protection Agreement (U.S.) and/or endorse the World Mayors and Municipal Leaders Declaration on Climate Change. For U.S. mayors, signing the Agreement commits your city to "meet or beat" Kyoto Protocol targets for greenhouse gas reduction, in the absence of federal leadership. Both U.S. and Canadian cities can also contribute to international carbon mitigation efforts by signing the Declaration. See www.coolmayors.com and www.iclei.org/montrealsummit.

2. Join ICLEI's Cities for Climate Protection Campaign to get your city started on reducing energy use and greenhouse gas emissions, and to connect to the resources and expertise of the leading global movement of local governments working on climate change.
See www.iclei.org.

3. Sign the Oil Depletion Protocol, which sets a target for reducing oil consumption across your community. Signing the Protocol sends a signal to citizens, business leaders and municipal staff that your city is serious about reducing its energy vulnerability. It also makes you part of an international effort to dampen the effects of peak oil.
See www.oildepletionprotocol.org.

4. Establish a Peak Oil Task Force to quickly identify the challenges and vulnerabilities your community faces as a result of peak oil. A task force is also a valuable way to introduce businesses, citizens and other community stakeholders to the challenges of energy uncertainty, and engage them in developing a broad-based community response
See Section 6.2, "Guide to establishing a peak oil task force."


Also drawing from these examples and consultations, here are five principles to integrate into your local government's ongoing decision-making and long-range planning processes:

1. Deal with transportation and land use (or you may as well stop now).
Fundamentally rethink your municipality's land use and transportation practices, from building and zoning codes to long-range planning. Make land use and transportation infrastructure decisions with 100-year timeframes. Organize with neighboring jurisdictions to address the land use and transportation challenges of energy and climate uncertainty at a regional level.

2. Tackle private energy consumption.
Use the tools you already have to encourage serious energy conservation and efficiency in the private sector. Engage the business community aggressively, challenging your local business leaders to reinvent the local economy for the post-carbon world.

3. Attack the problems piece-by-piece and from many angles.
Meet your energy and climate uncertainty response goals with multiple, proven solutions, pursuing many different kinds of solutions at different scales. Enlist the entire community, setting clear community goals and spurring action from all sides to meet them.

4. Plan for fundamental changes...and make fundamental changes happen.
Educate and involve your fellow elected officials, staff and community stakeholders about the challenges of energy and climate uncertainty, and challenge them to come up with serious solutions. Lead your city's transition by integrating peak oil and climate change considerations in your own decisions.

5. Build a sense of community. In short, do anything you can to get people talking with each other, forming relationships, and investing themselves in the larger community...

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and...some of the latest in Post-Peak mitigation work, from last month's Oil Indendendent Oakland's Final Report. This tackles the sticky topic of transportation head-on. Something chosen by Eugene's Sustainability Commission as a priority. This is off Daniel Lerch and the Post Carbon Cities website: http://postcarboncities.net/node/2475


"Executive Summary

...The Task Force recommends first and foremost that the City formally adopt the Oil Depletion Protocol. This is the approach set forth by author Richard Heinberg in his book by the same title which outlines a plan to avert disaster by having all nations commit to reducing oil usage by approximately 3% per year. The OIO recommends that the City of Oakland adopt this protocol locally and to take immediate steps to implement it. While San Francisco has already endorsed the Protocol, Oakland would be the first government at any level in the world to adopt and implement the Protocol.

Quite simply, if Oakland is to reduce its dependence on oil, its residents must DRIVE LESS. This is the title of Chapter 1 and includes the two most important recommendations of the Task Force. They are:

Begin the process of gradually redesigning the city so that residents can reduce their automobile dependence. This can be done by creating vibrant neighborhoods where jobs, housing and a full range of services are available within short distances.

Advance transportation alternatives so that when residents do need to travel, they have options other than driving private automobiles. Details regarding how to accomplish this are included in the report....

...snip...

Chapter 1

Land Use and Transportation
Summary of Task Force Recommendations

1 Redesign the City using the concept of Urban Villages

Step 1— Amend the Land Use and Transportation element of the General Plan and the Zoning Ordinance to create a framework for Urban Villages

Step 2 — Craft high density and mixed use design review standards

Step 3 — Develop a financial strategy for infrastructure and public improvements to support the preferred transportation hierarchy and urban villages

Step 4 — Revise the Transfer of Development Rights ordinance to establish additional conservation and open space areas

2 Advance transportation alternatives to the car

Implement the Pedestrian and Bicycle Master Plan

Develop and implement Public Transit Master Plan

Set up processes and outreach to collaborate with regional transportation agencies and neighboring cities to expand public transit

Encourage transportation sharing

Promote less oil-intensive transport"

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[this inventory is in the "News" section as a Word attachment]
NEIGHBORHOOD RESOURCES INVENTORY

Name: _________________________________
Address: _______________________________
Phone Number: _________________ _ I prefer to be contacted by this method
E-mail Address: _________________ _ I prefer to be contacted by this method


Do you have fruit trees? _ YES _ NO
If yes, what kinds?____________________(please list others on the back of sheet)
Do you have a fruit picker? _ YES _ NO
Do you harvest your trees? _ YES _ NO
If yes, would you be interested in sharing your harvest in exchange for other locally grown crops and/or services? _YES _ NO
If you do not harvest your trees regularly, would you be interested having them harvested by a neighborhood gleaning team, in exchange for a portion of the harvest? _ YES _ NO


Do you have a vegetable garden? _ YES _ NO
If yes, would you be interested in sharing your harvest in exchange for other crops and/or services?_YES _ NO
If no, would you like to have a vegetable garden? _ YES _ NO
If yes, do you have a space for one? _ YES _ NO
If yes, would you be interested in having someone garden (or help you garden) in your space, in exchange for a share of the crop? _ YES _ NO


If you do not have a garden or space for one, would you be interested in helping someone else garden, or gardening in someone else’s space, for a share of the crop? _ YES _ NO
If yes, how far would you be willing to travel?


Do you have a rainwater catchment system to sustain yourself with in times of drought? _ YES _NO
Do you have a compost heap, compost fermenter, or worm bin? _ YES _ NO
If not, would you like to learn about composting and other sustainable gardening practices? _ YES _ NO

_ I would like to learn more about sustainable practices and conserving energy.
_ I would like to teach others about sustainable practices and conserving energy.
_ I have skills to trade for vegetables and fruit grown in my neighborhood (list on back).
_ I am interested in joining a neighborhood gleaning team.

Your Neighborhood Coordinator is: ________________ (541) ____- _______
(e-mail address:)


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Opinion

Register-Guard(Eugene, OR)
Guest Viewpoint

Let's grow more food locally

By Dan Armstrong

Published: January 8, 2008 09:03AM

The Sustainable Business Initiative Task Force offered an optimistic vision in its report to the Eugene City Council last August.

In two pages describing what Eugene could look like in 2020 if the city fulfilled the promise of its 22 recommendations, the task force draws a pleasant picture of a Eugene that has done all the little things to diminish its carbon footprint, achieve zero waste and make a "crystalline" Willamette River the centerpiece of the city's renaissance.

For some, this vision might seem a bit too rosy. It reads more like a chamber of commerce brochure than a sustainability report. There is no mention of peak oil, no mention of possible food insecurities and no mention of the likelihood that gasoline prices might double and double again by 2020.

In addition to climate change, energy prices and food concerns are why the task force was formed. Regardless of business prospects or economic wish lists, no vision of Eugene in 2020 should gloss over these issues.

A primary element of sustainability is food security, and with rising petroleum prices, food proximity is part of the equation. The report mentions hopes for increased business for organic and sustainable farms in the area, but a larger vision of local agriculture is not fully articulated.

Rising freight costs will change the dynamics of food pricing worldwide, and we are likely to see the economic advantage shift toward food sources that are closer to home. This has the potential to reshape the agricultural economy of the entire Willamette Valley. It is crucial to anticipate and facilitate this as part of Eugene's sustainability plan.

For quite some time, there has been a movement in Eugene to buy locally. This means in all realms of Lane County commerce, but the accent has always been on food grown locally or within 100 miles. Such steps as using farmers' markets, taking part in community supported agriculture subscription plans, and frequenting grocery stores and restaurants that buy from local growers gradually have become a part of Eugene life.

Unfortunately, even with this growing awareness, agricultural economist Ken Meter estimates that no more than 10 percent of the food Lane County buys is grown locally, meaning 90 percent of what we eat comes from outside the Willamette Valley. Considering the natural bounty of the region, this seems almost impossible.

Not that long ago, Willamette Valley farms produced a wide variety of food crops. There was a cannery in Eugene and an infrastructure in the valley for a complete local food industry.

In the past 20 years, this capacity has been slowly dismantled. With the price of grains stable and predictably low during the 1980s and '90s, local farmers cut back on growing food and opened more acreage to lucrative nurseries and grass seed farms.

Today, 60 percent of what is grown in the Willamette Valley is grass seed or ornamental plants; less than 20 percent is food, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reports. Despite living in Eden, we buy from elsewhere to feed ourselves. With the impingement of peak oil economics and climate instabilities, there will be increasing incentive to address this imbalance.

In 2003, we spent $560 million in Lane County at retail food stores, according to a report for the Lane County Food Coalition. That figure undoubtedly has reached $600 million by now, and the money is spent to buy products from all over the world.

This convenience has evolved during an era of cheap oil. As petroleum prices rise and the labor advantage of distant markets is minimized by transportation costs, this will change. It is not unreasonable to imagine a time when freight costs alter the market. We could be buying as much as 30 percent of what we eat from local farmers and cycling a significant portion of our retail food dollars back into our own economy instead of sending it to Midwest agribusiness or abroad.

Department of Agriculture statistics show that these kinds of changes are possible. Weather-related price increases recently have pushed wheat past $10 a bushel.

In response, wheat acreage in Lane County has climbed in the last year from a nominal 1,500 to nearly 5,000 — still a low number compared to the 19,000 acres of wheat grown in the late 1970s or the 45,000 acres now devoted to grass seed and clover. But with these kinds of economic forces at play and sustainability's call for decentralized markets, we could very well see Willamette Valley grass seed growers converting meaningful portions of their acreage to food products because of higher profit margins.

A Willamette Valley that grows much larger quantities of food — particularly wheat and legumes, with an emphasis on organic practices — would be a good thing in these changing times. Seeing this as a possibility now, planning ahead so that some of the necessary food industry infrastructure is in place, and regaining the capacity to feed ourselves from local sources should be a central part of any meaningful vision of a sustainable Eugene.


Dan Armstrong of Eugene is a novelist and editor of the Mud City Press (www.mudcitypress.com).

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Post Carbon Eugene formed from a December 2004 community meeting to discuss a lengthy bulletin on peak oil and economic downturn from investigative journalist Mike Ruppert. Since then we've been meeting to discuss and implement ways to lessen the predicted severe impacts past peak oil, including community group networking. Community gardening and urban conversion, neighborhood showings of peak oil DVD primer "The End of Suburbia", and tours of permacultural homes are just some of the events we've worked on, with more to come. Activities you may want to start locally include building a lending library for P.O. related books and videos, planning food growing workshops and work parties to create sustainable solutions to our predicament at each other’s homes (including 'regular' homes, to inspire folks about what they can do at their homes), such as rainwater catchments and solar hot water. There has also been talk of canvassing neighborhoods with a survey to explore awareness of and solutions to P.O., and organizing a “know your neighbor” project.

Eugene and W. Oregon are blessed with a temperate climate, and mild, rainy Winters. We have a longer growing season on very rich topsoil, suitable for re-localizing with in the emerging 're-localized' energy-constrained economy.

In 2008 localizing citizens will continue to work for a future of Abundance through Simplicity. Relocalization aims to rebuild societies based on the local production of food, energy and goods while enhancing governance and culture. It is the pro-active response to declining available(fossil fuel) energy resources and political, economic and environmental trends..