View Asher's first blog post here.

Or read below:

Hi, my name is Asher Miller and I’m a fossil fuel addict.

Now, I don’t mean to make light of something that has such devastating consequences for me, my family, my community, my species, and my planet as a whole. But in some ways the complex and interconnected web of crises we currently face — global climate change... peak oil and natural gas... the depletion of water, top soil and other critical resources... economic growth predicated on the exhaustion of finite resources and economic inequity... geopolitical instability, and on and on — boil down, for each of us, to lives fueled by that stuff we pump out of the ground.

Now, like any other addiction, the first step requires admitting you have a problem. But the next step is all about realizing that tackling your addiction takes help from others. You just can’t do it alone. And that, my friends, is why I’m here. (I suspect it may also be why you’re here.)

I am honored, inspired and not a little awed to have this opportunity to work with Post Carbon Institute and the Relocalization Network: Honored because I’m thankful to have the chance to work side by side with people here at Post Carbon and so many of you in communities across the globe who are working on communal solutions to prepare for a major transition. Inspired because I believe that relocalization is not only THE framework for how we can best make that transition, but also a wonderful opportunity to refashion our communities to be places we actually want to live. And awed because the enormity of this challenge makes my knees shake a little more often than I’d care to admit.

My primary focus in joining Post Carbon Institute is two-fold:

1. To better support each of you to educate your neighbors and relocalize your communities. This includes everything from providing organizing tools through relocalize.net, concrete ideas and plans for initiating projects, sharing resources, facilitating dialogue and knowledge sharing between groups, and just plain listening.
2. To grow the network. This means more active promotion and educational efforts, forming key partnerships, providing more information for visitors who aren’t already familiar with the crisis of “peak everything” and the role of relocalization, and helping local groups in their outreach.

I’m eager to hear any ideas, concerns or questions you may have about how we can best help you. I can be reached at asher at postcarbon dot org.

And finally, a little of my story:

My introduction to relocalization (and peak oil) comes by way of concern over the climate crisis. A couple of years ago, my wife and I had the rare opportunity to quit our jobs to work full time on addressing the climate crisis. We focused on how we could help the silent majority out there who felt either too overwhelmed or uneducated about the problem to take personal action. Keeping in mind Newton’s First Law of Motion, our goal was to move people up the ladder of engagement, even if only just one step, by supporting them to take actions that were within their reach and surrounding them with support networks. The end result was an initiative called Climate Relay.

You can learn a little bit more about my professional background on the Network Team page or by visiting my LinkedIn profile.

On the personal side, I have a two year old son who runs me ragged, a penchant for Monty Python that I’ve sadly never outgrown and a tendency to read books on cosmology when in need of some perspective.

I’m glad to be here and look forward to learning more from all of you.

Best wishes,

Asher Miller
Relocalization Network Manager