Post Carbon Cities Blog
The last few weeks have been a particularly interesting time to follow reactions to surging oil prices. Some have been predictably short-sighted, such as calls for offshore drilling and investment in nuclear power. Thankfully, more and more local governments in the US and Europe are pursuing sensible solutions -- most recently at the city, county and even city-state levels.
The last few weeks have been a particularly interesting time to follow reactions to surging oil prices. Some have been predictably short-sighted, such as calls for offshore drilling and investment in nuclear power. Thankfully, more and more local governments in the US and Europe are pursuing sensible solutions -- most recently at the city, county and even city-state levels.
The last few weeks have been a particularly interesting time to follow reactions to surging oil prices. In addition to the spate of news stories about cities struggling with energy costs in their transit services, school districts, and even police departments, we're now hearing about shifts in urban land values and cutbacks in airline service. Perhaps the biggest canary in the coal mine: General Motors is moving to dump the Hummer in favor of subcompact and electric vehicles.
Unfortunately, we're also hearing more of the same old short-sighted solutions, now in their latest repackaging. In just the last few days I came across the same three talking points in four different publications (not to mention one presidential contender's speech):
(1) OK, we admit that global oil scarcity is real...
(2) ...BUT, we could meet our energy needs if only the government would allow us to drill off the coasts and build more nuclear plants...
(3) ...and by the way, global warming (while we now admit it's real, too) is a problem we can still solve with technology!
(Optional talking point #4 for the truly short-sighted: ...and on top of that, it may ultimately "be cheaper just to endure a changing climate" rather than spend a lot of money to fight it. Unfortunately I found that one not in some wingnut anti-science blog but in the somewhat more widely read WSJ.)
Plenty of folks have explained already why points 2, 3 and, yes, 4, are pipe dreams, so I'll focus instead on the much more interesting solutions that some sensible local government leaders in the US and Europe recently started pursuing:
- We recently learned that Alachua County, Florida (county seat: Gainesville) created an Energy Conservation Strategies Commission last year, charged with reviewing the potential effects of global oil decline and recommending actions the County can take -- report due by September of this year. This marks the first official response to peak oil (which is our criteria for listing on our ever-growing Peak Oil Responses page) we've heard of from the US Southeast.
- Two weeks ago, Whatcom County, Washington and its county seat of Bellingham created the second task force in that state, following Spokane a few months ago. This marks the first (as far as we know) joint city-county task force established to address peak oil.
- This week we learned that a resolution is underway within the parliament of German city-state Hamburg to establish various bodies for identifying the local vulnerabilities created by peak oil, develop suggestions for responding to them, and coordinate activities to mitigate them. While this is not yet an adopted resolution, it's the first major peak oil effort by sub-national government officials in Europe that we've heard about. Ausgezeichnet!
This month I'm spending nearly two weeks total in my old stomping grounds of the New York City metro area. I'm excited to be doing presentations at three institutions that have important roles to play as we plod through the peak oil years: the New York Institute of Technology, the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority and the New York Metropolitan Transportation Council. Economically, this is one of the most dynamic and resilient parts of the United States -- communities, businesses, institutions and governments here have centuries of experience in dealing with crisis and change, and time and again they've pulled through and the region has come out the better for it. I predict it won't be too long before we see some truly sensible and clever solutions to peak oil emerge from this most urban corner of the United States.
Post Carbon Cities is one of the key resources focusing communities on addressing peak oil as well as climate challenges. The inspiration, updated information, and pragmatic assistance that you provide is truly needed at all levels of government.
The letter below was just delivered to the Mayor of Salem, eight Salem City Council members, two Salem officials (Community Development Director, Public Works Director), three Marion County Commissioners, two Mid-Willamette Valley Council of Government Staffers (the Executive Director and the Transportation Planning chief), and the editorial board of the local newspaper, along with a copy of the Post Carbon Institute book mentioned, "Post Carbon Cities." http://postcarboncities.net/guidebook
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June 6, 2008
Dear Salem/Marion County policymakers and influential people:
As an engineer who has studied climate change and energy issues
intensively, I am quite concerned about our area’s unpreparedness for
several significant emerging challenges, namely the global peak in oil extraction and the need for what many people would today call
unthinkably aggressive actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Every day, careful scientists produce more evidence that we have
little time left to prepare for a new world. In this world, energy,
instead of being cheap and abundant, will continue to become and remain ever more costly and even scarce at times. Climate disruption will compel us to see our atmosphere as the very limited and irreplaceable resource that it is and not an infinite sewer that can absorb whatever we care to (or carelessly) emit.
Given foresight, inspired leadership, and great effort, Salem and
Marion County can adapt to the new reality. However, like fire
insurance, this assurance cannot be obtained once the calamity is
clearly here. We have only a limited and fast-dwindling time to act:
to inform ourselves, to educate the community, and to develop an action plan for responding.
You no doubt have heard about the Portland Peak Oil Task Force. You may not know that Bellingham, Washington has improved on that model, commissioning the first joint city/county task force to begin planning for peak oil and the climate crisis. It is time for Salem and Marion County to do the same. I offer you this book, Post Carbon Cities: Planning for energy and climate uncertainty, as an introduction to the problems. I hope you will read it and that you will take the time to look into the many additional resources highlighted. At the least, I ask you to read the executive summary and pass the book on to your staff members and advisors.
I would be delighted to speak with you about this matter, privately
or in public work sessions, and I hope you will set aside time to
consider these important issues as soon as possible. We need to start a serious community conversation on this subject, and we have very little time to lose. I would like to do everything possible to assist you in helping the people in Salem and Marion County prepare for these daunting
challenges.
Sincerely,
/s/ John Gear
Thanks John! Let us know how it goes and how we can be of assistance (you can contact me directly here).
- Daniel