Post Carbon Institute Newletter April 2004

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PCI
Staff



Director

Julian Darley



Communications

David Room



Programs

Celine Rich

ISSUE #1, April 2004

We could be
on the verge

of seeing a collapse of 30% or 40%

of [Saudi] production in the imminent future,
and imminent means sometime

in the next three to five years - but

it could even be tomorrow.

Matt Simmons, 24 Feb 2004 - Video

Featured Article

A
Tale of Two Planets by Julian Darley

A Report on the Conference "Future of Global Oil Supply: Saudi Arabia"
held at CSIS, Washington DC, February 24th 2004. Matt Simmons, President of
Simmons and Co (the world's largest private energy investment banker), said
that Ghawar, the world's largest oil field, will soon go over the peak and be
in decline. The Saudi's on the other hand said they had 50 years of supply at
the current rate.

PDF
of UK Petroleum Review version / Article
on Post Carbon site

Post Carbon Outposts

Several communities have become Outposts of the Post Carbon Institute: Benicia and Vallejo,
California and Takoma Park, Maryland. The Outposts are groups of concerned citizens
that are working to relocalize their communities for the Post Carbon Age. Several
other communities are in the process of starting up. Outposts are experimenting
with local money, local energy and local food. Some projects are garden networks
and car co-ops. Find out about starting
an Outpost in your community.

Post Carbon People

Marliyn
Bardet initiated the Benicia
and Vallejo Outpost. She began by inviting Julian Darley to give
an informal talk about the implications of peak oil and gas. During this talk,
given to about twenty people in her home, Julian outlined some of the key ways
in which communities can reduce their energy use with the eventual aim of not
using any non-renewable hydrocarbons. A month later, Celine Rich was invited
to give a workshop called "Eating Down the Food Web: Growing Local Food,"
and Julian gave a public lecture called "Blacking Out: the Great Power
Denial." Marilyn and her fellow Outposters are working on developing Garden
Networks, a car co-op, and community currency. Some people are installing solar
power systems and planning to replace their natural-gas fired heating systems.

Accomplishments in the First Year

Since we began in January 2003, Post Carbon Institute has organized over
a dozen events
with prominent organizations such as Center for Strategic and International
Studies in Washington DC, Sustainable Ireland, Dublin Ireland, University of
British Columbia, Vancouver Canada, Texan's United, Austin & Houston Texas,
Green Alliance, London England, New College of California in Santa Rosa. Our
featured speakers have included: Julian Darley; Richard Heinberg, author "The
Party's Over"; Kenneth Deffeyes, Geology Professor Emeratis Princeton;
Jim Baldauf, Texans United, oil man & environmentalist; Mark Sardella, Local
Energy, Santa Fe; Robert Ebel, Chairman Energy Program CSIS; Christopher Flavin,
President Worldwatch; Richard Douthwaite, author of Short Circuit and The Growth
Illusion; and Bill Rees, author "Ecological Footprint". Post Carbon
experiments have begun with the Outposts and our Director Julian Darley has
written a book called "High Noon for Natural Gas: the new energy crisis"
which is due out in June 2004. In 2003, we published the first annual Post Carbon
Report, "The Carbon Chasm."

Get Involved

It's abundantly clear that the transition into the Post Carbon Age
is going to require a tremendous collective effort; the sooner we start the
better. The Post Carbon Institute needs your help and support now. We
especially need volunteers with experience in editing video and audio, transcription,
event planning, web development, and research. We also need donations
to fund our initiatives. Tell celine@postcarbon.org
how you would like to help or ask about our high priority needs. One option
is to host a screening of "The End of Suburbia" in your home, church,
or community center.

Coming Soon: "The End of Suburbia"

With brutal honesty and a touch of irony, The
End of Suburbia explores the American Way of Life and its prospects
as global demand for fossil fuels begins to outstrip supply. Hosted by Barrie
Zwicker. Featuring James Howard Kunstler, Peter Calthorpe, Michael Klare, Richard
Heinberg, Matthew Simmons, Mike Ruppert, Julian Darley, Colin Campbell, Kenneth
Deffeyes, Ali Samsam Bakhtiari and Steve Andrews. DVDs will be available for
purchase from the Post Carbon Institute bookstore shortly.

Relaunch of Post Carbon Institute Website

We have a lot of new content and an enhanced design at the Post Carbon
Institute website.
Design enhancements will continue for the next month, so expect further improvements.
Please visit and participate in our blog, the Post
Carbon Outpost, and our forums on car
cooperatives, urban farming, and local money.

Institute News

We
welcome David Room as our Communications Director. Dave is an entrepreneur with
a strong interest and background in environmental affairs and the use of technology
for communications and collaboration. Prior to the Post Carbon Institute, he
started two small businesses. He has also been an environmental and management
consultant, a systems engineer, and an Intranet developer. He has a MS in Engineering
Economic Systems and a BS in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University.
Please contact dave@postcarbon.org
if you have any questions or comments about the websites, forum, blogs or event
coordination. Dave also generates and arranges interviews for Global Public
Media and is coordinating several software projects to assist with relocalization.

New Video and Transcripts on Global Public Media

• CBC Radio News feature report by Brad Clark: How Low is the flow?
  
• Matt Simmons discussing the state of Saudi Oil wells
  
• Mike Ruppert discussing the likelihood that the U.S. will reinstitute the
  draft
  
• John Ritch, Director General of the World Nuclear Association, being asked
  tough questions about the future of atomic power
  
• Richard Douthwaite discussing the use of alternative currencies during Argentina's
  recent financial crisis


• and more...

Featured Events

Local
Energy: Moving Toward a Post-Hydrocarbon Economy

On Monday, May 3, at New College of California, Congresswoman Lynn
Woolsey, Richard
Heinberg, Ann Hancock, Larry Robinson, and Daniel Solnit will outline
Sonoma County's
answers to fossil fuel depletion and global climate change. 7:30 PM, Santa Rosa,
CA

Oil Peak And Decline Declaration
has over 240 signatories

Without any publicity, the Oil Peak and Decline document at the Citizen's Commission
for Oil Peak And Decline (COPAD) has 270 signatories. If you have not endorsed
the declaration, please do so at copad.org.
If you have, please tell
a friend about the statement.

• Begin building Parallel Public Infrastructure (we are working on research
  and guidelines)
• Write letters to the editor of your newspapers and to your local politicians--
  (mention Peak Oil and Gas)
• Tell your friends and neighbors what's happening
• Start a Post
  Carbon Outpost
• Forward this newsletter to others
• Support our efforts by becoming a member

The Post Carbon Institute newsletter is designed
to inform you of the work of the Institute, which is to help educate
and prepare communities for a world of declining oil production. For
North Americans and those in the British Isles and New Zealand, peak
oil is compounded by heavy dependence on now declining natural gas production.




Help us get this message out to the rest of the world -- please forward
this email and encourage your friends, family members, co-workers, planners,
policy makers, and politicians to subscribe.

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