|
Post Carbon Newsletter #13 March 2006
1. Fundraising Update
2. Website Update
3. Partnership with the Centre for Sustainable Food Systems at UBC Farm
4. New Office/ San Francisco Summit Recap
5. M. King Hubbert Tribute
6. April 27-29: Peak Oil NYC Conference
7. April 7-9: WELL Conference, Willits, CA.
8. Featured Local Post Carbon Group
9. Calendar of Events
10. Next Newsletter Preview
1. Fundraising Update
The Relocalization Network is growing at an incredible rate! There are now 83 groups in the Network and we are constantly receiving requests to start new Local Post Carbon Groups. Due to this rapid growth we are pleased to announce that we are hiring an additional Relocalization Network Coordinator. This added support will help us provide groups with more assistance and greater resource materials. However, in order to secure additional support for a third Relocalization Network Coordinator and more technical support staff, we must fundraise $70,000.
Your generous donations will allow us to:
- Provide more community outreach materials
- Prepare more extensive toolkits for Groups
- Develop an online educational resource library
- Develop "how to" guides for activities such as creating community gardens
- Offer improved technical support for all groups in the Network
If you believe that the Relocalization Network is doing good work and would like to offer your support, please donate now to Post Carbon Institute!
2. Website Update
Mack Hardy our Technical Coordinator, is working hard to implement the necessary technical changes for us to make our website much more user-friendly. We have nearly finished the redesign phase, and changes to the site will be implemented in the next few weeks. We thank you for your patience and understanding while we work to update the site.
3. Partnership with The Centre for Sustainable Food Systems at UBC Farm
 Post Carbon Institute is very pleased to announce a new collaborative partnership with the Centre for Sustainable Food Systems at UBC Farm. Working on up to 2 acres of the UBC Farm site, PCI will initiate an Energy Farm Demonstration Project. The goal of this project is to use the land to produce local renewable energy from a wide variety of sources such as solar PV, wind turbines and energy crops that will ultimately be used to produce liquid biofuels and to feed a biogas digester. Post Carbon Institute is very excited to have the opportunity to turn an important component of the Relocalization strategy into a genuine research initiative.
On-campus farm facilities have been an important part of the University since its inception. The current 24 hectare farm site was re-organized by the Faculty of Land and Food Systems in 2000 and now features a wide array of teaching, research and community programming. The goal of the Centre for Sustainable Food Systems is to re-create farm and forest lands at UBC into an internationally significant centre for sustainable agriculture, forestry and food systems. The farm is tended by a dedicated base of over 200 student and community volunteers, and is open to all community members who want to research, experience and learn more about the connections between the land, food production and community.
We would like to thank the CSFS for helping to make this project possible, and we are very eager to begin work on the first stages. We welcome anyone who is interested in interning or volunteering to work on the Energy Farm Demonstration Project. If you would like to get involved please contact demofarm@postcarbon.org.
4. New Office/ San Francisco Summit Recap
Post Carbon Institute has moved to a new office! We are now located at:
3683 West Fourth Avenue
Vancouver BC, V6R 1P2
Tel (604) 736-9000
Fax (604) 736-9001
Thank you for your patience while we were in the process of moving, we are fully operational again and are very happy to be in our new space!
Post Carbon Institute held a summit in San Francisco, February 9-13, 2006. The goal of the summit was to evaluate our past progress in order to set goals for the coming year and to envision future projects. The summit was very successful in helping us consider new opportunities, investigate prospective partnerships, set specific targets and develop planning strategies. We have truly benefited from the expertise, creativity and insight offered by all of those who participated in this important event. Thank you, we are looking forward to a very productive year.
 5. M. King Hubbert Tribute
March 8, 2006 marks the fifty year anniversary of M. King Hubbert's seminal speech in which he accurately forecasted the 1970 peaking of United States oil production. Few heeded Hubbert's warning and many, including the director of the United States Geological Survey, actively sought to discredit his work. The lack of preparation for this peak on the part of the United States government contributed to the severity of the oil shocks in the 1970's and has led the country to become perilously dependent on foreign oil for daily survival.
In honor of M. King Hubbert's courageous stand, Post Carbon Institute and Global Public Media have created an online tribute that can be found at MKingHubbert.com. The tribute features interviews with King's nephew Michael Hubbert and former Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall. The tribute also includes Hubbert’s Successors I, the first of a series of compilations of brief audio commentaries on Hubbert.
 6. April 27-29: Peak Oil NYC Conference: Local Solutions to the Energy Dilemma
April 27-29, Peak Oil NYC, one of the groups in The Relocalization Network, will hold a conference called Local Solutions to the Energy Dilemma. The purpose of the conference is to both educate the public about energy depletion and to generate a variety of local responses and solutions. The featured speakers including James Howard Kunstler, Albert Bartlett, Derrick Jensen, Michael Klare and David Room among many others, will present their varied opinions and perspectives and will share their insights into the evolution of a low-energy, sustainable society. Participants in the conference will be empowered with the knowledge, connections and inspiration to make profound changes in their lives and communities. For more information and to register for this exciting and important event please visit the Local Solutions to the Energy Dilemma website.
7. April 7-9: WELL Regional Localization Networking Conference, Willits, CA.
Willits Economic LocaLization (WELL), a Local Post Carbon Group working out of Willits, California, is one of the most established and influential groups in the Relocalization Network, and is frequently used as a model by many other groups within and beyond the Network. WELL is hosting a conference with the goal of advancing economic localization efforts through sharing best practices; developing a communications strategy to connect with the general public, business community, and political leaders, as well as working on enhancing regional communication between groups. The focus of this conference is to share ideas among those who are working to implement a transition to greater community self-reliance. A Keynote address will be made by David A. Schaller, Sustainable Development Coordinator in the Denver Regional Office of the US Environmental Protection Agency, and Julian Darley and Celine Rich, founders of the Post Carbon Institute will host a workshop on regional strategies to maintain and build momentum among relocalization groups. Conference registration materials and schedule are available at www.willitseconomiclocalization.org.
 8. Featured Local Post Carbon Group
This past month members of APPLE (Alliance for a Post Petroleum Local Economy), a Local Post Carbon Group in Nevada County, California launched a Peak Oil television show entitled, "Peak Moment: Community Responses to a Changing Energy Future". The show is a weekly half-hour program featuring energy news, followed by conversations about local food, energy, transportation, preparedness, economics and other responses to the challenges of Peak Oil. The show is hosted by Janaia Donaldson, directed by Robyn Mallgren, and produced by Yuba Gals Independent Media for APPLE. This team is also producing *Peak Moment Special Editions*, featuring speaker presentations, farm tours, human-powered vehicles and more.
Currently, Peak Moment airs on a local community access television station in western Nevada county (California). Episodes will be available online beginning in April at http://video.google.com (type in "Peak Moment.") The group is looking to distribute the show to other communities and to include interviews and footage not only from their region but also from other groups focused on Relocalization.
For more information, and to learn how to get involved in this exciting project, please contact producer Janaia Donaldson at janaia@apple-nc.org, phone 530-265-4244.
 9. Calendar of Events
-March 9, 11:30am-2pm: San Diego Peak Oil & Community Solutions Luncheon and Seminar, San Diego, CA
Help the San Diego Region prepare for the coming decline in world oil production. Enjoy lunch with speaker David Room, Director of Municipal Response at Post Carbon Institute. Lunch is followed by panel and open discussion, and a networking reception, where attendees can compare notes, map strategies, empower each other and work to make our communities more resilient and safe.
San Diego Regional Energy Office
8520 Tech Way, Suite 110
San Diego, CA 92123-1450
Cost: $20 in advance, $30 at the door.
For more information, contact:
Alan Ridley (858) 883-7314 (cell) (619) 660-4425 (w) weprosper2@hotmail.com
Ashley Watkins, Program Manager, SDREO, (858) 244-1195 ashley.watkins@sdenergy.org.
-March 10, 6:30-9pm: Our Energy Future, Huntington Beach, CA
The focus of this important lecture event is to discuss Peak Oil and the prospects for our energy future. The keynote speakers are David Room, Director of Municipal Response, Post Carbon Institute and Randy Udall, Director of Community Office for Resource Efficiency (CORE) and Co-Founder of ASPO-USA. Julian Darley, Founder and Director of Post Carbon Institute will be speaking at the lecture event as well as at the Southern California Association of Governments energy conference held earlier that day.
Huntington Beach Council Chambers
2000 Main Street, Huntington Beach, California
For more information contact:
Debbie Cook, Councilmember, City of Huntington Beach, (714) 842-1873
-March 11: Oil Crash film debut & press conference
-March 31 & April 1: Bay Area Relocalize Project Kick-off: Preparing Our Communities for the End of Cheap Oil
March 31, 7:30 - 10:00pm: Project Kick-off Event
Join us for the official launch event of Bay Area Relocalize, a ground-breaking Post Carbon Institute initiative that is catalyzing a regional transition away from over-reliance on fossil fuels. Hear from leaders in the growing peak oil and community Relocalization movement, and learn about ways you can get involved to bring the production of food, energy, water, and other vital resources closer to home. Featured Speakers include; Julian Darley, Founder and Director of Post Carbon Institute; David Room, Director of Municipal Response, Post Carbon Institute; Jason Bradford, Founder of Willits Economic Localization Project (WELL). The Moderator of this event is Aaron Lehmer, Program Coordinator, Post Carbon Institute.
The Forum @ Laney College
900 Fallon Street, Oakland, CA 94607
Cost: $10 at the door, or FREE with your Relocalization Workshop registration (see April 1 event notice)
April 1, 9:00am - 5:00pm: All-Day Relocalization Workshop: Preparing Our Communities for the End of Cheap Oil
This workshop draws from the experience of featured speakers and instructors Jason Bradford and Brian Weller, founders of the Willits Economic Localization Project (WELL), where their efforts to Relocalize the production of food, energy and basic goods have gathered widespread attention and broad political support. Learn how to:
-Foster public awareness of the need to relocalize
-Utilize the "Inventory, Vision, Plan, Action" process
-Conducting a local asset and natural resource assessment
-Mobilize and activate your community
Humanist Hall
390 27th Street, Oakland, CA 94612
Cost: $95 through March 17 / $125 from March 18-March 31 (includes access to evening kick-off)
For more information and to register contact
aaron@postcarbon.org or visit: http://bayarea.relocalize.net
Please register ASAP - only 50 spots are available for the workshop!
* Limited 50% discount scholarships are also available to those with limited income or from historically under-represented communities.*
-April 7-9: WELL Regional Localization Networking Conference, Willits, CA
Conference registration materials and schedule are available at the WELL website.
-April 27-29, 2006: Local Solutions to the Energy Dilemma conference, New York City, NY
April 27, 2006: The Community Church of New York, 40 East 35th Street, New York, NY 10016
April 28-29, 2006: The Manhattan Center's Grand Ballroom, 311 West 34th Street, New York, NY 10001
10. Next Newsletter Preview
Stay tuned for annoucements on a new Relocalization Network Coordinator and a new Programmer!
The Post Carbon Institute encourages the following courses of action:
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.
Post Carbon Institute is an Initiative of MetaFoundation.
View the Newsletter archives
Click here to donate to the Post Carbon Institute Fund
|
Post Carbon Institute is an Initiative of Metafoundation, Incorporated in Eugene, Oregon
|
|
