Post Carbon Institute thanks Al Gore for so clearly and persuasively articulating the most urgent action needed to safeguard America’s future, and that of the entire world in his speech on July 17, 2008. As the name of our organization indicates, we believe that our highest collective priority must be to get off fossil fuels fast.

We want to offer whatever assistance we can to Vice President Gore in his effort to move America toward 100% renewable electricity by 2018. One way we can help is to add to the public’s understanding of why it is so important to end our addiction to fossil fuels as soon as possible; another is to suggest ten steps that we believe could serve as touchstones in organizing and guiding this historic effort (these are outlined below).

While Climate Change is the greatest environmental crisis humanity has ever faced, it is not the only serious challenge confronting us. Climate Change is a "sink" problem resulting from the dumping of waste products – greenhouse gases - from burning fossil fuels into the atmosphere. But there is a simultaneous ‘source’ problem arising from the depletion of these very same fossil fuels.

Oil is leading the depletion charge: oil production is not only failing to keep up with rising demand, it will soon be in outright decline and no technology will be able to turn that around. This problem is known as "Peak Oil," since petroleum is the first and most important of the fossil fuels to peak and go into decline.

The world is now reeling from high petroleum prices. This is only the start of a worsening trend. On July 15, a bipartisan group of 27 ex-policymakers, including several former Secretaries of State and Energy from both parties, warned both presidential candidates of an "energy tsunami" that threatens the security of future generations unless action is taken now. Oil, natural gas, and coal are all non-renewable resources whose depletion is leading to soaring prices, regional shortages, food supply problems, social tension and international conflict.

Thus, if the climate crisis calls on us to renounce carbon fuels for the sake of future generations, the depletion and decline entailed mean that we must do so for our short-term economic survival. We will use fewer fossil fuels one way or another; but if we fail to adapt intelligently to the post-carbon era, the next few decades will see ever higher energy costs and continued high carbon emissions—leaving us with a ruined environment and a shattered economy, unable to face a future without fossil fuels.

The solution to both climate change and fossil fuel depletion is to develop renewable sources of energy, use less energy, use energy differently—and to make this transition as rapidly as possible.

As global oil production begins to decline and climate change worsens, five great shifts—already underway in some places—will begin to move with great speed and become a global phenomenon:

• We will dramatically reduce overall energy and material consumption
• Private motorized transport will decline and public transport will increase
• Motorized transportation will move from using mainly oil to using mainly electricity
• The layout of settlements will change so that they use less energy, and the movement of urban dwellers people into low-density suburbs will reverse, and
• The supply chain of vital goods and services will be shortened and relocalized.

All of this will mean that Americans will lead more local, resilient, and self-sufficient lives.

This kind of extraordinary transformation has far-reaching implications for government, business and citizens: all major technological shifts in the past two centuries—from the building of the railroads to the flourishing of the Internet—have occurred as the result of government action, private innovation, and widespread adoption by the public.

The transition away from fossil fuels will likewise require political will and the investment of trillions of dollars in public and private money. Much must be done at the national level, but much can also be done by citizens changing their habits and priorities, and by cities rethinking transportation, food systems and power generation.

To succeed, this transition will require leadership on many levels: government vision backed up by policy, regulations and investment, and business ingenuity and private investment to shift to a low-energy system of more local, less globalized, technology, and production. It will require courage from people in all walks of life to embrace a new energy-independent way of working and living.

We will need to learn the lessons of America’s historic triumphs. Achieving the goal of 100% renewable energy in ten years will take the strategy, effort, and determination exhibited in the New Deal, the Second World War, the Marshall Plan, and the Apollo Program combined. Post Carbon Institute believes America can and must realize this vision, and that it is both the responsibility and opportunity of this great nation to regain its pre-eminence as a leader in thought, innovation, and practice.