Welcome to MN Sustainability Alliance!
I would like anyone's thoughts on whether they feel that the city of Minneapolis can be truly sustainable. The city has many awful things going for it - like being surrounded by energy gobbling suburbs - but there are opportunities.
Minneapolis now has a light-rail station and the ability to expand as time progresses. Minneapolis is also located in a very fertile region of that nation - and boasts other transportation methods nearby - the Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers. Organic food consumption has grown tremendously since the Cooperative Movement in the 1970s. Minneapolis is the only large city in the country that breaks even on its recycling program.
The city has the highest literacy and education in the nation. It boasts many parks and community gardens that could be utilized for food production either temporarily or long-term.
I don't believe that many aspects of the current city will survive the long emergenc - as in current living condition and infrastructure. But I believe that its progressive and intellectual soul will live on. It is one of the few major cities that could do better than many during the Long Emergency.
And where exactly in the Upper Midwest would anyone feel is the best location to be during the Long Emergency?
I agree that the Twin Cities have a number of favorable conditions for surviving Peak Oil. As you note, the most important, I think, is our tradition of progressive politics which hopefully will foster communitarian responses to the crisis.
Other than the transportation options you mentioned, I think it is worth noting that heavy rail connections for the Twin Cities also are still (somewhat) intact. These will become invaluable as we move into the post-peak period.
Some concerns I have:
I wonder what percent of residences are heated by natural gas? I have read (on theoildrum.com) that natural gas may peak more precipitiously than liquid fuels. I love winter, but without any other heating source for our home at present, -10 degreees will get a little nippy. I have thought about heating alternatives, but frankly I don't think there are many good ones. Passive solar design would be the best. But for the aging housing stock of the sprawling core there is little that can be done. Wood stoves? Where will the quarter million people find wood to burn after the first winter? (And I dread the impacts on the urban forests. Imagine the Mississippi River gorge denuded of trees for firewood.) The other variations of coal, corn and pellet stoves still would require transportation of a significant amount of fuel. Air quality would certainly suffer. Now on the bright side (cynicism alert), global climate change may provide us with more comfortable winters.
I worry the suburban development of the last quarter century has brought us an extensive infrastructure surrounding the metro core like the proverbial albatross. And that development has unfortunately eaten up some of the country's best farmland. In preparing locally, I would hope some of our efforts would be directed at sustaining/ improving food security. This would include looking at policies to protect current farmlands and nurture community-supported agriculture (CSA), farmers' markets, and community gardens. In Minneapolis, backyard chickens may be kept after submitting an application with the city. After TSHTF with Peak Oil, I would hope that livestock (birds and other small animal) raising would be liberalized. (Just have to wait for the current Bird Flu epidemic to pass by first...)
The economy of the Twin Cities will radically change, perhaps to more like 1890 than 1990? I can't imagine some of the high tech industries and research institutions surviving. What will happen to finance or medicine? On the other hand, our role in agriculture, rail transport, and river transit seems assured.
Where is the best location during the Long Emergency? I think it is located in the center of a network of friends/family with a spectrum of complementary survival skills.
Minnesota lies at the confluence of two great ecoregions. The Great Lakes ecoregion, with 40 million people, contains nearly one-fifth of the world's fresh water. It has its own inland waterway through the St. Lawrence and the Great Lakes to the Port of Duluth. The North American Prairie ecoregion, with 33 million people, represents the most productive agricultural region the world has ever seen. It has its own inland waterway, the Mississippi River, from the Gulf of Mexico to the Port of St. Paul. If you had to pick a place to live during times of energy scarcity, this would be it.
Minnesota is a net-metering state: by law, any electricity produced by utility customers has to be purchased by the utility at the retail rate.
Minnesota already produces more ethanol than it can use. Say what you want about ethanol's energy efficiency. It takes more energy to produce electricity, too.
Then there are the local organizations:
- Clean Energy Resource Teams are working on regional strategies for renewable energy;
- Institute for Local Self-Reliance is working on the New Rules Project (relocalization) and the Carbohydrate Economy;
- Minnesotans for an Energy Efficient Economy (me3) is acknowledged nationally for its advocacy on renewables (Peak Oil was on the front page of the summer 2004 newsletter);
- RENew Northfield is a group of citizens who decided to make their community energy independent. They didn't stop with wind power - they have their own bio-diesel buyers' club.
And the list goes on.
So are there any groups in the Twin Cities area that actually meet in person and are dedicated to discussing and achieving sustainability and a comfortable life without our heavy, dependent usage on fossil fuels? Does anybody want to meet in person? It seems like more could be done if there was an actual group rather than an online collective of individuals.
Given that WCCO is going to be covering Peak Oil this week, it does seem this would be an ideal time to get a meeting organized.
A casual meet-up at a coffee shop or bar might be the easiest to arrange. Could model the meet-up like the weekly gatherings of lefties (Drinking Liberally) and conservatives (sorry, I don't know their moniker) that occur.
A number of people are in South Mpls/ Uptown. Any suggestions for time/place?
A friend of mine attended an educational event for arborists last fall, and Don Shelby gave the keynote address on peak oil. He had the crowd riveted. He is going to have a series on the coming energy crisis on WCCO News April 10 - 14th.
ME3 has info on their website (http://www.me3.org/calendar.html). Look under "Project Energy." Here is a snippet from the ME3 website: "Don Shelby and WCCO TV take on the energy crisis with a series of groundbreaking reports entitled, Project Energy. For the week of April 10, WCCO 4 News at 10 p.m. will devote expansive coverage of the world’s dwindling supply of oil and efforts here in Minnesota to develop alternatives."
The WCCO website is http://wcco.com. As of this evening, they have not yet posted any information on the series, but I suspect they will have web info once the series starts.
Shelby interviews Matt Simmons, Ken Deffeyes, Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, President Carter, as well as local Energy activists Michael Noble and J Drake Hamilton.
For everyone who has a friend who rolls their eyes everytime you try to talk with them about energy issues, this is a chance for them to be informed from a "reliable source." ;)
Preparing for Peak Oil
A workshop at the 2006 Living Green Expo
2:00 p.m. Sunday, May 7, Minnesota State Fairgrounds
Peak oil brings oil depletion and energy scarcity.
To cope, we focus on using less energy,
meeting local needs locally, and the evolution of alternatives.
There are several compelling concerns underscoring the need for energy transition:
• Climate Change: reducing carbon emissions which cause global warming and abrupt climate change;
• National Security: reducing the risk of conflict brought by so many nations competing for worldwide fossil fuel resources;
• Sustainability: reducing our level of consumption and our ecological footprint.
There is one concern, however, that makes energy transition both a critical issue and a trigger for change:
• Peak oil, oil depletion, and energy scarcity.
Oil is a finite resource – there is only so much available. After peak, worldwide oil production will be on the downward slope. This diminishing supply is known as oil depletion. According to the Energy Information Administration of the U.S. Department of Energy, existing oil fields in Saudi Arabia sustain a decline rate of 5 percent to 12 percent. Many other major oil fields in the world (including Kuwait, Mexico, and the North Sea) are in decline as well.
This translates into higher prices, energy scarcity, and the need to transition away from petroleum. The economies of industrialized nations depend on oil for transportation fuels, heating fuels, and products made from petroleum feed-stock: cosmetics, food preservatives, plastics, herbicides and pesticides. That will need to change.
James Schlesinger described the need for transition in his testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations (“High Costs of Crude: The New Currency of Foreign Relations,
rpeck I'm concerned about the alarming natural gas depletion rates in North America.It seems to me that a serious reduction of heat loss from the home (interior insulated shutters)and a sustainable hybrid solar thermal and heat pump system with seasonal energy storage will be required.Has anyone "been there, done that"? or have a better plan?
Preparing Your Community for Climate and Energy Change: Opportunities for Local Sustainability
Wednesday, June 6, 2007, at Continuing Education & Conference Center, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota
Featuring Julian Darley from the Post Carbon Institute
Brought to you by Next Step, the Sustainable Communities Team , at Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.
Minnesota communities face serious challenges due to the interrelated issues of climate change and a projected decline in the global availability of fossil fuels - peak oil. This conference offers local community leaders and concerned citizens an opportunity to learn about the current situation and future projections regarding climate change and energy availability.
http://www.nextstep.state.mn.us/conference.cfm
We welcome you to join the Minnesota branch of the Post Carbon Institute! Please feel free to share ideas in this forum.