The final presidential debate on October 15 will focus on domestic and economic policy. Ask moderator Bob Schieffer to grill the candidates on energy policy. Submit your peak oil questions to Denise Li, Senior Producer of Face the Nation, at dlf@cbsnews.com.

Here's a sample question: "In 2005, a DOE report warned of "extremely damaging" and "chaotic" impacts that will occur if the US does not immediately embark upon a "crash mobilization" to prepare for the peaking of world oil production. The GAO echoed this call for urgent action in a February, 2007 report. As President, what will you do to ensure that the U.S. economy continues to function in the face of a finite and increasingly expensive supply of oil?"

Plan C: cooperate, conserve, curtail....

Plan C: Individual and Community Survival Strategies for the Energy Crisis
The Fifth Annual US Conference on Peak Oil and Community Solutions October 31 - November 2, 2008 Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan www.plancconference.org

At
this groundbreaking conference participants will explore strategies for
reducing energy use in the areas of housing, food and transportation,
including both theory and practice. We will examine the long energy
decline of the 21st century, the psychological barriers to rapid
change, and the challenge of persuading our communities to embrace
local, low-energy living. Attendance
at this conference may be of critical importance at this time when the
ongoing energy crisis is being compounded by the very real threat of
credit and financial collapse.

Our survival is now, more than ever, in question. And
it is more urgent than ever that we gather in Michigan to evaluate
survival strategies and disseminate skills for growing food, creating
local food security in their communities, retrofitting homes to reduce
reliance on fossil fuels, and educating their communities to prepare
for the difficult times we are facing.

Skyrocketing
oil prices, mounting geopolitical tensions, grave economic realities,
and dangerous climate changes are threatening our lives and communities
like never before. The age of cheap, abundant fossil fuels is coming to
an end, and urgent action is required to transform our overly
consumptive society into one that uses far less energy.

By
acting now, you can significantly cut your personal household energy
use and overall consumption, support more localized economic
production, and reduce your dependence on high energy transportation in
your daily life. By doing this, you will be helping to create a more
resilient and sustainable community adapted to the coming economic and
ecological storms.

The
conference will also feature in-depth workshops and panels, Connection
Café discussion tables with area experts, an eco tour slide show,
screenings of award winning films, entertainment, tours of local green
buildings, a Green Living Expo, and healthy shared meals.

Schedule of Presentations and Workshops:
* Keynoter John Michael Greer, author of the forthcoming The Long Descent: A User’s Guide to the End of the Industrial Age
* Keynoter Dmitry Orlov, author of Reinventing Collapse: Soviet Example and American Prospects
* Richard Heinberg, Senior Fellow, Post Carbon Institute, author of The Party’s Over and Powerdown (via webcast)
* Katrin Klingenberg, director of the Passive House Institute US
* Peter Bane, editor of Permaculture Activist
* Christopher Bedford, President of the Center for Economic Security and the Sweetwater Local Foods Market
* John Richter, co-founder of the Institute for Sustainable Energy Education
* Pat Murphy, author of Plan C: Community Survival Strategies for Peak Oil and Climate Change
* Megan Quinn Bachman, Outreach Director of Community Solutions; co-producer of The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil

For more information and to register, go to www.plancconference.org, contact Jill Hollowell at Upland Hills Ecological Awareness Center at 248-693-1021, or email info@plancconference.org. Note:
Members of an organization or activist network are encouraged to attend
as a group and receive substantial discounts for 3+ and 5+ member
groups.

Next week I will have a week off work to complete the last big push of planting in my gardens.

I have a large area under mulch mat and mulch for hardy ornamental plants- shrubs, groundcovers, bulbs and succulents, that once established only require pruning, weeding and propagation (and appreciation of course). These old fashioned plants are becoming rather hard to source these days as our subtropical climate places particular demands upon them. At the extremes we can have long hot dry summers, but many drought tolerant plants will fall to pieces when the summer is humid and soggy. Often a plant will perform beautifully for a year or two before collapsing in a pile of black slush. Some of these can be kept going with regular propagation to prevent old age from crowding their growth, but you have to seriously wonder if it is worth the bother. At the other extreme we have a little frost here and there, but the summer is by far the most limiting season.

The right plants for your garden will grow vigorously during the good times, persist solidly through the tough times, and increase steadily so they don't need attention too often, while adding some element of pleasure to the garden.

Right about now is the last chance to establish ornamental plants in the garden in order to give them a reasonable chance of surviving our difficult summers. The trick as always lies in allowing the transplant to form a functional connection to the soil before the top growth dries out severely enough to die. For most plants the root ball needs to be sufficiently disturbed to force the plant to grow new root hairs into the underlying soil. This process takes about half a week for most plants, making these first few days the most critical. In order to help the top growth survive this period it is useful to prune back the top part of the plant as much as possible, while leaving plenty of strong new shooting positions to initiate growth later on. Removing immature leaves is particularly important since these have an unformed waxy skin on them and lose much more water than older mature leaves. They also demand energy to grow, and since that will also be lacking for a few weeks it is essential they are removed as much as possible.

Another trick to reduce water loss by the top growth lies in burying the plant in order to shelter it from drying winds and the sun. Sticks, mulch, straw, short branches off a nearby tree- all of these can be built up around the transplant. Only the smallest amount of light needs to filter through. As long as the basic functional unit of the plant gets a start, ie the root system connected to the soil, and the capacity to grow new leaves, then success will come along sooner or later.

How you dig the hole will also require some consideration. Personally I prefer to spend as little time as possible putting in a plant as necessary in order to give a reasonable chance of survival. So if I have just bought a pricey plant that I only have one of, I will spend a little more time to dig a larger hole, and carefully crumble the soil back around the root ball and pack it down gently. If I am dividing a clump of something and have dozens to put in I will often trim the roots to a convenient length then simply open up a slit in the soil and cram each division in. Using this slap dash technique I may only achieve a 70% success rate, but I will take only a third as much time to do the job. By leaving a spare clump of the same plant to break up next year I can easily go back to fill in the gaps. This strategy of never putting all your eggs in one basket is invaluable. If you lift and divide the entire stock of one kind of plant then the weather can turns completely against you and wipe out everything. Always hold something back in reserve.

Watering by hand at this time can be a useful investment of time. These new plants only need small sploshes of water every few days to keep them hydrated. Doing so at the end of the day is the most efficient and will encourage the growth of new root hairs into the soil overnight. If this is not possible then early morning is acceptable, even at midday is better than not at all. Once most plants have enough of a connection to the soil to stave off wilting then it can be better to let them sit and suffer over summer. They will appear to barely grow, while actually their root system is going deeper and deeper as the summer heats up. Once the pressure eases off in autumn the top growth will make a massive jump to catch up.

By far the most ideal time to transplant whole plants is in the autumn and winter. This gives the plants a much longer time to get established, allowing them to coast through their first summer. Transplanting now is still possible but you cannot expect much more than for the small plants to survive their first summer, ready to take off next year.

At this same time I will be transplanting new varieties of capsicum and eggplant into the vegetable garden, using the same basic principles but being more generous with them in order to encourage rapid growth and production. For me the only vegetables that I will grow from transplants are these two types. For a start these are often slow growing in their early stages, so there is some time saving advantage in getting them to a decent size before giving them bed space. For the same reason they can be difficult to establish from direct sowing using commercial seed, which is often weak and supplied in small quantities. Once you have grown the first generation you should be able to save handfuls of strong fresh seed for direct sowing. All other vegetables are much better grown from direct seeding and I don't think anyone can truly call themselves a gardener until they have mastered this relatively straightforward technique. I'll write more about direct seeding in the next blog entry.....

Don't forget this Saturday at 6pm to come to the PCYC for the Sweet Releaf event- there'll be live music with local band 5 Days Late, as well as gowiiee and the Jimmy Watts Band, The Story of Stuff will be screening and you'll hear presentations from local environmental groups The Community Gardeners, The Shalom Environment Group and SustainaBundy.
Will be a great night- tell everyone you know and pass around the poster!

That also applies to electric cars and air cars.

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By Andy Singer

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Toban Black
(http://tobanblack.net/blog/?p=745)

USA Today - "More golf carts leaving greens" (July 21st)
[via Post-Carbon Cities ]

powering down blog - "my commuter cycle"
... "In this post I'd like to share my commuter cycle with readers - the bicycle I ride to work and back." ...

Lloyd Alter at the Treehugger blog -
"For bicylists, there is safety in numbers"
"The more bicyclists there are on the road, the lower the rate of accidents" ...

Michael Graham Richard at the Treehugger blog -
"D.C. bike-sharing program launches today, first in the USA" (August 13th)

Diamond-Cut Life blog - "How to save money on gas"
"The way we drive has a huge impact on our fuel consumption" ...

No Impact Man blog - "A bike races a car and wins"
... "Once a year, Transportation Alternatives, which advocates taking the New York City streets from the cars and giving them to the people, runs its commuter challenge--bike vs. car vs. transit." ...

A Youtube video -
Bicycle train to Amsterdam from Berlin

Lloyd Alter at the Treehugger blog -
"Slow freight joins the slow movement"
... Certain "wine sellers are keen to display the ‘Carried by sailing ship’ label on bottles" ...

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A related post -
Versatile bicycle parts

Toban Black
(http://tobanblack.net/blog/?p=739)

lemme test this thing out...

(A photo taken by "Idiolector")

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Arrol Gellner on why we shouldn't take automobiles for granted -

"Cars in their present form are no more a permanent fixture of our built environment than were the oxcart, the chariot, or the horse and buggy. We happen to live in the historical apogee of the internal-combustion automobile, but even the smallest degree of historical perspective makes plain that it's merely a temporary visitor -- and an increasingly troublesome one -- on planet Earth."

"History has a way of casually demolishing institutions that seem impregnable, and the internal combustion automobile is surely one of these. Something better, simpler and kinder to the earth is no doubt on the way, assuming that we're smart enough to welcome it."

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Here on the Relocalization Network, Shelby Tay has posted about how to "curb spending on gas and all the related costs of car ownership while still getting around."

(... "some examples of community activities that help us make the transition towards reducing and replacing the ol' automobile." ...)

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Toban Black
(http://tobanblack.net/blog/?p=728)

In downtown Oshawa, Ontario (in August)

With the exception of that last image, all of these photos were taken outside of a bus terminal. The first four murals are beside a busy road -- that is, a road which lot of car drivers use. If you look closely you'll see cars reflected in windows in those photos.

(On the map on Flickr, the photos were taken around here.)

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These murals celebrate automobiles in general, and General Motors automobiles in particular. They're a form of advertising.

Did the city government pay to have them put up?

Regardless of where the money came from, I think the presence of these murals downtown is telling; it's an indication of how entrenched the automobile industry is in the city.

The headquarters of General Motors Canada is in Oshawa, where there is also a General Motors plant -- and various related business operations (including at least one automobile inspection company).

(Decades ago, there were two General Motors plants in Oshawa. However, over the past 20 years, one of these plants was sold off and then eventually shut down.)

Oshawa and Windsor (another city in Ontario -- near Detroit) are the main centres of automobile production in Canada. Oshawa sometimes has been called a "Motor City." (Was that the official slogan for the city at one time? I think it might have been) (Now the city is marketed with the slogan "Prepare to be amazed"!)

There's a car museum in Oshawa.

Here's some information about the history of the automobile industry in Oshawa -
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_Canada
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McLaughlin_automobile
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_McLaughlin

The McLaughlin mansion is a major local tourist site. In Oshawa, the main library branch and one of the high schools also are called "McLaughlin"; the only local art gallery (in a city of almost 150,000 people) is "The Robert McLaughlin Gallery"; there is a "McLaughlin" armoury; and there now is a large "McLaughlin" cancer centre in Oshawa. However, in my experience, people there don't see those connections; it seems that they don't notice those links with General Motors.

I grew up in Oshawa, where I lived for over 20 years. Now I often criticize automobiles, while promoting alternative forms of transportation.
Here are some relevant blog posts - http://tobanblack.net/blog/?tag=transportation

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A post about General Motors -
GM - ‘We need cars that are a little greener’

General Motors and Oshawa also were mentioned in this post -
Gas prices!

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Toban Black
(http://tobanblack.net/blog/?p=658)

 

Look for SustainaBundy-donated reading materials and DVDs now available in the public library, including books about permaculture, organic gardening and sustainable building. DVDs include The End of Suburbia, Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil and An Inconvenient Truth.
Just ask library staff for more!

A letter to the municipal goverment in London, Ontario
from the Post-Carbon London steering committee:
(regarding issues that you can learn more about here and — if you dig through recent posts at the following site — here).

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London Councillors and City Staff:

The proposed big box retail complex -- far from core areas of London, at 168 Meadowlily Road South -- would further increase our dependency on automobiles and fossil fuels, while leading to further destruction of local farmlands and carbon sinks. This proposal is completely unacceptable, given how it is increasing clear that global warming and fossil fuel depletion (including worldwide "peak oil") are realities that we must face. The sooner our city recognizes these facts and begins taking major steps toward embracing this reality, the better off we will be. While we proactively face fossil fuel depletion and global warming challenges, we also can confront smog, oil spills, and various other social and environmental problems associated with the consumption, distribution, and extraction of fossil fuels.

We must refuse to accept development projects that continue to contribute to global warming. A retail complex far from the core of the city is at odds with these important goals, as consumers will tend to reach such retail outlets in cars -- an inefficient mode of transportation.

In addition, the infrastructure required to support this new retail shopping plaza will be an enormous waste. Although proponents will say that these up front costs will be paid for with development fees and taxes, London will be on the hook for all the maintenance and surrounding upgrades required. In an energy constrained future, the cost of attempting to maintain this infrastructure will be an unnecessary burden on Londoners.

Moreover, we should be preserving precious local farmlands toward the outskirts of inhabited areas of the city -- with the Meadowlily woods, and surrounding carbon sinks. Yet, another heavily trafficked big box retail complex would be a magnet for further construction -- over what presently are important farmlands and carbon sinks that we still can preserve.

Important changes can happen at the local and community level. Our city hall should be a centre of proactive change to help residents to deal with looming energy constraints, while -- at the same time -- mitigating ongoing global warming. This means that our mode of business as usual needs to change; but London does not have to be anti-business to make these changes. Instead, we should support businesses which are suited to a lower carbon and lower energy future. We should not be making choices that clearly are a holdover from a past when we did not understand global warming and energy constraints.

Given the aforementioned grounds for grave concerns about this proposal, London city planners and councillors should stand firm by rejecting this submission, which promotes further steps away from sustainability. Approving this development proposal would be an enormous mistake.

Sincerely,
Post-Carbon London

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The Post-Carbon London steering committee co-wrote the above statement (and I don't mean to suggest otherwise by posting it on this blog).

Tonight I was the one from the group who presented a nearly identical version of this letter to the London municipal planning committee at a public participation meeting (which followed an earlier rally to oppose the big box retail development discussed in the above letter).

We had our first meeting on September 9, second Tuesday of the month, using our new format for education - action meetings.

Peter and Donna started us off with updates on the world energy situation. Already there are many places in the world with significant energy shortages. Our jobless rates hit hits highest point in 5 years. State and federal governments have less revenue as people are driving less which is lowering the amount gathered by gas taxes. And, the price of oil is going down, but, not the price of gasoline at the pump...for various reasons.

Cal then gave a presentation on food production concepts for the years ahead when food will not be so easily available in grocery stores. Cal covered subjects of gardening, composting, community gardens, food storage and cooking. Peter, by the way, gave us all lots of tomatoes from his garden.

We ended with a discussion about our organizations' name and if it is a barrier to people wanting to come to the meetings. The main outcome of the discussion is that the choosing of a name has to do with the purpose of the group, and maybe it is time to redefine or reclarify the purpose of our organization. Nathan and Ivy agreed to be a subcommittee on this topic and have since posted a forum piece to foster discussion over the coming weeks until our next meeting.

Thank you to all who came and to everyone who contributed to the meeting!

A short wrap on some important recent developments in the Lytelton Timebank.

If you have been following our blog then you will know this is three+ years in the making. If this is a first time read then a timebank can be best understood by visiting http://www.timebanks.org/ , essentially it is a system of sharing time. The old practice of reciprocity with a modern twist, on a community wide scale. We believe this type of trading is intrinsic to humanity so relevant as ever for today.

Our Timebank operates in the port town of Lyttelton and surrounds, an area with a population of about 5,000. We are situated in a harbour basin connected to the metropolitan city of Christchurch by a tunnel and a couple of roads over the Port Hills. We are unique in that we are geographically distinct from the city, but only 15 minutes from the centre. If you can also imagine a town that has had its own local council until recently, so still self reliant in many ways. Then on top of all this bedrock we have Project Lyttelton. Project Lyttelton started our farmers market, our community garden, our summer and winter street parties, a local newspaper etc, etc and ... the Lyttelton Timebank.

Do you start to get this picture of a vibrant and sustainable community. Well, we are in the place of becoming and the Timebank is one catalyst. Currently we have 110 members representing almost 10% of households participating in this alternative currency.

We have realised that in the area of the Core Economy there are not the same degree of tools to measure the outcomes of all the sharing, meeting and forming relationships, as there are tools for measuring trading in the Cash Economy. So we recently applied for City Council funding to undertake ethnographic research into the social impacts of the Lyttelton Timebank. We have been forming relationships with researchers and one of our coodinators is a professional in this field. We begun to design a model and will publish our initial findings in one year. We look forward to sharing our observations.

We have also realised that we all like to communicate and share information in a variety of ways. At first there was a degree of 'pump priming' where the core membership of about 20 people intentionally traded within the timebank. We attempted to utilize the trading software as much as possible but as time went on and the membership base grew we employed Jacinda to focus on facilitating trade. We acknwledged that only some members would migrate to using the online trading database, (the software Community Weaver is also an excellent timebank management tool). Some members prefer to be telephoned, some prefer emails, to be texted, to read about the trades in the Lyttelton News, or worked out a trade when meeting another member on the street. How Natural! It is no surprise that the way the timebank works is how sharing and trading has always worked, new technologies have simply added to the choices.

I think we are almost at the tipping point now. Our initial target is 200 members, we believe at that point the timebank will really take on a life of its own. Our Foundation group meets regularly to discus how we are growing and how we go forward. We have Initiated research, hired a trading facilitator for 5hrs per week and a timebank coordinator for 2ohrs per week,established a group of key members to develop the timebank and now we are approaching new members and seeking their help in maintaining the trading system.

It is very very exciting to have got this far and we are even more excited about what will happen over the coming year. Stay Tuned

Highlight from blog entry: "... true confidence is built up because people believe that the efforts of everyone working together is a greater force than the challenges they are facing. In accordance with this point of view, confidence is dissipating rather than being built up—particularly in the United States—because our public discourse does not honestly and truthfully identify enough of the actual challenges we are now facing for all of us—collectively—to know that our efforts will be enough to overcome them.

Complete Essay is as follows....

Dateline: September—October, 2008

We are living in very complex and challenging times. More and more people, in more and more parts of the world, are coming to the conclusion that all of us have important responsibilities associated with resolving a significant number of very serious challenges. Currently, here in the United States, the crisis in the financial markets has become the challenge regarded as most in need of urgent resolution.

This writer has viewed or heard observations and commentary on the nature of this financial market crisis, and descriptions of possible solutions, from many credible sources—as a result of access to the Internet, and access to programming provided by C-Span (a private, non-profit company, created in 1979 by the cable television industry to provide public access to the political process). In the context of this essay, this writer will make reference to two comments made by Dr. Peter R. Orszag, who is Director of the Congressional Budget Office (briefly, a government agency with a mandate to assist the House and Senate Budget Committees). One comment is from his testimony before the Committee on the Budget, U.S. House of Representatives, on September 24, 2008 (“Federal Responses to Market Turmoil”)(testimony accessible at http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/97xx/doc9767/09-24-MarketTurmoil.pdf), and one from the Director’s Blog section of the Congressional Budget Office’s website [see blog entry titled “Troubled Assets Relief Act and Insolvencies” (September 25, 2008) at http://cboblog.cbo.gov/].

Why Confidence is Dissipating: Yet Another Viewpoint

Consider first this comment:

“Over the past several weeks, the collapse of confidence in financial markets has become particularly severe.” (Dr. Peter R. Orszag, House Budget Committee Testimony, see p. 3, 3rd paragraph)

It is this writer’s interpretation that Dr. Orszag’s comments in this particular testimony focus primarily on the kind of “confidence” which is built up or dissipated depending on whether there is more or less certainty about the structure and systems of the financial markets. It is also this writer’s interpretation that much of the observations and commentary he viewed or heard relating to the financial crisis focused on the structure and systems of the financial markets—in accordance with the view that the financial markets are the “grid” through which transactions are conducted, and if the “power stations” are constrained from generating “current”, there will be a limit to the number of financial transactions which can be “conducted”, no matter what else happens.

This writer believes that it will always be helpful for people with much experience in the related fields to assist the general public in understanding of the structure and the systems associated with financial and economic markets. However, public discourse of this nature will consistently fail to provide sufficient understanding of how to build up “confidence” as long as it cannot or will not identify enough of the “whole picture” to properly serve the needs of the problem solving process. For true confidence is never really built up by merely convincing a majority of the people involved that they believe the markets are based on sound and practical principles; true confidence is built up because people believe that the efforts of everyone working together is a greater force than the challenges they are facing. In accordance with this point of view, confidence is dissipating rather than being built up—particularly in the United States—because our public discourse does not honestly and truthfully identify enough of the actual challenges we are now facing for all of us—collectively—to know that our efforts will be enough to overcome them.

How We Can Know Which Institutions Are More Likely to be Solvent in the Future

Here this writer will acknowledge that specific expectations are created by the above discussion: in particular, that this writer can offer a sufficiently compelling approximation of the “whole picture” with regard to the challenges which we are facing—and that this writer can provide suggestions for how we can arrive at knowing that our efforts will be enough to resolve those challenges. And here he will assure readers that he intends to fulfill those expectations. But first, it will be helpful to consider one additional comment from Dr. Peter R. Orszag, this one from the blog he provides as Director of the Congressional Budget Office (from September 25, 2008):

“As I stated in my testimony yesterday before the House Budget Committee, the current crisis is fundamentally one of collapsing confidence in the financial markets and ‘providing more transparency about the lack of solvency at specific institutions may be necessary to restore trust in the financial system.’ In other words, to restore confidence, participants in the financial markets need more clarity about which institutions are solvent and which are not. To the extent
proposals like the Treasury one can accomplish this end, it would be a step toward resolving the crisis, not worsening it.” (see above reference, paragraph 3)

As a way of expanding on the above observation, this writer would add that everyone would be more confident if there was also more clarity about which institutions—of every kind—were more likely to be solvent in the future, and which less likely. But unless we can see into the future somehow, how can we be sure which institutions are more likely to be solvent in the future? This writer believes that even though we cannot see into the future, we can achieve much more clarity than we have now about which institutions—of every kind—are more likely to be solvent in the future. We can do so by being more honest and truthful in our public discourse. In our own personal lives, honesty, responsibility, transparency and confidence are all mutually supportive… we must find ways to inspire, encourage, and support honesty, responsibility, and transparency in our public discourse. Returning to the “electricity” metaphor, when the “power stations” are more honest, responsible, and transparent, the “current” more naturally flows to the institutions which are most critical to overcoming the challenges ahead.

We are living in very complex and challenging times. Currently, here in the United States, the crisis in the financial markets has become the challenge regarded as most in need of urgent resolution. However, there are other crises which are also in need of urgent resolutions, both here in the United States, and in other parts of the world. This writer identifies the following five challenges as sufficient to suggest that we—collectively—are in urgent need of problem solving on a scale most of us have never known before:

a) global warming and reducing carbon emissions
b) peak oil and reducing dependence on petroleum based products
c) global inequities and the tragic cycles of malnutrition, disease, and death
d) an increasing world population requiring more resources when many resources are becoming more scarce (with a special emphasis on the increasing number of people who are consuming resources and ecological services indiscriminately)
e) there still seems to be a majority of people on the planet who do not have a clear understanding, well-grounded in personal experience, of which basic elements of community life and cultural traditions lead to mutually beneficial understandings, which lead to cycles of violence—and why it is so important for people to achieve clarity on this subject.

There may be many readers who disagree with the emphasis on these particular challenges. Those readers may then just consider the above list as an example which will serve to illustrate how we can answer the question raised above: “Can we really know which institutions are more likely to be solvent in the future, and which are less likely?” Here is how we can know. Earlier in this essay, this writer stated the following:

“… true confidence is built up because people believe that the efforts of everyone working together is a greater force than the challenges they are facing. In accordance with this point of view, confidence is dissipating rather than being built up—particularly in the United States—because our public discourse does not honestly and truthfully identify enough of the actual challenges we are now facing for all of us—collectively—to know that our efforts will be enough to overcome them.”

The above challenges identified by this writer may or may not be the challenges other people would identify as the five challenges most in need of urgent resolution, but the most important points to be made here are as follows:

1) if public discourse does not honestly and truthfully identify enough of the actual challenges we are now facing for all of us—collectively—to know that our efforts will be enough to overcome them—how will it ever be possible to build true confidence?
2) if our public discourse does succeed in bringing to the forefront enough of the actual challenges we are now facing—and also contributes to the creation of a greater force (in the form of high levels of citizen participation in local, regional, national, and international action plans) than the actual challenges—then we will have established a high degree of true confidence about what institutions will be more likely to be solvent in the future (i.e. the ones which will be most helpful to us in overcoming the challenges ahead).

What then do we need to do? We need our public discourse to be as honest, responsible, and transparent as possible, so we can identify, nurture, support, and sustain ways to build a collective force greater than the challenges we are now facing. The remaining part of this essay will focus on how we, collectively—through the efforts we can make in the everyday circumstances of our lives (by deliberately focusing our time, energy, and money)—can become that greater force.

Creating a Multiplier Effect of a Positive Nature: The “1000Communities2” Proposal

In 1984, the non-profit organization Chattanooga Venture [Chattanooga, Tennessee (USA)] organized a Community Visioning Initiative that attracted more than 1,700 participants, and produced 40 community goals—which resulted in the implementation of 223 projects and programs, the creation of 1,300 permanent jobs, and a total financial investment of 793 million dollars. (For source references, see p. 9 of the “1000Communities2” proposal)

This writer has recently created a 161 page proposal which expands on the community building tools used in the above mentioned Community Visioning effort, and which is tailored specifically so that it will be possible for communities of people to overcome even the most profound challenges. The proposal is titled “1000Communities2”.

The “1000Communities2” proposal advocates organizing and implementing Community Visioning Initiatives in 1000 communities (communities—or segments of rural areas, towns, or cities—with populations of 50,000 or less) around the world

1. which are time-intensive, lasting even as much as 1½ years (18 months), so as to give as much importance to developing a close-knit community as it does to

a) accumulating and integrating the knowledge and skill sets necessary for the highest percentage of people to act wisely in response to challenges identified as priority challenges
b) helping people to deliberately channel their time, energy, and money into the creation of “ways of earning a living” which are directly related to resolving high priority challenges
c) assisting with outreach, partnership formation, and development of service capacity for a significant number of already existing (or forming) organizations, businesses, institutions, and government agencies
d) helping to build a high level of consensus for specific action plans, which will help inspire additional support from people, businesses, organizations, institutions, and government agencies with significant resources

2. which expand on the concept of “Community Teaching and Learning Centers” (created by the “Teachers Without Borders” organization) so that such local community points of entry function as information clearinghouses, meeting locations, educational centers for ongoing workshops (on a broad range of topics related to the Community Visioning Process, and to building the local knowledge base), practice sites for developing “teacher-leaders”, a location for an ongoing “informal” “Community Journal”, a location for listing employment opportunities—and provide a means of responding quickly (by changing the emphasis of workshop content) to new urgencies as they arise

3. and which suggest—as a way of emphasizing the need for an exponential increase in compassion for our fellow human beings—that communities (with the resources to do so) enter into “sister community” relationships with communities in other countries where there has been well documented calls for assistance with basic human needs.

What are Community Visioning Initiatives?

Here it may be necessary to pause for a moment… for there is good reason to imagine that there are many people who do not know what a Community Visioning Initiative is. Unfortunately, at this particular point in time, there seems to be many important initiatives which are critical to overcoming the challenges of our times, but which are not quite “coming through the mist as much as they should be.” Thus, this writer believes it may be very helpful, as a supplement to the above proposal description, to offer in this place a brief “primer” on Community Visioning Initiatives. This “primer” is an excerpt from the “1000Communities2” proposal, mentioned above. It is worth noting that although there are at least 100 cities and towns in the United States which have carried out strategic visioning initiatives or community visioning initiatives, and although some of these initiatives have been time-intensive as suggested by the above proposal, there have not been any such initiatives—that this writer is aware of—which identify community visioning initiatives as a “centerpiece” for problem solving as it might relate to the five challenges listed above… and thus as a “centerpiece” for helping us—collectively—to become a greater force than the challenges we are now facing.

Here is the excerpt from the “1000Communities2” proposal, offered as a brief “primer” on Community Visioning Initiatives.

[beginning of excerpt…]

[From Section 3—“A Summary of the Potential of Community Visioning Initiatives”]
(see pages 5-9 in the “1000Communities2” proposal)

A. What are Community Visioning Initiatives?

1. Well organized efforts to identify problems and brainstorm solutions are a universally recognized approach to problem solving which is commonly used in family, community, business, and government settings in every part of the world.

2. In its most basic format, a Community Visioning Initiative (CVI) is simply a more comprehensive variation of the above mentioned approach to problem solving.

3. Community Visioning Initiatives (CVIs) are especially useful as a means of increasing or maximizing citizen participation in the planning phase of community revitalization efforts.

4. In 1984, the non-profit organization Chattanooga Venture [Chattanooga, Tennessee (USA)] organized a Community Visioning Initiative that attracted more than 1,700 participants, and produced 40 community goals—which resulted in the implementation of 223 projects and programs, the creation of 1,300 permanent jobs, and a total financial investment of 793 million dollars. (For source references, see p. 9 of the “1000Communities2” proposal)

5. Community Visioning Initiatives (CVIs) can be described as a series of community meetings designed to facilitate the process of brainstorming ideas, organizing the ideas into goals, prioritizing the goals, and identifying doable steps.

6. Many CVIs have followed a model which has three basic steps, and which requires 3 to 6 months to complete (this is a variation of the “Oregon Model”2):

a) Where are we now? (or What are we now?)
An assessment which incorporates:
Community Values
Strengths and Weaknesses
Most Difficult Challenges
Most Valuable Resources

b) Where do we want to go? (or What do we want to be?)
Brainstorming and strategic planning sessions
which involve:
Brainstorming Positive or Desirable Community
Improvements
Developing these Ideas into Practical Goals
Prioritizing the Goals

c) How can we get there?
Brainstorming and/or focus group sessions which
answer the questions:
What action plans will help us achieve our goals?
Who will implement the action plans?
How will they be implemented? (With what
funding?)
How will we know if our efforts are achieving the
desired results?

7. Many CVIs require steering committees, preliminary surveys or assessments, workshops, task forces, and collaboration between many organizations, government agencies, businesses, and educational institutions—and seek to build up consensus in the community for specific goals and action plans by encouraging a high level of participation by all residents.

8. This “1000Communities2” proposal incorporates input from many different fields of activity, and emphasizes a time-intensive approach to Community Visioning, which may take up to 11/2 years (18 months) to complete. (For more details, see Section 6 “A 15 Step Outline for a ‘1000Communities 2’ Version of a Community Visioning Initiative” of the “1000Communities2” proposal.)

[end of excerpt]

An Additional Note: The “1000Communities2” version of a Community Visioning Initiative includes a step (Step 12) which is described as follows: “Summary Presentations and Job Fairs”. Here is an excerpt relating to job fairs, from p. 39 of the “1000Communities2” proposal: “The job fairs which come at the end of the CVI process provide opportunities for all key stakeholders in the community (businesses, organizations, institutions, government, etc.) to demonstrate their upgraded awareness—and their interest in the welfare of the community—by offering and facilitating new employment opportunities…”

If even a few….

There are many important initiatives which are critical to overcoming the challenges of our times, but which are not quite “coming through the mist as much as they should be.” Community Visioning Initiatives can be very helpful in exactly these kinds of circumstances, as this community building tool encourages and facilitates the creation of a “constellation” of initiatives by which the best (in view of the participants in the community visioning initiatives) solutions to the most difficult (in the view of the participants in the community visioning initiatives) challenges can bubble up to the surface, be recognized as priorities, and therefore be brought forward as appropriate recipients of people’s time, energy, and money. Many people can realize the wisdom of deliberately focusing the way they spend their time, energy, and money. The result can be a deliberate increase in the “ways of earning a living” which are directly related to overcoming the challenges identified by residents as priority challenges. As the ancient Chinese proverb says: “Many hands make much work light.”

If even a few of these kind of Community Visioning Initiatives generated results similar to those achieved by the Chattanooga, Tennessee (USA) Visioning Initiative carried out in 1984 (see references in both of the last two sections of this essay), people in all parts of the world—keenly attuned when it comes to resolving challenges which require urgent solutions at all levels of society— could be inspired to carry out similar Community Visioning Initiatives. And if many communities carried out similar initiatives, and also achieved significant results, our collective capacity to resolve the challenges of our times would surely begin to accumulate at an accelerating rate.

Concluding Comments

“…the soundness of ideas must be tested finally by their practical application. When they fail in this—that is, when they cannot be carried out in everyday life producing lasting harmony and satisfaction and giving real benefit to all concerned—to oneself as well as to others—no ideas can be said to be sound and practical.”
(D.T. Suzuki, from “Essays in Zen Buddhism”)

Are our economic and financial markets based on sound and practical principles? Are our government and educational institutions being honest, responsible, and transparent about the challenges we are now facing, so that we may be truly confident that our efforts will be enough to overcome the challenges of our times? Which institutions—of every kind—will be more likely to be solvent and sustainable into the foreseeable future, and which less likely?

The above mentioned “1000Communities2” proposal suggests one way in which a significant majority of people can attain a high degree of true confidence that economic and financial markets, government and educational institutions—and all other fields of activity which have a significant role in determining the quality of everyday community life—are based on sound and practical principles, and are likely to be solvent and sustainable into the foreseeable future.

Everyone is involved when it comes to determining the markets which supply the “ways of earning a living”. All of us have important responsibilities associated with resolving a significant number of very serious challenges in the months and years ahead. Communities of people can deliberately create countless “ways of earning a living” which contribute to the peacebuilding, community revitalization, and ecological sustainability efforts necessary to overcome the challenges of our times. We—collectively—can become a greater force than the challenges we are now facing.

Even now, as you are reading this, truly inspiring contributions of genuine goodwill are being generated in a variety of ways—and in a variety of circumstances—by countless numbers of people in communities around the world. A combination of Community Visioning Initiatives, “Community Teaching and Learning Centers” and “sister community” relationships can bring to light the many truly inspiring contributions of genuine goodwill in your community and region, and contribute much to the building of “close-knit” communities of people… communities with a healthy appreciation for each others strengths, communities with a well-developed capacity to resolve even the most difficult challenges—and communities which demonstrate a high level of compassion for their fellow human beings.

Note: In light of the urgent need to increase collaboration between diverse communities of people, anyone may access all IPCR documents (including the above mentioned 161 page “1000Communities2” proposal) for free, at the website of The Interfaith Peacebuilding and Community Revitalization (IPCR) Initiative (www.ipcri.net). In addition, this writer has created an “Educational Materials Outreach Package” which introduces the “1000Communities2” proposal, and which is also accessible for free (see the bottom of The IPCR Initiative homepage).

With much hope for a more peaceful and sustainable future,

Stefan Pasti, Founder and Outreach Coordinator
The IPCR Initiative

"I beg to disagree with any candidate who would say we can't drill our way out of our problem."

Sarah Palin (quoted in this article)
on the future of the United States

---

On oil consumption and dependencies in the United States (in particular) -

by Andy Wahl

---

Toban Black
(http://tobanblack.net/blog/?p=699)

The Queensland Government (in Australia) have recently released a discussion paper on how we can move Toward Oil Resilience.

The entire document is available at http://www.epa.qld.gov.au/publications/p02620aa.pdf/Towards_Oil_Resilien...

I thought some of you may be interested in the 'What you can do' - section. It all fits very well with the Relocalisation Network and Transition Town models.

What you can do

It is up to all of us as Queenslanders to take steps to reduce our reliance on oil. There are many things we can do right now.

Here are some ways we can all prepare;

Familiarise yourself with the issues outlines in this paper [see link above for entire document]
Simply being aware of peak oil and oil vulnerability is the first important step to preparing and adjusting for future changes

Talk about this issues with friends, neighbours, employees and local community members.
If you are concerned about this issue, chances are other people around you are too.

Think about how you can make a difference
This may include simple action to reduce fuel consumption such as;
• Reducing private vehicle use (by not driving so much, car pooling, taking public transport, riding a bike etc)
• Support local initiatives and industry that reduce food and commodity kilometres (by buying local produce, using local services, growing some of your own food etc)
• Getting involved in local and regional planning processes (by contributing submissions through government consultation processes, contacting your local member etc)

Visit the EPA website for further information www.epa.qld.gov.au

[ENDS]

Also, please visit the Sunshine Coast Energy Action Centre website [www.seac.net.au] - we are mentioned in the 'further reading' section of this government document and our website has lots of articles, ideas and lessons we've learnt so far about moving from oil dependency to local resilience.

Diversified Associates Construction

We are a small construction company in Bellingham, Washington that handcrafts energy efficient houses. We design and execute energy efficient construction in a way that is responsive to a client's budget, aesthetics, and needs.

Thursday, June 26, 2008

A book I much admire and recommend

Full of specific details, general concepts, and valuable examples about what to do and what NOT to do, this book can help start your project out right. The authors exhaustively combed the construction industry to gather this information.

I think every builder needs to know the contents of this book. Diversified Associates Construction has seriously been pursuing energy efficient building principles since 1980 - which, of course, predates things like energy codes. Over time, we have come to believe that a sensible blend of energy efficient building techniques combined with common sense approaches is the best way to build what we like to call a 'happy home'. Posted by Dan Jones at 9:51 AM 0 comments

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

We take pride in building memorable homes

Perhaps because we often find ourselves building on one of the San Juan Islands, we have become used to a variety of problems that other contractors simply do not have the experience to handle.

A good example is the very large island home that features spectacular views available from a spectacular interior with handcrafted carpentry that reminds many of the craftsmanship of days gone by.

Contact John Thompson at 360 317 5343 to learn more about how we can turn your dreams into an energy efficient project that you will be proud of for many years.

We are located in Bellingham, Washington and are a small company that custom-builds in a way that is responsive to a client's budget, aesthetics, and needs. We welcome creative challenges, and are usually able to translate a client's wishes into a pragmatic plan.

We stand behind all of our work. Absolutely!

Posted by Dan Jones at 3:29 PM 0 comments

We believe in energy efficient construction

We have believed in building energy efficient homes since 1980 when we built our first energy efficient homes.

We built in this large waterfront home in 1980 as one of the first energy efficient homes in that area. It was a first of its kind, before the energy codes.

A 2100 sq. ft. of energy efficient rural home with R10 insulation under slab, R-29 in walls, R-38 Ceilings, R-30 Floor --- making, for worst winter conditions, energy costs for this house of approximately 8 cents an hour.

Take advantage of our wealth of experience building a variety of different types of homes.

We built this large energy efficient home waterfront house in 1989 featuring maximized insulation, in-floor hydronic heat and very low electric demand.

Style + efficiency + comfort

We also build in a variety of different styles - making almost anything you can dream up - an energy efficient home.

On this foundation of a rural island home, we later added radiant hydronic heat in floors with maximum insulation - topped off by a sod roof - to meet the owner's wishes.

We also retrofit older homes to bring them up to modern energy efficiency standards. The house below was almost completely rebuilt - and it now is one of the "tightest" houses around with very low energy bills.

We renovated this historic Bellingham area home, adding maximum insulation & new windows and raising the roof - literally - to provide more space without changing the exterior "look" of this 80+ year old home.

While the exterior looks much the same as it always has, this same Bellingham area home has a completely re-done interior with new, modern floor plan, kitchen, bath, bedroom, and lots of storage. Great care was taken to reuse existing materials wherever possible

A historic house - completely updated - and made energy efficient.

We take great pride in providing the lowest possible energy bills!

Please contact us: let us make your plan a reality!

Call John C. Thompson at 360-671-7679 Posted by Dan Jones at 8:54 AM 1 comments

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Blog Archive

• ▼ 2008 (3)
  • ▼ June (1)
    
    • A book I much admire and recommend
  • ► May (2)
    
    • We take pride in building memorable homes
    • We believe in energy efficient construction
    • P.S we are becomming a certified "Greenbuilt " business this year. 

John Thompson

Owner of Diversified Asssociates

Those of you listening to 'financial experts' and trying to figure out a strategy to protect your savings and retirement accounts need to know one important thing...

The 'financial experts' that are being allowed to speak in the popular media are all totally, and completely wrong, and have been wrong ever since this crisis began.

The long-term outlook for the world economy is terrible, for the foreseeable future, some say a hundred years or more. The driving factor is the inescapable fact that the global economy is totally dependant on cheap, plentiful energy, and that is quickly going away.

Holding stocks is going to bring you nothing but pain. There will be big drops in value, then periods of stagnation, or maybe even small gains, before other big drops. This will continue until the stock markets lose all value. This not only applies to stocks, but all paper promissory notes of any type, since they all rely on orderly financial markets.

You need to research this to believe it, and come to a conclusion of your own finding. You need to become your own financial expert now, and quickly, or you stand to lose everything.

There are only 2 smart choices right now, cash or 1oz gold Kruggerands hidden on property you control. I think gold is a much better choice in the medium to long run. Jim Kramer, of ‘Mad Money’ is now even telling people to put the majority of their money in gold.

“It’s telling that for those whose livelihoods depend on beating the market, the investment du jour is no investment at all.”
http://blogs.moneycentral.msn.com/topstocks/archive/2008/09/25/hedge-fun...

All we hear these days is ‘don’t panic, don’t cash out your 401k, think long term…’, they are just mouthpieces of those who are currently looting America of its last few crumbs.

To get started in your own research, read a NY Times article about the only guy who correctly predicted today’s mess…
‘Dr. Doom’
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/17/magazine/17pessimist-t.html

Then, find out about ‘Peak Oil Theory’ from a great Fortune Magazine piece from a few days ago…
‘Here comes $500 oil’
http://money.cnn.com/2008/09/15/news/economy/500dollaroil_okeefe.fortune...

To get the complete story on ‘Peak Oil Theory’, go to…
http://www.energybulletin.net/primer

My suggestion for books would be…
Twilight in the Desert, by Matt Simm