Vermont Peak Oil Network Newsletter

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This Month's News and Views -  updated 2.25.06
   
 Special Events
    Richard Heinberg Presentation
 Under the Golden Dome:  
    H654 and J.R.H.47
    Educating State and Local Leaders on Peak Oil
    "And if you were the Mayor of Burlington..."
    Letter to a Representative
 Guest Editorial:  Where Are We and How Do We Go On From Here?
Editorial:   What's a Mother to Do?
Articles:
    Localvores:  A Winter Challenge
    Can Vermont Feed Itself?  (Bill McKibben, courtesy Vermont Commons)
    Alternatives: MCTV - Broadcasting for the Rest of Us
    Ready, Set… Now What Do We Do?  Creating a Peak Oil Response Group
As the Crow Flies:  Reports from Around the State
    VPON Reps Hold First Gathering
    Post Oil Solutions
    ACORN
    Chittenden County Group Forming!
Columns
    Doctor Gloom's Soapbox
Quote of the Month:  from "In Praise of Oil", by Betsy Hart
Action!
    Organize a Peak Oil Book Display
    Our Climate, Ourselves Presenters Wanted
    Write a Letter to the Editor of Your Local Paper!
    What's a Citizen TO DO? newsletter
Plan Ahead
    Facing The Media Crisis: Media Education for Reform, Justice and Democracy
Resources
    The Vermont Community Garden Network (grants for community gardens!)
    The Oil Age Poster
    Personal Sustainability Checklist
    Connect!  On-line Peak Oil Discussion Group for Vermonters


Special Events
Peak Oil:  Challenges and Opportunities at the End of Cheap Oil
A Presentation by Richard Heinberg
Thursday March 2nd, 7:30-9:00 p.m.
Ira Allen Chapel - The University of Vermont (Burlington)
9:00 p.m. Reception in Billings  

“Peak Oil” is a turning point in modern history, beyond which dwindling petroleum supplies will not keep up with growing energy demand, requiring a powering down of economies, methods of transportation and “the American way of life."  The transition may be graceful, with re-localization of communities and conservation of resources, or more sinister with oil wars and a widening gap between rich and poor. This is not the distant future; it is coming soon. How will you respond?

Heinberg will explore the questions: When will petroleum peak? Are there alternative energy sources that can take petroleum’s place? How severe will the consequences be, and how quickly will they occur? How should we prepare for the “post-carbon world”?  Join us for this provocative event. 


Under the Golden Dome
A newly introduced bill in the Vermont House presents strategies for food supply planning, renewable energy, and emergency preparedness, anticipating a reduction in fossil-fuel availability.  Take a look, and ask your representatives to support H-654 (pdf).  Letters to the Editor of your local paper would also help.  For a printable one-page summary of the bill, click here (pdf).

Joint House Resolution J.R.H.  47 , passed in 2004.  Through this resolution, the General Assembly supports cooperative efforts among state, local, and nonprofit agencies to promote the development and expansion of community, neighborhood, and youth gardens and to increase their accessibility to disadvantaged population groups.  This includes the efforts of nonprofit organizations to secure grant funding for the furtherance of community gardening.  To read more about these grants, and about the Vermont Community Garden Network (VCGN), see article on VCGN below.

Educating State and Local Leaders on Peak Oil
from Carl Etnier, East Montpelier Group
In East Montpelier, a handful of us are educating our local and state leaders on peak oil. We started discussing peak oil among ourselves in November 2005, and by our second monthly meeting, in December, we were ready to do something. We decided to invite state and local leaders to an evening discussion on peak oil and what Vermont can do to prepare for it. The discussion will be in the home of one of us. Our invitation has been accepted by two state legislators, the mayor of Montpelier, the chair of our town's planning commission, a former head of the Agency of Natural Resources, a former head of the Public Service Board, and many other luminaries. We plan to kick off the 7:00 - 8:30 pm meeting with a 15-20 minute slide show on peak oil, and then we look forward to learning from the ensuing discussion.

We are also directing questions on peak oil to all candidates for our town's Select Board and Planning Commission. On Saturday, February 24, there is a Town Forum to prepare for Town Meeting. I have contacted the candidates and told them that I plan to ask them questions about what East Montpelier can be doing to mitigate the effects of peak oil. I offered to send them some information to look over to prepare, and have followed that up with an email containing the primer from energybulletin.net and another containing the summary of the peak oil preparedness bill (H-654) in the legislature and two introductory articles from Alex Sendzimir's peak oil CD. I also wrote down a few of my thoughts on what the town can be doing, and said that I was far from having all the answers. Many of us from our group plan to attend on Saturday and hear what they have to say.

(ed note:  we look forward to hearing how these efforts work out!)

"And if you were the Mayor of Burlington..."
from Mark Floegel, Burlington/Chittenden Coalition
I have spoken with a number of politicians about peak oil.  They are, at best, only vaguely familiar with the term.  I find it best to ask the question in terms they will be familiar with and limit the discussion to the upcoming term of office for which they are running, something like:

"What will you do to prepare the city/county/state to deal with the spike in costs across the board that will occur when the price of oil reaches $90 per barrel?"*

Most of them do not address the question, but launch into some boilerplate about taxes or how we live in such a great place.  They may ask you for your ideas, which is a great opportunity to talk about conservation, localization and community mutual support.  I have found it is best to keep the conversation focused on positive things we can achieve as
communities and less on the dire effects of not taking action.  They seem to respond better to that.

*(ed note:  this is an important figure.  In 1979-81, that was the approximate price of oil in today's dollars; thus far, that figure - adjusted for inflation - represents the highest oil price we have ever seen.) 

Letter to a Representative 
Dear Representative So and So:
You wrote: "Do you have specific ideas about what we can do at the state level?"
I'm glad you asked.  Here are some preliminary ideas... (pdf)


Guest Editorial  
Where are We, and How Do We Go On from Here?
by Lee Blackwell
"Perhaps the greatest work we can do right now is to maintain ourselves with dignity in the face of defensiveness,
to cultivate caring and understanding for the other (no matter where they are on the issues), to listen,
and to take the lead in framing the debate according to our values."     
     
It seems like a tipping point has been reached in Vermonter's understanding of both Peak Oil and Climate Change, the two diesel engines in front of the very large train that is bearing down on the human species.  Our ecological niche, as a result of our actions, is rapidly diminishing. 

The quality of our response to each other and to those in positions of leadership who don't yet understand the geological / meteorological reality of the situation is very important now.  It's most effective to take people where they are at on these issues, to listen to their concerns and doubts with respect and to simply speak one's own truth.  Staying in relationship with others, no matter their point of view, maintains the importance and quality of those connections.  Sometimes this means being willing to be the brunt of aspersion or ridicule, being thought or spoken of as a doom-sayer or conspiracy theorist.  It often means learning the importance of having your statistics readily at hand.  It means being patient.  Most people eventually get it.  But it's a paradigm shift.

Perhaps the greatest work we can do right now is to maintain ourselves with dignity in the face of defensiveness, to cultivate caring and understanding for the other (no matter where they are on the issues), to listen, and to take the lead in framing the debate according to our values. Whatever then happens in the coming months and years, at least we can let the growing awareness of our common ecological situation motivate us to reconnect toward a common, truly human purpose. There is a huge renewable energy potential emerging as disparate partisan social groups connect in the effort to relocalize economies.  I see this beginning to happen in Vermont, and I feel honored to be among such response-able folk. 

Lee Blackwell is an organic farmer, musician, mediator, and Peak Oil activist.

(ed note:  I received the following email from Lee on his return from The Dance Flurry, a regional dance community event held annually in Saratoga Springs, NY.  The town's energy grid was badly compromised during the high wind storm that swept through the area Feb. 18th):  

 "We got to the Flurry and the whole town was in the dark.  I was staying at the house of one of the organizers, and I walked in and was greeted by 'Hi Lee, welcome to the beginning of the Long Emergency.'  Which, if I'm honest with myself, it really was.  The loss of power was as a result of an extreme climatic event, brought on by global warming. The response by the dancers was an example of making do.  A smaller Flurry went on in the cold and dark (although there was a generator going with minimal power for 3 halls) for one day.  Their bodies warmed the dancing area, and some fun was had.  My friend Peter pulled his 99 year old dad's bed in by their parlor stove and put a hat on his dad's head - his dad was quite content to be in the middle of all the activity.  Of course, if Saratoga hadn't had natural gas and a gravity water supply, things would not have been as rosy."

(Amen to that, Lee.)


Editorial
What’s A Mother To Do?
by Annie Dunn Watson
If you grew up in the 50s and 60s, chances are you heard that question from the lips of a trim woman in a nice dress (protected by an apron, of course), shaking her head before a national TV audience as she reflected on the recent wrong-doings of her kids.  For those of you who came along later, the movie Pleasantville gave you a taste of those times (although for the life of me, I don’t recall having plates piled so high with marshmallow treats that they rivaled Mount Mansfield.  But I digress.)

Mothers asking that question today might be mulling over what their kids have been up to, but it’s equally likely they’ve got more disturbing issues on their minds: a deteriorating social fabric, the rise in bullying at school, middle and high school student drug addiction, increased childhood depression, declining economic options for college grads (in the face of rising tuition and reduced financial aid), climbing costs of health care, and the shrinking amount of time they are spending at home with the family.  Add to this list concerns about climate change, global warming, rising fuel and food costs and you’ll understand why plates of marshmallow treats have pretty much gone the way of the apron. 

Moms have a hard time thinking about Peak Oil.  They have a hard time ignoring it, too. We’re not just talking about their future here, we’re discussing their children’s fate.  And they know it, innately, even if they aren’t saying so.  It makes them fiercely protective, and more than a little scared.  Without a direction through which to funnel that lioness instinct, they’re left with a strong desire to buckle everybody into the SUV and drive off to something more normalizing, like soccer practice. 

The most rewarding conversations I had while manning (or womaning) the Peak Oil table at NOFA’s Winter Conference this February were with moms.  They were oddly hopeful discussions, and I’ll tell you why:  because the love they have for their children is a tremendous asset, the finest tool in the toolbox.  It’s what will help them redirect their focus, think outside the box, and challenge cultural assumptions about “families” and “children,” “success” and “future.” Once these concepts are redefined in realistic and personally-meaningful terms, parents will clamor for the changes that will move society toward a sustainable future.  That makes parent involvement essential to the success of any relocalization effort.

Parents have a compelling desire to assure that their children have a good life.  That’s what’s got them driving hither and yon, in search of what they believe will be the next educational, social, or career advantage for their beloved progeny.  Unfortunately, what has shaped their decision-making has been supported by the unrelenting promotion of an unsustainable growth economy.  What we consider normal, and have come to expect will continue well into the future, is a belief perpetuated by the "psychological preinvestment" we have given it (Kunstler).  Parents determine what's best for their children within the context of the cultural landscape in which their children are being raised, and the expectations that dot that landscape have been founded on cheap, abundant energy.  When confronted with the news that fossil fuels are being depleted, a parent’s picture of the future goes rapidly out of focus.  It isn't enough to know that "America is addicted to oil."  With only the existing cultural norms to cling to, there’s not much hope; it’s a dead end, and the immensity of the task before them and their children feels too much of a burden to bear.

So how do we bring them on board?  I asked one mother at NOFA how Peak Oil would impact her life.  Her first comments had to do with driving: her job demands she travel.  There are errands, activities… unending rides to school, to friends’ homes, movies, restaurants.  The follow-up questions were, “so, how could you do your ‘work’ differently?” (She knew right away:  figure out how to work from home more often.)  And the follow-up to that?  “Sounds like it would be nice to spend more time at home, and with your kids!”  Her own mind was pretty turned on by then:  she recalled hearing that it might soon be possible to upgrade windows to include solar PV cells (Titania DSC and thin-film PV technology) - she grew excited as she began to think about the possibilities. In fact, as soon as the lights began turning on in her head, they were going off all around the house:  a bulb burning in an empty room is not very energy efficient!  Kids can learn that.  And what about those incandescent bulbs, anyway?  Have you heard about compact fluorescents? Soon we were talking insulation.  And gardens.  And public transportation.  And bikepaths.  And carpooling.  And the possibility that she might talk to other mothers about what kinds of things they could do to help their families become more conservative with energy use.  I felt the thud when the burden fell off her shoulders and hit the floor.

Another woman, a mother of four, brought up an issue we’re all going to need to give some thought to.  The water main on her street had broken; how would such a crisis be handled in an oil-depleted future where municipal funds might be greatly restricted?  How will we prioritize?  Encouraging parents to educate themselves to the not-so-mysterious workings of their local governments and town planning boards may help them shape this crucial dialogue.  For too long, many of us have been willing to let others make decisions for us.  A well-placed parent’s perspective would go a long way toward changing that.

There are so many places where a parent’s voice could be effective and his or her efforts appreciated.  Increasingly, towns throughout Vermont are instituting Community Gardens and Farm to School projects.  Some school districts (like Burlington’s) have developed sustainability curriculums, which are elegantly woven into lesson plans so as to support educational standards while teaching young people how to be environmentally and socially responsible citizens in their communities.  A group of Burlington College students is revising the Personal Sustainability Checklist so that children can use it.  In the meantime, parents themselves can refer to it as a guide for reducing fossil fuel dependency in their own lives.  Advisory boards and citizens’ groups are springing up all over the state:  witness Burlington’s Legacy Project, and the Winooski Coalition for a Safe and Peaceful Community.  Teen Centers and Community Justice Boards are emerging and gaining community support.  Each of these initiatives increases the opportunity for parents to contribute meaningfully to the sustainable future of their communities, and by extension, to their children’s futures.

Getting together with other parents can make it easier to challenge cultural norms and discuss steps that might be taken toward healthier, values-based lifestyles. The Vermont Earth Institute offers just such an opportunity through their nine-session course “Healthy Children – Healthy Planet.”  In a self-guided discussion format, parents and other community members identify cultural pressures, create family celebrations, increase their knowledge of food and health, tackle the task of managing time, ponder the role of technology in children's lives, and so much more. 

There's a middle ground between fatalism and denial; we all need to find that bit of earth and reclaim it for our children. What's a mother to do?  Ask her.  And stand back while she dons a pair of work gloves and reinvents the world.


Articles
Localvores: A Winter Challenge
by Pat McGovern
 What can northern New England Localvores eat in January? Twenty Upper Valley folks found out, the second week of January, when we committed ourselves to eating foods grown within a 100-mile radius of home. It was a short-term experiment in learning what it would take to be more regionally food sustainable, year-round. And, much to our surprise, we ate quite well!

Many of us had taken the month-long August 2005 Challenge which featured freshly-picked foods, talks with farmers at farmers markets, and celebration of the bounty of berries, melons, greens, tomatoes, corn on the cob and many other locally-grown products. Support for local growers was a major motivation. January was different. The experience was more about preparing ahead of time (canning, freezing, drying, root-cellaring, winter CSA) We learned to use crockpots to cook our beans, wheat berries, stews and porridge. There were not many local growers to support.

Most of us were dependent on Luna Bleu, Butterworks Farm and the co-op food stores, particularly Upper Valley Food Co-op in White River Jct. Luna Bleu provided produce for at least 8 localvores and UVFC still had local potatoes, parsnips, squash, beets, apples, as well as many Butterworks products (dried beans, ground flint corn, wheat berries, bread flour and sunflower oil). They supplied us with local cheeses, eggs, milk, cream, yogurt, cider vinegar, cider, maple syrup, honey, cider jelly, meat, Trukenbrod bread, Strafford Organic Creamery Smooth Maple ice cream (no cane sugar!). UVFC got into the Localvore spirit with a large January Localvore Challenge display, special local produce discounts to localvores, and a localvore soup in the Lilac Deli.

The January experience raised many questions: Why is Luna Bleu the only farm-stored Winter CSA program in our area? ( And why don't others grow popping corn? Such a great snack for a winter night!) Why do so few farms provide the season-extending dried beans, ground corn, bread flour, wheat berries and sunflower oil that Butterworks does? Why don't we have commercially-canned salsa and spaghetti sauce made from local produce? A co-op freezing or canning facility ?

The fact is, not many people could be fed local fruits and veggies year-round on what is available commercially - dairy products, eggs, meat, honey, maple syrup, cider - yes- but fruits and veggies - no. (One heartening bit of news: an Upper Valley Winter Farmers Market is being planned for 2007.)

According to Linda Setchell, Program Director of Rural Vermont, Vermonters spend only 6% of their food dollars on Vermont-grown food. How can we change that? What can we do to move our region toward greater food sustainability? If you have relevant info or ideas for next steps, please check out the nascent localvore discussion list.  (ed note: Information on how to subscribe to the discussion group can be found on that page.)

In the meantime, many thanks to Suzanne Long and the other folks at Luna Bleu, to Jack and Anne Lazor at Butterworks Farm and to Kye Cochran and the crew at UVFC. We Upper Valley Localvores are very grateful for the good work you do!

Pat McGovern is a Localvore, residing in Lebanon, NH.

 (ed note:  Read more about the Upper Valley Localvores project here, and check out their wonderful local foods recipes!  And, for answers to some of Pat's questions about fostering food sustainability and a more local food-friendly state, read Bill McKibben's article, following.)


Can Vermont Feed Itself?
By Bill McKibben
(original article:  Vt. Commons, Oct. 2005; link appears below)
"...a 1997 study found Vermont the closest to food self-sufficiency of any of the New England states."  (Quoting Doug Hoffer of the Livable Wage Campaign):  "if Vermont substituted local products for only 10 percent of the food we import, it would result in $376 million in new economic output, including $69 million in personal earnings from 3,616 jobs." McKibben continues: "say the state invested modest amounts in building the kind of processing facilities that would allow more of the region’s September surplus to make it through the winter... community kitchens, small freezing plants, help for new slaughterhouses…the list of possibilities is long... If Vermont was really interested in its long-term future, it would probably be investing more state money in buying the development rights to farms."   read the original article here...
 
Alternatives:  MCTV - Broadcasting for the Rest of Us.
from Ron Slabaugh
(ed note:  "Alternatives" is an interview-based television show, recorded in the Middlebury Community TV studio. Currently, 7 community access stations are running it.  Four 30-minute programs have been recorded and aired since November.  If you are on a cable system, ask your provider to contact Ron for copies of the programs.  Eventually, MCTV hopes to have streaming video capacity and anyone with broadband will have access to Alternatives.)

I've worked as a farm hand, medical school faculty, caregiver, folk singer, hospital orderly, FedEx driver, kayak guide, construction worker, licensed psychotherapist, college instructor, hospice director, whale watch naturalist ... and more!  I have long been interested in "alternative" explanations for the various phenomena of our life on this blue-green planet.

These times of planetary crisis call for alternative ways of doing almost everything. The conventional ways have brought us to this point of ecological, economic, social and political collapse. Solutions to our future needs for food, water, energy, transportation, recreation, education, government and culture will necessarily be much more local and regional.

In this series of programs, I seek to tap the wisdom of the rich human resources in our local area for their ideas about how to fashion a viable and sustainable future in these interesting times. It's time to take alternatives more seriously.  Join me and my guests as we explore Alternatives.

Alternatives' working Guest List includes:
Bill McKibben, intro/assessment
Thomas Naylor, downsizing and government
Greg Pahl, peak oil, alternative energy, community initiatives
Netaka White, alternative energy, biodiesel, community initiatives
Jeff Wulfman, MD, alternative medicine
Karen Miller-Lane, ND, alternative medicine
Jay Leshinsky, organic garden, Middlebury College
David Brynn, Vermont Family Forests
Will Stevens, alternative agriculture
Glen Lower, Middlebury Natural Foods Coop
David Tier, bicycle transportation
David Blittersdorf, alternative energy, wind energy
Deb Brighton, alternative forestry
Amy Trubek, local food production
Brad Kohler, carbon reduction, Middlebury College
WMUD Radio
Jean Rosenberg, PhD, alternative justice (restorative)
Addison County Transit
John Elder, sugaring
Jim Merkel, author, Radical Simplicity
Paul Kenyon, living off the grid, wind energy
Rick Wolfson, Middlebury College physics dept. 
Professor Jonathon Isham, Middlebury College, Economy, Environmental Sciences
Harvey Olson, dairy farmer and legislator looking for ways of supporting small farmers
Alex Wiley, Vermont Land Trust
Steve Mair, legislator and environmental activist
Rev. Paul Bortz, faith communities and environmental concerns
Peg Martin, Middlebury Select Board, carbon reduction project 
Carole Warnock, midwife

Alternatives welcomes your inquiries and feedback. Please send comments and suggestions to Ron Slabaugh, Alternatives, c/o MCTV, PO Box 385, Middlebury, VT, 05753 or email to alternativesmctv(at)hotmail(dot)com.

Ron Slabaugh practices alternative counseling and energy medicine in Middlebury and Rochester, Vermont.


Ready, Set… Now What Do We Do?  Creating a Peak Oil Response Group
by Annie Dunn Watson

Whatever your cause -- stand your ground, pitch a tent, and invite people in who are willing to do hard work: wild-eyed idealists, pragmatists, activists, lawyers, planners. Don't get too caught up on consensus, and don't get discouraged by conflict.
You can get a lot done together while disagreeing on important points along the way.
- Steve Frillmann, Green Guerillas

 You’ve got the cider warmed and ready; Nancy brought the cookies, made with locally-grown wheat and laced with dried apple chunks and this year’s maple.  A dozen people mill about, heads nodding, serious as they talk about the future of biofuels and the purchase of Hilldale Farm for a developing CSA.  Everybody’s seen End of Suburbia.  You’re balancing a blue marker nervously between your thumb and forefinger – and beginning to wonder whatever enticed you to facilitate this meeting in the first place.  You look around the room at your friends, your neighbors, clear your throat, and begin…

A core of twelve people in your community can do a lot.  Just ask Tom Fugate of  Mad River Outpost, Will Stevens of the Addison County Relocalization Network (ACORN) or Tim Stevenson of Post Oil Solutions.  The trick is to let the concerns, interests, and creative talent within the group emerge – and to keep the group engaged as the nitty-gritty of a community start-up organization takes hold.  Admittedly, this is a little like herding cats, but it can be done.

There are some tips for working with groups that may prove of value as the tasks of relocalizing our communities fall into our fidgety hands.  Naming your focus, flushing out the various agendas of the parties present, identifying initiatives and the point people who will keep things on track as projects unfold – these are just a few.  Nancy’s cookies are a plus; but what else can you do to maintain needed levels of engagement, not to mention manage the process as grassroots grows into groundswell?

ACORN, Mad River Outpost, and Post Oil Solutions offer these time-tested steps for what they hope will be a better-than-average journey.

Flush out those agendas!  What concerns do people have, what brought them to the table?  Areas of interest will likely change and evolve over time, as a period of discovery and initial work leads to new tasks and desirable goals.  In the meantime, identifying interests will help the group “see itself” and recognize areas of common concern.

Develop a mission statement.  Make sure it is one that everybody can own.  This provides a common focal point for the different backgrounds represented in your group.

Determine the best use of the group’s efforts at this stage.  ACORN avoided the problem of having its fingers in too many pies by identifying two areas of focus:  renewable energy and food.  These two categories provided the basis for a variety of initiatives, including conducting an assessment of Addision County’s current energy consumption, and establishing a Food Group that is auditing county-wide food patterns of growth and distribution (What’s local?  How much $$ goes out of the community? What are the county’s assets in grain, livestock, and arable land?  How can local food production and distribution economics be developed and secured?) 

Identify and break into areas of interest for discussion, planning, and implementation.  Each committee will need to find its unique project direction; support the process by allowing those groups to do their work and report back to the larger organization as time goes on. 

Between meetings, keep the group focused.  Discuss next steps, assign homework.  Give yourselves a reason to come together again, something to look forward to.

Post Oil Solutions began meeting in June of 2005.  Organized around a bio-region in the Windham County area, their identified goal, which arises from their mission statement, is “to learn about and promote sustainable practices in our homes, neighborhoods and larger communities, so as to begin developing the infrastructure in our region necessary for a post-oil society.”  They currently have five active committees:

Community Gardens – establishing and supporting garden space for residents who wish to grow organic food in community with others;
Putting Food By – education in long-term storage and preservation of locally-grown food surplus;
Eat Local Campaign – strengthening relationships between growers, food markets and consumers;
The Paul Revere Committee – “getting the word out” about peak oil, global warming, and pending societal challenges;
Social Gatherings – advancing the concept that becoming a community is both serious and fun!

Many other efforts are in the works.  The key to POS’ success?  Let those talents emerge!  Empower committees to form, decide, and act.  Keep your goals in front of you; revisit them, celebrate progress.  Strengthen your relationships by meeting in other venues – pot lucks, sleigh rides, community cheese-making workshops! 

Tom Fugate of Mad River Outpost adds that spicing things up from time to time helps keep the group freshly motivated.  Mad River begins each meeting with a guest presentation or skills seminar.  How do you start a fire from friction?  What is biointensive gardening?   How can a database of the community’s post-carbon skills be generated?  Mad River also engages in field trips:  visiting one another’s homesteads and gardens to share skills and experiences strengthens the group’s sense of community as much as it contributes to its developing knowledge base.

Even with the most carefully-planned beginning, the delicate nature of a start-up group is such that the assistance of an outside facilitator might be needed.  Conflicts of interest bubble up as the group seeks to build a sense of identity, purpose, and meaning.  A skilled facilitator can help the group find traction when the process starts to resemble a Vermont mud-to-the-axles day in April.  Or, a process such as Open Space Technology can be a good intervention:  Open Space is “a simple way to run productive meetings, for five to 2000+ people, and a powerful way to lead any kind of organization, in everyday practice and ongoing change."  It can easily be learned and applied.

And what about that moment when it seems the entire community has woken up to Peak Oil?  Having things in place – committees, educational activities, hands-on opportunities to get involved and feel useful – supports people as they transition to a healthy engagement with the challenges ahead.  It is also key to preserving individual and community well-being in a difficult time.

Finally, don’t rule out the potential of linking with other communities and groups; relocalization needn’t (and shouldn’t) mean isolating yourselves from the rest of the world.  The first state-wide meeting of Peak Oil and Relocalization Group representatives brought that fact home to everybody present:  we have a lot to gain by sharing our strategies, collaborating on large and/or specialized projects, looking to support already-existing sustainability organizations and efforts – and these are bountiful in our state.  Technology, so long as it so serves, offers community-building opportunities such as internet Roundtables for discussion on a number of topics.  More than ever before, “movements” have the ability to network at their fingertips, and this has dramatically altered the face of activism.  Just ask Move On! what can be accomplished through a well-directed email campaign.

Relocalizing is more than just an extra bit of work to add to your already busy routine; when it’s integrated with the rest of your life, even essential to it, the effort may become sustaining rather than draining.  Many hands make for a lighter load, and in this process, we are going to need a lot of hands.  Very different from the “hyper-individualism” we’ve been encouraged to embrace these many years.  This presents special challenges as we explore living and working in community with one another.  Rumor has it we’re up to the task. 

Remember the cookies.


As the Crow Flies:  Reports from Around the State
VPON Reps Hold First Gathering
VPON is a state-wide network of individuals and groups working regionally on issues of relocalization and sustainabilty.  Our website serves as a newsletter and clearinghouse for information and resources promoting intelligent, community-based responses to the challenges of peak oil.  

This February 4th, a group of eleven earnest people from around the state met in East Montpelier to "Discover, Assess, Identify Actions, and Name Next Steps" for the newly-forming coalition of peak oil awareness and action advocates in Vermont.  It was at this gathering that VPON - The Vermont Peak Oil Network - was born. We developed an initial mission statement, discovered a sense of identity and purpose, and considered how to facilitate member involvement over the coming months.  Although there are general aims that unite us, regional groups represented in VPON have their own unique missions and goals.  Coming together has allowed us to identify areas of common interest, share strategies on a number of initiatives, consider opportunities for future synergy (efforts of mutual benefit), and establish a means of communication with one another.

Activities and levels of progress in the different regions vary, as would be expected in the early stages of a major grassroots effort.  Some groups are assessing their community's energy needs, researching how energy is generated and distributed; many are identifying local sources for feed and food, offering opportunities for community education and engagement (film screenings, library displays, speakers at Rotary Clubs and town councils, skills seminars, radio interviews, activities that engage local schools), as well as generating public dialogue and legislative awareness.  All are working on gaining standing in their communities, and looking for ways to include non profits, local and state officials, and businesses in the post-fossil fuel discussion.  Identifying networks and allies, finding ways to collaborate and merge efforts with groups sharing related agendas, and working with youth are tasks on which many groups are focused.  Sharing information and knowledge about agriculture, traditional skills, alternative transportation, community and relationship building, and grant sources for a variety of initiatives is an intention that all groups share, in an effort to assist one another in moving our communities forward as well as to avoid redundancy in our efforts (particularly at the state level).  Learning to collaborate, rather than compete, in a society that has forgotten how to do that well, will be a challenge as well as an opportunity to grow.
 
We discussed the obstacles we've encountered so far:  helping others (and ourselves) balance rational fear and reality; creating traction; organizing; putting issues into a recognizable context; engaging people in productive activity; and having something in place for when the public catches on - i.e., "staying ahead of the curve."  This part of the day could have led to a real energy depletion crisis (!), but instead, members of Post Oil Solutions, Mad River Outpost, and ACORN offered suggestions to help others begin thinking creatively about how to address these issues (see "Ready, Set, Now What Do We Do...?")  Participants agreed to form a Speakers' Bureau, to contribute "monthly reports" to the VPON website on activities and progress, to create a bibliography and share information about grant funding sources - and most importantly, to stay in touch, engaged, and supportive.  

Future meetings will see us talking about how to plan for growth in VPON membership.  We'd like to increase VPON's accessibility to the media, have a presence at related state-wide events (we rather quickly threw together a booth at NOFA, but hey, we did it!), and possibly plan an annual event of our own.  Most importantly, we agreed to maintain a non-partisan approach to our work in our communities and in the state - we welcome all who want to participate in creating intelligent, community-based responses to the challenges of peak oil to join us in these efforts.

We left feeling energized and supported.  None of us is pollyanna-ish about the "two diesel engines in front of the very large train that is bearing down on the human species."  But, as one member put it, if we're gonna die, we're gonna do it with our boots on.  And a bunch of us will be holding shovels, too.

To find out about the regional VPON group nearest you, go to the Regional Groups page.  

Post Oil Solutions (Windham County)
Post Oil Solutions is a Windham County group working to advance cooperative, sustainable communities in an age of global climate change and declining fossil fuels.  They meet in Brattleboro on the first and third Wednesday evenings of each month.  For more information, write postoil(dot)vt(at)gmail(dot)com, or call (802) 869-2141.  Here's what they've been doing this month: ACORN - Addison County Relocalization Network
ACORN is a cooperative response to an energy-constrained future. Our mission is to revitalize our local economy to help our communities provide sustainable sources of food, water, energy, employment and other essential resources, and to promote conservation and a healthy environment.

ACORN meets on the fourth Thursday of each month, at the Ilsley Public Library in Middlebury.  Currently, we are discussing the formation of a Renewable Energy Cooperative, Local Food supply and more.  Meetings are informative and participatory.  ACORN periodically screens End of Suburbia and hosts a discussion group after the film.  For more information, contact Greg at gpahl(at)sover(dot)net

Chittenden County Group Forming!
A group with representatives from Burlington, Charlotte, Essex, and Richmond is in its planning stages.  Lots of interest in educating public and politicians alike.  Peak Oil book displays, letters to and questions for local politicians, local currency and other initiatives are being discussed or in the works.  We'll keep you posted as these folks get their feet under them, and begin to offer opportunities for wider involvement.  Group contact info appears on our Regional Groups page.


Columns
Doctor Gloom's Soapbox
from Doctor Gloom
 Hi there.  This is the first installment of gloom and doom from Dr. Gloom.  Not because Dr. Gloom likes to be gloomy, but because once in a while we need to see things from the "big picture" perspective.  And such a perspective is enough to make one gloomy.  In The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, as you may remember, the "Total Perspective Vortex", which makes its victims truly grasp the enormity of the universe and their own insignificance, is the ultimate torture device.

Recently an article appeared on the blogosphere titled "Fear of Money."  I think it does a decent job of summarizing one challenge to our perspective.  The unfolding crisis will not look like an energy crisis, to most people, for some time.  Instead, it will walk and talk like an economic crash: inflation, stagnation, and unemployment.  Many theories will compete trying to explain what is happening, and each will point to a different line of action.  With the economy in shambles, oil demand will fall, and its price may even drop a bit.  Peak Oilers will be ridiculed and pushed aside.  Governments at various levels will stop spending on efficiency and long term planning (if they even do that now), to deal with the more immediate issues.  People with good intentions will concentrate on helping the poor survive, on the assumption that we'll all pull out of the doldrums sooner or later and return to normality, i.e., to "economic growth".

So what are we to do?  Try to educate people about Peak Oil in advance, to counter those competing theories?  But it's probably too late to have much of an effect that way.  Can prepare the means for a sustainable local economy, such as organic farms.  But as Paula Hay wrote in "Fear of Money", the majority of the population will not be prepared to offer much in exchange, and that is a recipe for strife.  Would it make more sense, morally and practically, to concentrate instead on setting up mutual aid societies?  During the Great Depression, local groups tried that, but eventually succumbed to donor fatigue in the face of an ever-growing gap.

In a separate blog entry, Paula Hay suggests a local currency that is backed up by gold.  I think that is a mistake.  Why should the instrument used for our local bartering be hostage to the world market for a shiny but useless metal that is in short supply?  Why should we have to send the little wealth we have in the community to the outside, in return for a sitting deposit of that metal, as a condition for creating our local means of exchange?  While "gold bugs" sneer at anything they call "fiat currency", in fact all currencies, even gold, are based on trust in the systems they serve.  This trust depends on a belief that the system has built-in economic strength, that the participants are engaged in producing things of true value: food, clothing, shelter, fuel.  If such a system can no longer be sustained on a global scale, we can try and build it locally.

Vermont has some things going for it in this situation: a low population density, an agricultural base, and, most importantly, a tradition of social justice, mutual aid, tolerance and peaceful debate.  If we could set up a working local economy in advance, it would be immune to the coming (inter)national economic crash.  But is that possible to do while most local people still have faith in the non-local economy?  Some things that will fit in a post-crash world can be promoted now based on current perceptions and attitudes.  For example, there is currently support in Vermont for universal health care, and if we could achieve that, it would be enormously valuable later in an economic environment that will destroy the concept of employment-based health insurance.  The movement towards organic produce or local eating can do some good, even if it sometimes relies on peoples' quest for tastier and healthier food, or a desire to "save the world" in a manner that currently relies on surplus wealth, not scarcity.  Perhaps we shouldn't be so gloomy.  Perhaps.


Quote of the Month
from "In Praise of Oil", by Betsy Hart
It’s all about time for me. Yes, I can walk to Starbucks in 10 to12 minutes, but I can drive there in one minute. The library is about a 45-second drive, and the school 30. I’m not opposed to walking; I’m opposed to wasting time. I know, I know, exercise isn’t a “waste of time,” blah, blah. But if I’m going to exercise, I want it in a gym with a trainer bearing down on me. I’m not going to waste time just walking.

I also like a warm house in the winter and, for the record, an air conditioner set to “stun” in the summer, and lots of lights on in my home all the time...

But, there is no reason, except for price, for me to cut back on any of this. (I'm not even going to deal with the "greenhouse gas" argument here.) News flash: We have plenty of oil (and, of course, coal for electricity). Bigger news flash: We'll come up with more when we have to.

(ed note:  Betsy admits she would drive her minivan to the bathroom if she could.  For more of Betsy's ideas, see:  In Praise of Oil.)


Action
Organize a Peak Oil Book Display!
Fletcher Free Library in Burlington has generously agreed to host a resource display focusing on peak oil through the month of April.  Please visit the library, check out a book, drop off any additional information, and show your thanks for providing some publicity on this important topic.  The library is limited to books in their collection, so if you feel a title is lacking, you can fill out a purchase request or donate a copy to the library.  Live outside of Burlington?  Talk to your town librarian about setting up a peak oil display in your local library.  A simple way to get the word out!

(ed note:  thanks to Matt Burke of Burlington for initiating this fine idea!  We've also heard that the Essex Free Library is preparing a display, in response to Richard Heinberg's March visit to the area.)
  
Our Climate, Ourselves Presenters Wanted
from Barbara Duncan
 Vermont Earth Institute just received two copies of the Sustainability Institute's Our Climate, Ourselves power point presentation on climate change. Beth Sawin, the developer is working with VEI and four other non-profits across the country to pilot this program. It would take some preparation to be able to give the talk, but Beth has provided very user-friendly materials. I have two CDs and would be delighted to have volunteers test the program. It's a good mixture of a clear explanation of climate change and small group conversations about action steps. We'd like to offer many presentations around the state and provide Beth with feedback about how this model works. It requires a lap top and LCD projector and screen for viewing. 

To get your own CD with OCO slides and supporting materials send $10.00 for reproduction and postage to:
OUR CLIMATE OURSELVES
Sustainability Institute
3 Linden Road, Hartland, VT 05048
Phone 802-436-1277x103
www(dot)sustainabilityinstitute(dot)org

(Barbara Duncan is the Executive Director of the Vermont Earth Institute.  She can be reached at vei(at)valley(dot)net)

Write a Letter to the Editor of Your Local Paper!
It's easy.  Keep it brief and concise.  Use it as an opportunity to express your concerns re:  fossil fuel depletion (the term "peak oil" has some currency now; you may want to go with that, or perhaps avoid it and point instead to some of the specifics:  higher fuel costs, increased costs of food, destabilized economy, further threat of global warming if we switch to coal, etc.)  Bill H-654 can use support; introducing it to public domain through Letters to the Editor will help.  Let whatever you are most moved to bring to the discussion be your guide:  not everyone is an energy expert, but each of us is a citizen.  Let's enjoy and maintain our right to freedom of speech.

What's a Citizen TO DO?
There are so many issues needing attention in our communities, regions, and state-wide.  What's a Citizen TO DO? is an e-newsletter that offers weekly updates on events and actions needing a citizen's response.  Rallies, celebrations, workshops, conferences, exhibits, and legislative action alerts of interest to Vermonters, as well as news of national and international issues needing citizen attention, are featured.  If you would like to find out more, email debra(at)vtlink(dot)net.
 

 Plan Ahead
Facing The Media Crisis:
Media Education for Reform, Justice and Democracy
October 6-8, 2006: Burlington, Vermont
The Wyndham Lakefront Hotel and Champlain College
Dialogue with our courageous and compelling Summit keynote and plenary speakers: U.S. Senate candidate Bernie Sanders, Sut Jhally, Jean Kilbourne, Bill McKibben, Robert McChesney, Robert Jensen, Peter Phillips, John Stauber, Diane Wilson - and more than one dozen other prominent media educators and citizen/activists!

Submit a workshop proposal of your own! Teach others about your media education work!

For more information about the Summit, including speakers, workshop proposals, and registration, please visit http://www.acmecoalition.org   Earlybird registration is happening now!
 

Resources
The Vermont Community Garden Network
 I believed community gardening was the most unique community-development tool I had ever seen.
It's been 10 years, and nothing has shaken that belief.
- Steve Frillmann, Green Guerillas

Founded in 2005, the Friends of Burlington Gardens' Vermont Community Garden Network (VCGN) is a collaborative affiliation of community-based gardens, garden organizers, and partner organizations working together to strengthen the community garden movement in Vermont.  The VCGN is actively seeking and linking community garden projects in Vermont cities and towns. This work builds upon the joint resolution passed by the Vermont legislature in 2004 to support the expansion of community, youth, and school gardening movement statewide.

Friends of Burlington Gardens/VCGN offers mini-grants for Vermont community and school gardens.  Mini-grants of up to $500 each will be awarded by Friends of Burlington Gardens on May 1, 2006 to support 20 or more community and school garden projects in Vermont. A total of $10,000 will be allocated to projects that include food gardening and a service-learning component. Mini-grant application forms and guidelines will be available for downloading from Friends of Burlington Gardens web page on March 1st. Applications must be submitted and postmarked by April 15, 2006.  
 
VCGN participating communities include: Barre, Bellows Falls, Bennington, Bolton, Brattleboro, Brownington, Burlington, Charlotte, Chester, Colchester, Concord, East Hardwick, Essex, Essex Junction, Fairfax, Ferrisburgh, Forest Dale, Hardwick, Hinesburg, Jeffersonville, Johnson, Lyndonville, Manchester, Middlebury, Milton, Montgomery Center, Montpelier, Morrisville, New Haven, Newport, North Springfield, North Troy, Orange, Peacham, Putney, Queeche, Rutland, Shelburne, South Burlington, South Royalton, Springfield, Stockbridge, Stowe, Sutton, Swanton, Underhill, Waitsfield, Warren, Williston, and Winooski.  Visit their website to learn more about how your community can participate in the network.

Friends of Burlington Gardens and VCGN have an excellent resource page for those interested in developing community gardens, including fundraising strategies, guidelines for developing a community garden, stories, and links to community garden projects throughout the state (Post Oil Solutions' project in Brattleboro is included).  Scroll down their page for additional books and web resources.  Read more about VCGN in Seven Days.

The Oil Age Poster
Colorful and authoritative, The Oil Age Poster traces the history of the Oil Age from its beginnings in the hills of western Pennsylvania in 1859 to its rise as the engine of global industrial economies. The poster's main chart features a year-by-year rendering of worldwide oil production from 1859 to 2050 with projections of future production based on Colin Campbell's Oil Depletion Model. Historical annotations as well as detailed data on production, trade and reserves make this poster a versatile tool for presenting the realities and implications of global oil production and its impending peak.

Make a sponsorship donation and they'll send posters to schools, libraries, and policy makers in your city, region, or state. You can specify the type of recipients and even send to specific people.  (Available only in U.S.)
A donation of...
... $50 sends 10 posters
... $125 sends 25 posters
... $500 sends 100 posters
The primary goal of The Oil Age poster is to increase awareness of the critical role of oil in modern industrial society and to call attention to the impending worldwide peak in oil production.  

Personal Sustainability Checklist  
Personal energy conservation is one way to reduce our unsustainable reliance on fossil fuels.  The Personal Sustainability Checklist can help individuals re-examine habits and create routines that, while they won't stave off the greater repercussions of Peak Oil, will go a long way toward increasing personal energy awareness and responsibility.

Connect!
There is an on-line, state-wide open PO discussion group.  Join a conversation, or start one of your own.  


If you would like to submit a Guest Editorial or an article, please
contact us.