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 Monthly News and Views -  updated 3/29/06.
This page is updated monthly.  Please send submissions by the third week in each month.  Next update scheduled for April 28th.
ARCHIVES page is being developed.  Thank you for your patience!

 Special Events
   Legislative Energy Event
   Vermont's Energy Future
Under the Golden Dome:  
   Energy Related Bills
   Tracking Legislation in Vermont
   H-654:  Food and Energy Security
   Vt. Dept. of Public Services:  Increase in Wind Incentives
   Joint House Resolution J.R.H. 47 - grants for community gardens
Quote of the Month:  
    The right to know is a cornerstone of our democracy...
Editorial:
   A Measured Dose of Hopefulness
Guest Editorial:  
    An Eco-Idea
Articles:
    Reinventing Economics (courtesy Vermont Commons)
    Alpaca farm runs on CVPS Cow Power
    Turning Warming Down by Turning the Meter Backward
    Responsible Energy Planning
    Student's Corner:  The Peak Beast
    Student's Corner:  American Babel
    Film Review:  CNN's "We Were Warned: Tomorrow's Oil Crisis"
As the Crow Flies:  Reports from Around the State
    Post Oil Solutions
    ACORN
    Chittenden County
    Mad River Minutes
    Tunbridge's Neighbors Helping Neighbors Program
Columns
    Doctor Gloom's Soapbox
Gold Stars to...
    Chelsea Green Publishing
    Jericho Community Center:  Village University
Action!
     Organize a Peak Oil Book Display
    Our Climate, Ourselves Presenters Wanted
    Write a Letter to the Editor of Your Local Paper!
    Write a Letter to a Representative
    What's a Citizen TO DO? newsletter
Plan Ahead
    Creating Sustainable Communities Conference
    Facing the Media Crisis
Resources
    Kilowatt Hours Documentary
    Connect!  On-line Peak Oil Discussion Group for Vermonters
    (Find additional resources on the National Links/Educational Resources page.)

Special Events
Legislative Energy Event
Monday, April 3rd, Montpelier
Legislative Energy Event:  Room 11 of the State House, Montpelier, 9 am to 4 pm. Marjan van den Belt will conduct a mediated modelling exercise of Vermont's electricity futures, funded by the Department of Public Service. Groups as diverse as Vermont Public Interest Research Group and Vermont Yankee have come together to build a mathematical model describing our present electricity system and future options, and plan to use the model to see what happens under various scenarios. At lunch, Nathan Hagens of the Gund Institute of Ecological Economics will give a presentation on the energy market. The public is invited to the day's event.

See http://publicservice.vermont.gov/pub/state-plans-compenergy.html to get a leg up on what the Vt. Department of Public Service's Comprehensive Energy Plan looks like today.  It is scheduled to be updated by 2007 - second quarter.

Vermont's Energy Future: a View from the Legislature
Monday, April 10th, Jericho
State Reps. Gaye Symington, Bill Frank, and Jim McCullough, at 7 pm, Jericho Center Library.  Representatives will discuss options the Legislature has considered over the last two sessions to nurture the development of renewable energy. Part of the Village University project of the Jericho Community Center.  For more information, call Orelyn Emerson at 899-3853.  See additional Village University offerings, as well as other events happening in Vermont this spring, on the VPON Calendar page.


Under the Golden Dome
    Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent.
It takes a touch of genius––and a lot of courage––to move in the opposite direction.
                                                                                                                         - attributed to E. F. Schumacher

Several energy-related bills are currently making their way through the VT House and Senate.  Here are just a few:
H.859:  AN ACT RELATING TO THE ENERGY SECURITY AND RELIABILITY ACT
S.231:  AN ACT RELATING TO NET METERING AND UNUSED KILOWATT-HOUR CREDITS
H.0698:   EXPANDING THE ALLOWABLE SCOPE OF NET METERING SYSTEMS

See below for a discussion of net metering by Henry Swayse of Tunbridge Post Carbon.

Wanna keep track of what's happening with your favorite issue in Montpelier?
http://www.leg.state.vt.us/database/database2.cfm  (Thanks to Moshe Braner for this weblink.)

House Bill-654, a recently introduced bill in the Vermont House presents strategies for food supply planning, renewable energy, and emergency preparedness, anticipating a reduction in fossil-fuel availability, and continues to need our support.  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).

The Vermont Department of Public Service has announced that the incentives for wind systems installed under the Vermont Solar and Small Wind Incentive Program will be increased by 25%.  These changes take effect immediately, and will apply to all small wind projects that have not received their final incentive payment.

DPS is increasing the incentive to promote greater activity in the small wind market (hooray!).  Incentives for wind systems will become $2.50/Watt for the base incentive. Additional incentives will still apply for Vermont content, making the new structure $3.00/Watt for systems that use a tower manufactured in Vermont, $3.50/Watt for systems that use a turbine manufactured in Vermont, and $4.00/Watt for systems with both. The maximum incentive level for small wind systems are also being increased to $12,500. The incentive for schools and municipalities installing small wind are also being incresased: these projects will receive $4.50/Watt of rated capacity. The cap for these participants is the lesser of $20,000 or 50% of installed cost.

All other program rules and requirements remain in place, for example, all small wind systems must be grid tied to be eligible for an incentive. Incentive reservation and documentation forms reflecting these changes will be posted on the program web site:  http://www.rerc-vt.org/incentives/index.htm

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.   The Vermont Community Garden Network is a recipient of funding, and provides mini-grants to support community gardening projects. Visit VCGN .


Quote of the Month
"The right to know is a cornerstone of our democracy. Without it, citizens are kept in the dark about key policy decisions that directly affect their lives. Without open government, citizens cannot make informed choices at the ballot box. Without access to public documents and a vibrant free press, officials can make decisions in the shadows, often in collusion with special interests, escaping accountability for their actions. And once eroded, these rights are hard to win back."

     - Vermont Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy, from an article he wrote on the growing threat to our democracy by infringements imposed by the Bush administration on America's Freedom of Information Act. Leahy's article was submitted for possible publication by the "Sunshine in Government Initiative" of the American Society of Newspaper Editors before it was censored by the Associated Press.  (As reported by sources to Peter Freyne, in 3/22/06 edition of Seven Days.)
Editorial
A Measured Dose of Hopefulness
by Annie Dunn Watson
 We desperately need prophets, even false ones, to help us narrow the infinity of plausible futures down to one or at least to a manageable handful. We look at the present and see the present; they see the seeds of the future. They are our advance scouts, infiltrating the undiscovered country, stealing over the border to bring back priceless reconnaissance maps of the world to come.
- Lev Grossman

As awareness of our precarious predicament grows, it increasingly seems we are riding off in a hundred different directions, spurred on by hope (or desperation), certain only in our uncertainty, and in fervent search of a plan.  Relocalization, hybrid cars, alternative energy, community gardens...  the solution proposed depends on how the problem itself is framed:  is it an energy problem, a climate problem, a cultural problem, or an economic one? Is the solution technological, political, or is it in the community? If it's energy, we can conserve - can't we?- or maybe consider rationing; or perhaps (after we exhaust existing supplies of coal and uranium), we can mine the ocean floor for the remaining methane hydrates.  If we're still breathing, that is.  If it's a political problem, heck, let's just throw the bums out. Corporate?  Boycott!  Let the market solve it; relocalize.  Maybe we could attach our hopes to mylar balloons strung around the earth and reflect all that solar power down here where it actually belongs!

Whoa, there, Trigger.

The more threads we tug upon, the more intricate we find the weave of our lives to be.  We now know that our so-called non-negotiable Amercian way of life is dramatically contingent.  This fragile complexity calls for radically different thinking than that which generated the problem in the first place. And the situation is dire enough that our tolerance for the seemingly ridiculous won't be especially high.  

What will replace the relative peace we experienced due to the wide availability of 350 million years of stored sunshine? So many social advances rest firmly on fossil fuels.  For a few thousand years (out of a few million), most of us were able to live beyond envionrmental constraints such as hunger, lack of shelter, and fear of non-human predation; social conditions improved, at least for awhile, and a few of us were fortunate enough to carry on  in rather high style. In doing so, we have nearly rendered the environment, whose limits we thumbed our noses at, unlivable for ourselves and our fellow beings. For the first time in history, we are a people who may very well "take to the streets in pursuit of austerity" (George Monbiot, 2005).  It turns out that Nature indeed has some non-negotiable conditions of her own.

We would not be the first complex society to collapse.  We’ve proven ourselves stunningly capable of being absolutely stupid.  Yet, if we leave it at that, what hope will we find?  A friend of mine once handed me a button that read:  "Hope is not a plan."  I've been squirming ever since; but without hope, I am beginning to doubt that a plan will ever be constructed.

What to do?  We cannot throw precious resources at endeavors without promise - or worse.  Yet, history (whether trying to lull us back to sleep or give us cause to consider, I'm not sure) harbors a wealth of stories about human creativity, resiliance, brilliance even, in the face of terrific odds.  Can we suspend disbelief enough to permit those venturing forth into the "undiscovered country" the opportunity to unpack their bags and display, among the predictably ridiculous, some glimmering items of hope? 

Let's start with a vision.  In this issue, our guest editorial comes from a life-long Vermonter whose template for Vermont’s future is that of the Eco-Village.  Sherri Hawkins invites us to examine the treasures she’s collected on her journey into undiscovered territory. Vermont author Bill McKibben has called it “a beautiful idea,” and hailed it for its ability to imagine a positive future for Vermont.

But before we saddle up and ride away again, let’s examine this “present” we inhabit.  Look at, but also beyond, the plausibility of a die-off.  Think past the on-the-surface silly image of mylar ballons in space. What seeds for the future exist here, in the vision-hungry now?  Here’s an exercise to get us started in a possible direction:  List the 10 books you perceive as having had the greatest influence on your life.  After you’ve done this, find the threads, the seeds that connect your inner understanding to the way you live your life and engage the world.  You may be surprised at how many undiscovered countries you have journeyed to already, and returned from with unexpected gifts of your own. Now would be a good time to use them.

Introductory quote from:  Forward Thinking, by  Lev Grossman
http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101041011/story.html
Posted Sunday, October 3, 2004

Monbiot quote from his address to Climate March in December of 2005:  "The Struggle Against Ourselves."


Guest Editorial  
 An Eco-Idea
by Sherri Hawkins
We need to truly build and share resources on all levels, to become self-sufficient and sustainable as a State,
not just as organizations, businesses, towns and households.
 
I’m a native Vermonter, who has lived all over the state and has seen the changes that sprawl, tourism and industry have made over the years, and what’s “gone missing."
 
I understand what is happening globally, in terms of the earth changes, the increasing chaos, decreasing resources, and how large a part the “ruling faction” in this country (and their global cronies) are playing in that pre-catastrophe setting.  I believe there is going to be more chaos and crisis before the planetary fragility is accepted as an urgent priority….I’m not talking Apocalypse, however; just a hard-won and massive change in consciousness, to where people have to see themselves IN RELATIONSHIP to everything else, finally….where they understand that every living thing is a “butterfly wing.”
 
For a long time now, I’ve had the feeling that Vermont could be, or is, the beacon for a better way.… toward environmental preservation and enhancement…. toward tolerance and equal rights for all…. toward creative solutions to the problems facing the people, and the planet.  I know that sounds grandiose, but great things keep happening in Vermont that can benefit Vermonters and beyond.
 
The Idea:   What about Vermont as an Eco-Village…the whole state. 

What about fielding the concept of the eco-village as an umbrella for ALL the efforts currently underway in Vermont, efforts that are working toward a more ecologically progressive, cooperative high-ground?  All the CSA farms, environmental orgs, waste management agencies, alternative energy organizations, land trusts, green building companies, affordable housing agencies, coops, non-profits, social services, educational institutions, outreach programs of all the religious (or not) organizations, think-tanks, alternative and complementary medicine and other medical folks so inclined.
 
If we considered all the aspects of an eco-village and applied it to a larger area, what would it look like? 
 
Maybe start with a Vermont Charter….like the Earth Charter concept….?

There would have to be total openness and cooperation…(I don’t know if the state government would consider being involved).…there would have to be some type of communication infrastructure that wouldn’t be detrimental to the environment (is there such a thing?)
 
I’m not talking about endless meetings and constant decision-making, but a Concept that everyone would be committed to:
    * like the concept of a permaculture environment where everything helps everything else to succeed;
    * where barter is equally valuable as a method of transacting goods and services;
    * where everyone would commit to making a “smaller footprint;”
    * where people could participate on any level of what’s happening;
    * where endless tiny organizations wouldn’t be competing for attention & money, but could be branches of the overall Eco-Concept;
    * where more people could find work in the environmental & social systems-related fields, which could then be bartered, as necessary, for housing or medical services,etc.
 
Money and health (and the lack of either) are what divide people up the most, in my opinion; if both of those systems could be transformed into equal playing fields, where everyone has access to what they need in a thriving, sustainable physical environment… then Vermont would indeed have something to show the nation, and the world. 
 
I’m coming to a strong conviction that since everything and everyone is connected and equal in the eyes of a Creator, people have to stop separating themselves from each other according to financial and other hierarchical types of status. If some kind of planetary deprivation is going to occur, everyone will share in it equally….what good is money going to be when there isn’t anything to buy?  “Policy & procedure” become meaningless in the wake of natural disasters.
 
I believe we have to start right now to find more and better ways to use barter and "green"  money….and for everyone to have access to healthy food, clean water, “greener” shelter, sustainable energy, quality health care and fulfilling work…and stop making everything dependent on $$$ and bureaucracy.  I believe the concept of barter, creation of job systems on behalf of environment/resource conservation, health systems based on complementary and preventive medical practises – with credit for Wellness - , participatory educational systems, etc., can change the polarization of those with and those without, can stop the cycles of crime and violence, can give hope to people and the planet.  
 
I’m wondering if this idea couldn’t dovetail very nicely with the recent discussion of an “independent” Vermont, without having to go thru the “messy divorce” process…in fact, if this idea could incorporate these concepts, as well as all the best aspects that people see in an Independent Vermont, then I don’t see why Vermont couldn’t be the first example to other states to set themselves up as highly efficient, self-sustaining entities, that may be still “attached” constitutionally, as needs be,  but not “dependent."  We would just naturally stop needing so much from Big Daddy and his resource-guzzling cronies around the globe.  We would be able to say, in effect,  “no thanks, but nice talking with you, gotta get back to work…”
                                                                                                           
I admittedly don’t know a lot about eco-villages or large cooperative environments, but I believe in “what if”….and I know that the eco-villages, the new communities, the cooperative and consensus-type organizational style, etc., are becoming more prevalent and more successful with forward-thinking populations all over the world.  Why not put it into action in Vermont, in a “big” way?  Why not make a successful local concept work on a statewide level?  I think Vermont could be the place to do such a thing.
 
I know there are some co-housing and intentional communities operating/or starting in VT, but from what I’ve gathered, they’re based on a financial commitment that prices probably 85% of Vermonters out of the running; some have lots of rules and regulations, and as far as they go, they seem a bit too “trendy”…those aspects help maintain the concept of Separation…or Specialness.
 
The whole point is CONNECTION…the reality that we all affect each other, no matter who we are, or what we do, or how we vote, how much money we have, or where we go.  The sooner people realize that one entity isn’t going to “win out” over another, the better….the more inclusive, the better.
 
Success will come when people at the grassroot level world-wide are empowered together to create a better way to live.  I don’t see why younger people shouldn’t be as involved in their own future as the grown-ups that have been instrumental in practically destroying it.  That would also be in keeping with the idea of a more level playing field in any organizational management…with the creation and development process representing everyone.
 
I know lots of people and organizations are all working on pieces of what I’m talking about, but is anyone taking it to a higher level?….an official Commitment to an overarching concept, with "no turning back", period…with everyone acknowledging their “connectedness” and using that principle to guide their efforts?  ….before there is a planetary crisis forcing us into a situation for which we were unprepared and about which we have been complacent??
 
We need to truly build and share resources on all levels, to become self-sufficient and sustainable as a State, not just as organizations, businesses, towns and households.
 
I don't have the educational or environmental credentials to start such a movement, nor do I want to "lead" one, but I really want to be involved in the forward progression of this movement...to plant a seed, or help it grow if it's already been planted.

Sherri Hawkins is a member of the Chittenden County Peak Oil Group.  Sherri can be reached at: 802-578-0503; e-mail:  glenda2 (at) pshift (dot) com  
 

 Articles
Re-inventing Economics
Vermont Commons February 06 (Issue 10)
Vermont Commons is a print journal and online forum for exploring the idea of Vermont independence – political, economic, social, and spiritual. February 2006's issue, assembled by E.F. Schumacher guest editor Susan Witt and VC publisher Ian Baldwin, features some of the country's foremost economics thinkers, including Hazel Henderson, Judy Wicks, Peter Barnes, Gar Alperovitz, Bob Costanza and others.  To read articles featured in the Re-inventing Economics issue, go to http://www.vtcommons.org/journal


Alpaca farm runs on CVPS Cow Power
Submitted by Steve Costello of Central Vermont Public Service
PERKINSVILLE – New England’s largest alpaca farm is teaming up with Vermont’s largest voluntary renewable energy program, CVPS Cow Power™.

“We’re putting CVPS Cow Power™ to work at Cas-Cad-Nac Farm,” said co-owner Ian Lutz, who with his wife Jennifer runs the 250-head alpaca farm in central Vermont.  “We’re strong supporters of sustainable, Vermont-scale agriculture, so it’s a natural decision for us to become Cow Power customers.”

CVPS Cow Power™ is the nation’s only direct farm-to-consumer renewable energy program, creating a market for farmers who want to process cow manure and other farm waste to generate electricity.  More than 2,500 CVPS customers have enrolled in the program, which provides farms with new manure management opportunities, environmental benefits and income.

With annual electric use of about 55,000 kilowatt-hours, Cas-Cad-Nac Farm is now the biggest single customer enrolled in CVPS Cow Power™.  The farm plans to cross-market its alpacas with CVPS Cow Power™, using its newsletter, website and farm signage to promote the program.

“Our customers tend to be very supportive of the farm lifestyle we enjoy, so Cow Power is the perfect fit for Cas-Cad-Nac Farm,” Jennifer Lutz said.  “No one else in the country is doing anything like this for dairy farmers.”

Enrolling Cas-Cad-Nac Farm in CVPS Cow Power™ also fits CVPS’s original concept for the renewable energy choice.

“From the beginning we’ve wanted to partner with customers who wanted to go beyond just enrolling, who wanted to trumpet their enrollment,” CVPS President Bob Young said.  “That’s good for the customers, good for farms, and good for the program.”

CVPS Cow Power™ was born of a desire to give electric customers a 100 percent renewable energy choice.  CVPS did extensive customer surveying to gauge demand for a renewable choice, and support for farm-based generation in particular.  Based on that data, the company worked with state regulators, the Agency of Agriculture and others to develop the CVPS Cow Power™ concept, which allows customers to get all, half or a quarter of their electrical energy through Cow Power.

Customers pay a premium of 4 cents per kilowatt hour for CVPS Cow Power™, which goes to participating farm-producers, to purchase renewable energy credits when enough farm energy isn’t available, or to the CVPS Renewable Development Fund.  The fund provides grants to farm owners to develop on-farm generation. Farm-producers are also paid 95 percent of the market price for the energy sold to CVPS.

The generation concept is simple.  Manure is held in a sealed concrete tank at the same temperature as a cow’s stomach, 101 degrees. Bacteria digest the volatile components, creating methane and killing pathogens and weed seeds.  The methane fuels an engine/generator, and the energy is put onto CVPS’s power lines for delivery to customers.  The processed farm waste can be separated into solids and liquid. The solids can be dried and used as cow bedding or composted for home and garden use, while the liquid, which is virtually odorless, can be spread as fertilizer on the farm as it has been for hundreds of years.

“Cow Power makes perfect sense for Vermont, and Cas-Cad-Nac Farm,” Ian Lutz said.  “We want to encourage our customers and neighbors to join us in enrolling and supporting farming and the environment.”

CVPS Cow Power - Providing renewable energy one cow at a time. Questions, or to enroll, call 1-800-649-2877.
Turning Warming Down by Turning the Meter Backward
By Henry Swayse
Form groups of customers to collaborate on net metering in your area, keep that money in the local economy,
and reduce carbon emissions at the same time!
 
It has long been my dream to generate all my own electricity from a renewable resource, at or below commercial power costs and be able or have some left over to do some driving with.  This has not proven to be so easy.  Two things are coming together to make this able to be a reality for many Vermonters.
 
One: the new net metering law (that is being working on by the public service board at the instruction of the house and senate) will if done right ALLOW LARGER WIND, ALLOW HYDRO, and ALLOW GROUP NET METERING. If all this is made into law then the cost of larger installations can be shared by groups of 2+ households and that will help dramatically with cost effectiveness.  For more information and to see how you can help  http://www.revermont.org/legislation.htm
 
Two:  Commercial equipment is getting better and cheaper.  Many situations will be cost effective now with multiple households sharing the power from a good site for wind or hydro.  Home grown systems are probably already there for single users. 
 
Here is my take on the overview.  If you are isolated from the grid then your formula for power generation is a balancing act between spending for generation-storage and spending for or suffering from conservation.  About 1/3 the anual cost of a stand alone system is in the batteries.  Batteries also can be a pollution problem.  I have focused on net metering with out batteries.  I want the quality of life that comes with cheap power used efficiently and with as little impact on climate change as is possible... no fossil fuel and keeping costs low.
 
BANG FOR THE BUCK
The higher the quality a wind or water resource you have the better the economics will be.  This can be dramatic with an excellent site and 1 to 5 users having a payback period of 5-7 years and many years of free power following.
 
Assuming an equally good resource then what is the best source?
 
Water has the advantage over all others in that it tends to run 24 hours a day so a small generator output and equipment size  does the same work as a much larger (5X) wind or photo voltaic unite.  High head micro turbines http://www.suntrekenergy.com/hydro.htm#harris are my favorites but there are solutions for low head  and even for utilizing flowing rivers. for one: http://www.marlec.co.uk/products/prods/amozon.htm .  Here is a good collection of products for all applications: http://www.uvm.edu/~gflomenh/Dominica/Suppliers/%25HydroSellersFinal.doc
 
Wind is the thing I have been focused on.  A site with an average anual wind speed of 10 MPH can be made to work if the power you are replacing is pricey and you take a long amortization time.  We are on Washington Electric and pay 16+ cents per KW which makes moderate wind sites attractive.  At 13 MPH you triple the energy generated from the same site and equipment so 13-15 MPH sites can have quick payback times or allow throwing more money at a no hassle installation.
 
Photo voltaic
This is not my territory but Vermont gets lots of low sun angle and its share of overcast as well.  This make solar panels have to be twice as big as they would have to be in say Arizona.  So to make them pay you have to get them cheap.  My sense is that current retail priced installations will generate electricity for you at approximately 24 cents a KW.  Used may be a good thing to consider.  Power is getting more expensive and systems are getting cheaper and beginning to come in architectural features i.e.. roof tiles, siding and soon lots more.  They are long lasting and trouble free.
 
Price escalators and hiccups
Synchronous AC power - we need to feed it to the grid for net metering.  Most small generating equipment makes something that varies in frequency (wild AC) and must be converted in to clean synchronous AC.  The inverter root has been pricey (Bergey makes a grid tie unit to support their 10KW wind turbine that goes for $8000) but the quality of the equipment is going up and the price of the equipment is going down all the time.  There are some schemes for generating synchronous AC directly from the generator (A motor hooked to the power line runs.  When you turn it faster than its run speed it generates.  So a readily available motor can be used as a generator with the proper controls.) but I am not aware of any of these being commercially available for small scale wind.  I am very interested in one that is available as a home built http://www.prairie.com/  I am not sure about what’s available for hydro but you may be able to do your own depending on how your utility views the “must be UL approved” requirements.
 
Infrastructure to support your chosen system can also add up:
- Low head hydro if permanently installed must withstand the wrath of spring run off. 
- Most wind mills will require a tower and they can run as much as the wind turbine its self.  Used can be a deal. Commercial towers or wind generators and towers that are coming down to make room for the next generation.  They can also have lots of hidden cost.  Talk to the pioneers, Jack and Anne Lazor of Butter Works  Farm 802-744-6855.  They put up a 65KW rig and have good hindsight.
  
I am very interested in one of the no tower windmill solutions...  Remember a little more wind speed and lots more power, now think of the consequences of the rule of thumb: measure wind speed at hand height say 10 MPH then measure at 30 feet and you get 10 X 1.5= 15 MPH then go to 60 feet and get another +2 MPH and now we are up to 17 MPH or 5 times the power out put for the same turbine.  One solution to capturing that extra energy and more may be to float or fly the wind generator.  http://www.magenn.com/products.php will take you to a rolling blimp on a long tether.  I figure that it could pay for its self in many less than perfect wind sites.  Aesthetics will have to be considered carefully and this is a brand new technology so buyers beware.
Other units that make up for height by increasing area are represented by http://www.windharvest.com/windstar/windstar1400detail.jpg 
 
Other resources
A good overview article (17 pages) on purchased wind equipment decision making.  http://www.homepower.com/files/hp90-50.pdf
Build your own plans for wind net metering 1-2 families http://www.prairieturbines.com/  (repeat of above) medium $s
Build your own plans and info for wind battery charging for up to 1 families http://www.scoraigwind.com/ (good track record here) less $s
Discussion board on do it your self power generation http://www.fieldlines.com/ (lots here)
 
The above ideas and information are very much a work in progress.  It only represent a snapshot of how I see things today 7/24/06 (second version).  Please feel free to correct comment or add to it.  Over time I will try to make this document more useful.   

Henry Swayze:  swayze(at)pngusa.net 
47 Swayze Road, Tunbridge Vermont 05077
802-889-5556.
Henry coordinates the Tunbridge Post Carbon group.

(ed note:  Be sure to check the Vt Resources  page on this website, under "Energy" for addional info about energy efficiency, state energy intiatives, and renewables.  See esp:  Sustainable Energy Resource Group - http://www.serg-info.org/)


Responsible Energy Planning
by Michael Grillo
At this critical juncture, let us hope that (theVermont Comprehensive Energy Plan) recognizes the unprecedented energy challenges before us, and provides a framework that will direct us responsibly and safely into the future. 

Burlington Electric requests a 23% rate hike.  Vermont Gas requests an additional 16.7% rate increase just five months after securing a 13.6% increase.  Oil has risen 140% since 2000, while natural gas and gasoline have risen about 50% during that same period. Vermont Yankee attempts to tweak output beyond its rated capacity; daily debate concerning wind turbines on Vermont ridgelines; Cow Power as a renewable energy source, etc., etc.

Have you noticed all of the news about energy these days? Newspaper, radio, TV and other media outlets are full of them. Among these stories, NPR and CNN recently ran special reports on the possibility of world oil peaking.  Peak oil is defined as the demand for oil exceeding the available supply.  If this were to happen, most experts agree that there would be severe economic and social consequences in the US and the world.  How severe?  A report sponsored by the US Department of Energy in February of 2005 explored this issue.  The report titled Peaking of World Oil Production: Impacts, Mitigation, and Risk Management is in the public domain, and can be found at www.globalpublicmedia.com/docs/2005/hirsch-bezdek-wendling.peakingofworldoilproduction.feb2005.pdf. The analysis is compelling, and ought to be required reading for anyone who wants to participate in an informed debate on energy. (ed note:  a summary of the bill appears here.)

Is there credible evidence that we are at risk with regard to peak oil?  Many believe so, including the Army Corp of Engineers. According to a report just released to the public by the Corp, "domestic production of both oil and natural gas are past their peak and world petroleum production is nearing its peak."  They go on to say that:  "The oil market will remain fairly stable, but with steadily increasing prices as world production peaks. Demand now exceeds production and we are seeing that effect on prices. After the peak is reached, geopolitics and market economics will result in significant price increases above what we have seen to date."

It seems to me that as we discuss energy issues in Vermont, we ought to frame this debate with a much clearer understanding of national and global energy realities. With energy prices at or near all time highs and climbing, ill-informed choices may have exceedingly costly consequences down the road.  The Vermont Department of Public Service is currently preparing its Vermont Comprehensive Energy Plan, due out in Q2 of 2007.  At this critical juncture, let us hope that this plan recognizes the unprecedented energy challenges before us, and provides a framework that will direct us responsibly and safely into the future.  A good philosophical underpinning for this Plan would be two of the overriding conclusions from the aforementioned Army Corp of Engineers report:

"Throughout the 20th Century, the United States has been a profligate energy consumer. The rapid and expansive growth of the economy was based on cheap and abundant energy. Little thought and planning have been given to how to transition to the realities of the 21st Century when petroleum and natural gas resources will become depleted. The U.S. economy uses 50 percent more energy per unit of GDP than the other developed nations of the world (EIA 2004). The fossil fuel-based, automobile-centered, throw-away economy is not a viable model for the United States or the rest of the world over the long term. It is not sustainable."

"One thing is certain: [the future] is going to be challenging, and comprehensive approaches to energy issues are required. Uncertainty cannot be an excuse for inaction. Integrated resource planning is required and issues must be addressed from both the supply and demand viewpoint. The U.S. cannot drill its way to energy independence nor can we do it all with renewables and efficiency. A secure, reliable, and cost effective energy system must be robust, diverse, and aggressively incorporate renewables, energy efficiency, and intelligent use of fossil fuels."

See also:  Peak Oil and the Army's Future:  http://www.energybulletin.net/13737.html

Michael Grillo is a member of the newly-forming Chittenden County Peak Oil Group.


Students' Corner:  The Peak Beast
by Elena Bespalova, Burlington College
My personal feelings? I feel like I have seen it before … in my other life.

As we all know the city of Burlington and the Burlington progressive community have pursued a strategy of “Think globally. Live locally."  It is a strategy of sustainable development that has evolved to include increased citizen participation, greater environmental responsibility, growing social equity, an invigorated economy, and the maximized use of Vermont resources. The Institute for Civic Engagement at Burlington College is presenting a series of discussions concerning global and local issues pertaining to Burlington. On February 15, in the City Hall, they hosted James Howard Kunstler, author of influential books The Geography of Nowhere, Home From Nowhere, and, The Long Emergency, which focuses on the challenges faced by a changing America in the 21st Century.

Kunstler’s lecture was called “ The Long Emergency and the Death of Suburbia." Kunstler began his speech with a brief explanation about the term  “Peak Oil.” He demonstrated knowledge of the topic and supported the lecture with slides. We all know the power of the picture; so, his slide showing the simple oil production “hump” (Hubert’s Peak Oil Schematic), with its peak in 2005, is impressive, as was his simple comment: “We are on the top, heading down to the other side."  He leaves us pessimistic when we realize that we are falling down already. This is the local situation, in the United States. Is there any more optimism to be found around the world?

Think globally … any hope? None. The present situations in Russia, the Middle East, the Arab Emirate, clearly show that America can’t count on a “miracle,” and we also have to realize that China can be a competitor in the oil market soon, not a cooperator. Kunstler clearly leads us to the idea that surviving will be in our own hands, and we have to start to think about it now.

Unfortunately, he also had to destroy all utopias about alternative energy (bio diesel, hydrogen) and maintained that “Technology does not equal Energy."  In a “chronicle" on his website, he said: “[N]either America nor China (nor anybody else) can continue running industrial economies the way we have been, or even a substantial fraction of that way, in an energy-starved world. Nor will anybody come up with a miracle technological rescue remedy to keep all the motors humming.”

Is there any way to deal with this? Kunstler has a few solutions to the coming energy crisis. His first remedy is repairing the railroad system. He believes in the restoration of the American railroads. He wrote in his chronicles: “It would [be] a major political coup. It would have a huge impact on our oil use. The public would benefit from it tremendously. And it would […] put thousands of people to work on something really meaningful. Unlike trips to Mars and experiments in cold fusion, railroads are something we already know how to do, and the tracks are lying out there waiting to be fixed.”
             
The second way is to bring the boats back. At this point, it was very interesting to notice that this change in resource uses could also transform the future use of Waterfronts in the cities. Now most of them serve as recreation areas for the public and could, in the future, be a good base for the restoration of water transportation to serve changing needs of society. It made me think that we need to leave the Moran Plant on our waterfront for a future “Burlington Water Terminal!"
          
Another solution that Kunstler is convinced will help resolve the coming crisis would be developing economic independence. Earlier, in his chronicles, he said:  "Among the strange delusions and hallucinations gripping the body politic these days is the idea that the so-called global economy is a permanent fixture of the human condition. The seemingly unanimous embrace of this idea in the power circles of America is a marvelous illustration of the madness of crowds, for nothing could be farther from the truth. The global economy is a few decades of relative world peace between the great powers along with substantial, reliable supplies of predictably cheap fossil fuels. The result, as far as America is concerned, has been an extended fiesta based on suburban comfort, easy motoring, fried food in abundance, universal air conditioning, and bargain-priced imported merchandise acquired on promises to pay later—a way of life.” In his speech Kunstler told the audience the shocking truth about the dependency of America on imported of recourses and labor and how dependence will affect the future of economics.
          
Again and again Kunstler envisioned the “decline of America” as we know it. He believes that local food growing and reconstruction of farming and local businesses will decrease oil spending for transportation of food. He warns that farming will not be a choice for suburban life in the future, it will be a necessity: as employment and as a food source for families. He pointed out that the present-day school system is dependent on busses, and that people are dependent on big commerce. He does not agree with the “assumption that we ought to keep living the way we do in America, that we can keep running the interstate highway system, Wal-Mart, and Walt Disney World on some other basis besides fossil fuels. The public probably wishes that this were so, but it isn't a service to pander to their wishes instead of addressing the mandates of reality. And reality is telling us something very different. Reality is saying that the life of incessant motoring is a suicidal fiasco, and if we don't learn to inhabit the terrain of North America differently, a lot of us are going die, either in war, or by starvation when oil-and-gas-based farming craps out, or in civil violence proceeding from failed economic expectations.”
           
Kunstler pointed out the need to rearrange public spaces; one of the ideas that was shocking to the audience is that not all public spaces should be equipped with handicapped fixtures. Maintaining building regulations as they are could mean a future of downtowns with empty skyscrapers. Scary.  He proclaims that “People get what they deserve, not what they expect."  He wrote in one of his chronicals: “We will be challenged to rebuild complex local networks of economic interdependency, and it will not be easy. The destruction of local communities already wreaked by the big chains has been so comprehensive that it may take decades even to pick up the pieces."
             
At the end of the lecture the audience had a chance to ask questions. The range of people’s interests represented both global and personal worries. There were questions about the effect of global warming, and where to put 401K money.  Definitely, people were thinking about the future and how to deal with the “peak oil" beast.

My personal feelings? I feel like I have seen it before … in my other life. I came from a country, which was the former republic of the Soviet Union. The development of the Soviet Union was based on globalization and specification. Every region, every republic had a specialization in economy, promising stability and the Russian dream of living. In reality, it was a way to keep parts together and suppress independence economically and politically. After “Perestroika,” republics were left with parts of an economy, and they were lucky if their specialization was resources, which they could sell. I was living in a country (Belarus) where the specialization was “people."  Belarus doesn’t have natural resources, so it was chosen to educate people and “grow” professionals in technology and the computer field. Russia stopped giving us iron and oil, Ukraine stopped giving us coal, and our factories were dead for years. We weren’t a car country yet, but even a few cars need oil, and huge public transportation was suffering.  Food? It was a time when people would buy small pieces of land and build summer camps, not for recreation, but for farming. Our supermarket is full of European food products, but they are so expensive that my mother still spends the summer on her “dacha” (summer house) to grow vegetables and fruits and pick berries and mushrooms in woods. She spends hours making the most delicious food: preserves from fruits and berries and marinated and pickled vegetables so our family will have food in the wintertime. Post-Perestroika was our “Long Emergency”; and it still continues.

Elena Bespalova was born in Belarus and came to the U.S. in 1993. In Belarus, after college, she was working as an elementary school teacher and studying in the Belarussian National University for a masters degree in Geography . Moving to the U.S. changed her career path and she is now working at IBM. She found out that working with robots is less stressful than working with kids, but thinks her personality craves working with people: helping, teaching, and learning from them.. In 2003 , she dared to enroll at Burlington College to fulfill her dream of getting closer to law, politics and social life. She received her certificate for Paralegal studies last summer, and now is targeting a B.A. in Legal and Justice studies . Her primary interest is Immigration Law and issues that immigrants face when they come to live in this new country. She herself has gone through the experiences of being a tourist, a visitor, a permanent resident and a citizen with an immigrant's background . She is working now as an interpreter in the Vermont Refugee Resettlement Program with new refugees and has been able to help immigrants substantially now and  hopes to be able to do so in the future with the knowledge and experience she has gained.

The following articles may be of interest to those wondering how the Soviet economy fared before, during, and after Perestroika. Parallels are drawn to what is facing the United States today.

http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/060105_soviet_lessons.shtml
http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/062805_soviet_lessons_part2.shtml
http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/071805_soviet_lessons_part3.shtml 
http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net/LATOC/OurVillage.html


American Babel
by Mary Angelina Vittum, Burlington College
September 2005

Blessed is the forgotten son, the bastard child of God.
Caring for his begotten one became someone else’s job.
The Internet is his best bet; I found a site for him.
It offered up a Christian life, virtual redemption.
Freely ye have given but, we charge a little bit.
God’s gotta make a livin’ but, he’ll make you be born again.
You’ll receive the gift of love and a bright and shiny soul.
Heaven’s hallowed currency, to fill your God shaped hole.
If God is real, she's pissed now,
I doubt she meant for this.
Blessed are the forgotten, blessed are the meek,
blessed are the white and wealthy the other seven days a week.
I'm weary of the sad prayers that damn the damned to more,
prayers that beg for mercy, prayers that beg for strength,
endurance for the persecuted, all the while they’re executed.
Fuck the holy weaklings! We're making moola now,
digging up god’s black gold, burying the souls we sold.
Forgive the unforgivable, bound by their own chains,
but let them take their vengeance out in someone else’s name.
When I feel forgotten, when I feel forsaken,
I remember the forgotten, and pray for their last hour.
I remember that my woes are those of luxury
American as apple pie.
There are those who’d wish for them
And I'm grateful then they’re mine.
So I pray not all the usual prayers that I always have before,
instead I pray perspective comes to America: the whore.
I pray he can remember that his bible damns him in the end.
Calling forth the meek to rise, while tyranny descends.
Sure it talks of righteousness, sure it talks of power.
America: New Babylon, with a white house for a tower.
I don't believe in your bible, or in your brand of sin.
I don't believe in your pious ways,
your conceit, or your presumption.
I pray you not forget that love is larger still than hate.
While god may be the root of love, fear’s the root of hate.
Eventually our bottoms’ll drop for all the world to see
Grandiose America, from sea to shining sea
And all the dogs we kicked like gods will smell our rotten fear.
I tell you this, that when we fall, the world won't shed a tear.


A review of CNN’s We Were Warned: Tomorrow's Oil Crisis
by Tom Fugate
This CNN documentary was shown three times on March 18 and again on March 19.  Apparently the mainstream media has decided its time to alert the American public that there is a serious problem coming with energy supplies.  I suppose that those of us who have been talking about this looming crisis for years should appreciate the fact that its finally getting some traction with the media.  As a serious discussion of the issue, however, this film leaves much to be desired.
 
To begin with there was not one mention of the words peak oil by anyone.  Surely Matthew Simmons at least must have spoken about peak oil with Frank Sesno.  Did they edit it out?  If so, for what reason?  Instead of a serious discussion about the geological realities we are facing what we got was a confusing mishmash of a future oil crisis in 2009 caused by a category 5 hurricane striking Houston followed by a terrorist attack on Saudi Arabia oil infrastructure.  Juxtaposed with this we had CNN’s Sesno investigating various possibilities of meeting Americas petroleum ‘needs’.  Osama bin Laden received prominent mention several times as a likely cause of the oil crisis.  Indeed the entire film could be seen as one big advertisement for the war on terror.
 
Sesno looks at various possibilities for meeting Americas oil demands:  deep water drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, Canadian tar sands, and most prominently, George Bush’s current favorite techno-fix: ethanol.  There was no discussion of the likely impact of future hurricanes on deep water drilling (25% of GOM oil production is still off line from last falls hurricane season), no discussion of the need for increasingly scarce natural gas to process the tar sands, and no mention of the concept of net energy with respect to ethanol or the impact widespread production of ethanol would have on soil depletion and food production.  The net effect was probably to leave the uninformed viewer confused.
 
The biggest shortcoming of the film was the fact that it completely focused on possible supply solutions while ignoring the demand side.  There was no mention of the urgent need for Americans to give up their energy-intensive lifestyles.  Indeed it seems to be a given that those must continue.  There was a brief mention of the fact that population growth is increasing oil demand (the baby carriages on the freeway was my favorite clip in the film) but no mention of the urgent need to reduce population. 
 
Perhaps I expect too much from us.  Perhaps this is the best we can do when faced with the greatest crisis in human history.  Indeed it may be too late to save this oil-dependent civilization.  A transition away from fossil fuels would need to have begun 50 years ago.  There aren't enough energy or materials left on the planet to re-build all our cities now with peak oil upon us.  It just may be that overshoot and collapse is hard wired in our reptilian brains.  Hopefully the survivors will learn something from our mistakes.

Tom Fugate is a member of the Mad River Post Carbon Group.

(ed note:  it was fascinating to note that during this program, every commercial break featured an advertisement for a car... and not necessarily an economical one...)


 As the Crow Flies:  Reports from Around the State
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, email postoil(dot)vt(at)gmail(dot)com, or call (802) 869-2141.  POS has a number of initiatives underway.  Here's what they've been doing this month:
 
Community Gardens: In addition to the community garden being planned, a cooperative garden is also being looked into on a 2nd sight that would grow 2-5 items for the Drop In Center, the Senior Center, or something of that nature. A bio-intensive workshop, led by Tom Fugate, will be held 3 June at one of the sites.

Putting Food By: A successful solar cooking workshop was held Sat Mar 25.

"Eat Local"  The "Eat Local" pledge campaign continues in area stores with close 1000 signatures gathered. Tabling will resume when the Farmers Market starts up again in May, with plans for full-page newspaper ad and press release sometime in June.

The Localvores sub-committee has been gathering information on locally-produced food, in preparation for organizing an effort at eating only food grown within a 100 mile radius later this summer.  A very exciting new initiative, with great potential around building both food sustainability in our region, as well as community, in the years ahead began with the formation at the end of the month of a "CSA in Every Town" (of Windham Co.) sub-committee.

Education:  Co-sponsored a very well-attended talk by Jim Merkel (Radical Simplicy) on Sun Mar 26.  Began exploratory talks with the Windham Region Commission on co-sponsoring a peak oil forum, following our presentation before the WRC on this subject on Feb 28.  Received 9 entries in our high school essay contest, "Life Without Available, Affordable Fossil Fuels." Winners will be announced on Earth Day with a 1st prize of $500 in cash & prizes, plus publication in the Brattleboro Reformer.

Health Care:  Have held 3 mini seminars on post oil health care, featuring talks on nourishing tonics, and herbs for colds and flu.

Policy:  Met with Carolyn Partridge, Majority Leader of the Vermont House, for an afternoon of discussion around peak oil issues.

Website: We're hopeful that our website will be launched in April.  Website designers (members of POS) are being paid through a combination of money and barter--a CSA-type arrangement.  Group is still debating on what it wants for its logo.

Social Gatherings:  POS held its monthly social gathering at McNeils in Brattleboro on Sat Mar 18

Fund Raising:  a 5K race is being organized for September, under the slogan, "Burn Fat, Not Oil."   Other activities being considered are a benefit contra dance, a benefit concert, screenings of The Power of Community, and a seed/plant/tool exchange in the fall.

Coming in April
Ride Sharing:  POS will meet with Sue Berry (Upper Valley Ride Share), Matt Mann (WRC Transportation Director), & Paul Cameron (Brattleboro Climate Protection Director) on Wed Apr 5 to try to jump start a ride sharing program in Windham Co.

Community Organizing: POS will meet with activists from the Saxton River/Bellow Falls/Westminister area on Sat Apr 15 to explore the possibility of post oil organization/activity in the northeast part of the county.
 
Check Calendar page for events sponsored by POS.
  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, usually at the Ilsley Public Library in Middlebury (this month only, they are meeting at the Great Falls Club in Middlebury). Currently, they 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.

This month, ACORN reviewed its organizational process to date, working with the Open Space concept as a means of allowing for greater interaction among participants.  The process generated new energy and ideas for the group and its future direction. Future meetings will include topics or guest presenters, and offer the opportunity for more cross-pollination/interaction.  For more information about ACORN, contact Greg at gpahl (at) sover (dot) net


Chittenden County Peak Oil Group
A group with representatives from Burlington, Charlotte, Essex, and Richmond is developing and has lots of good energy! Education and outreach, work on food security and localization, Peak Oil book displays, letters to and questions for local politicians, local currency and other initiatives are being discussed or are in the works.  The group is hosting a screening of The End of Suburbia on April 1st in response to  "Fossil Fools' Day" - 1:30 pm at the Fletcher Free Library in Burlington (Community Room).  A discussion will follow, to raise awareness about the end of cheap oil and community-based solutions. For more details about the event or the group, e-mail ccpeakoil (at) yahoo (dot) com
 

Mad River Post-Carbon
Meets third Tuesday of the month at 6:00 p.m., with a topical discussion or event to kick off each meeting. For more information:  tfugate (at) madriver (dot) com
 
We began our March meeting with a slide show by Richard Czaplinski on his experiences with living “low on the hog”.  Richard has been homesteading in Adamant, Vermont for the past 28 years.  He built his modest house using rock and wood from his own property.  The entire house cost less than $5,800 to build.  He showed us his vegetable gardens, apple trees (varieties which he chose and grafted himself), root cellar, wood cook stove, and attached greenhouse.  Richard grows much of his own food and uses various methods of preserving it for winter consumption including canning, drying, root cellaring, and a passive solar greenhouse.  He also hunts deer which are locally abundant.  He is completely off grid and uses only a tiny amount of electricity which he gets from three solar panels and batteries.  All together an impressive and inspiring lifestyle which we all should seek to emulate as energy supplies become scarce. 
 
Tom gave a few news updates alerting people to the impending bird flu outbreak which the US government is warning about.  Health and Human Services director Michael Leavitt is advising Americans to store canned tuna and powdered milk under their beds to prepare for the coming flu crisis.  This appears to warrant serious consideration and preparation on our part.  Peter mentioned that each town has an emergency coordinator who should be alerted to the possibility (likelihood?) of a bird flu outbreak.
 
In other updates the US is now a net food importer for the first time in history and the federal debt limit of $8.2 trillion has been breached.  This would also indicate the likelihood of impending food shortages and financial collapse.
 
Tom mentioned a Beyond Peak essay scenario competition which you can find by going to http://beyondpeak.com/.  Also there has been an extensive post-carbon preparation document done by a group in Ireland called the Kinsale Energy Descent Action Plan.  That can be downloaded here:  http://transitionculture.org/?p=129.  A suggestion would be for someone to try to produce such a plan for our own local community.
 

Tunbridge Neighbors Helping Neighbors
(ed note:  when I heard Henry, Corneilia and their neighbors had initiated this, I recognized it as an old tradition in great need of a revival, especially in areas where we've become accustomed to fending for ourselves and expecting others to do the same.  Thanks, Henry!)

TNHN was started by local residents in order to improve the lives of residents of Tunbridge, Vermont and the immediately surrounding area.  No charge, no membership.  We are a clearinghouse for volunteers.  TNHN is aimed at helping people stay in their homes, but will help anyone with anything.  Our aim is to get everyone in the habit of helping.
 
What does helping look like?  So far, we've:
Taken people to appointments.
Changed flat tires.
Installed a lock.
Helped people with their computers.
Got an emergency generator for someone.
Organized a pick-up from West Lebanon.
 
We have a "Call for Help" telephone number that moves from one house to another, sharing the responsibility of providing coverage.  Currently, there are six people serving on the steering committee.

The program was launched after our having visited Westminster Cares, inc.  http://apollo.dosolutions.com/wmc/

For more information, you may contact Felicity Swayze @ 889-3248, Jim Wick @ 889-3524 or David Wolfe @ 889-5577
 

Columns
Doctor Gloom's Soapbox
from Doctor Gloom
We've received word that Dr. Gloom is currently engaged in a self-imposed fitness regime of chasing glaciers in the far north (what's left of them), in an effort to ready himself for the physical demands of the post-oil days ahead.  When he tires of this, he promises he will send the next installment of Dr. Gloom's Soapbox.  Therefore, we expect to hear from him shortly.
 
In the meantime, he offers us this .. look at all the scapegoats we have to blame for high energy prices:*

1. God, because of all those hurricanes hitting GOM, etc.
2. The Evil Arab terrorists for sitting on all that oil.
3. The Jewish conspiracy of financial manipulators.
4. Illegal immigrants.
5. The Chinese for being so numerous and having the gall to want to drive cars.
6. India for having so many very smart people working to work for lower wages than we do.
7. The Russians, for not producing more oil and gas.
8. The French, just on general principles ;-)
9. The Republicans, for screwing everything up.
10. The Democrats, for screwing everything up.
11. Ralph Nader for giving us GWB.
12. Lazy welfare types for creating the budget deficit and sucking out resources we need to deal with energy problems.
13. The wealthy for doing well while the rest of us are screwed.
14. The religious right for preaching the coming Apocalypse and being right for the wrong reasons.
15. The media for blowing things all out of proportion and thereby creating the crisis.

Thus, Peak Oil is a demagogue's dream come true.
*(this list generated by a member of a popular community discussion group, who shall remain unnamed~!)


Gold Stars to...
Chelsea Green Publishing Company for their donation of  The Limits to Growth to Burlington's Fletcher Free Library. The book will be featured among several other energy and peak oil-aware titles during Fletcher Free's Peak Oil Awareness book display this April. Chelsea Green publishes books on "the politics and practice of sustainable living." You can see their list of authors on energy issues at:   http://www.chelseagreen.com  (be sure to do a search for titles by Vermont author Greg Pahl, founding member of ACORN!)

Jericho Community Center's Village Univeristy.  Here is a program worth imitating!  Village University offers a selection of fun, thought-provoking and educational classes and events.  This spring, the topic being explored is ENERGY!  See our calendar page for events still to come in the spring series.  Village University is committed to building community through a lively exploration of ideas, with classes led by local experts and artists.  The program is not an accredited or degree-granting institution, but is, in fact, a true community venture and service.   For more information about the Community Center, call 802-388-1328.  To find out about programs at V.U., call Orelyn Emerson at 802-899-3853.


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 the Chittenden County group for initiating this fine idea!)
  

Our Climate, Ourselves Presenters Wanted
from Barbara Duncan
 Vermont Earth Institute has 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.


Write a 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)


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
Business Alliance for Local Living Economies Annual Conference
"Creating Sustainable Communities"
June 8 - 10, 2006, in Burlington, VT
Registration and more info:  www.livingeconomies.org
Speakers include:
John Abrams, South Mountain Company, author of The Company We Keep
Ben Cohen, True Majority (and B&Js, of course)
Ronnie Cummins, Organic Consumers Assoc
David Korten, Positive Futures Network, author of When Corporations Rule the World
Michelle Long, Sustainable Connections
Bill McKibben, author and lecturer
Stacy Mitchell, Institute for Local Self-Reliance
Bernie Sanders (invited)
Michael Shuman, author of Going Local
Greg Watson, Mass. Renewable Energy Trust
Judy Wicks, White Dog Cafe


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
Additional Educational Resources can be found on the National Links and Educational Resources page.
Kilowatt Ours Documentary
Kilowatt Ours documentary available for loan: Kilowatt Ours filmmaker Jeff Barrie takes viewers on a journey from the coal mines of West Virginia to the solar panel fields of Florida, as he explores solutions to America's energy related problems. There are two versions of the film available on the same DVD: a 38 minute version and a 64 minute version. To reserve the film, contact Laura at 802-225-1322 or laura (dot) philipps (at) gmail (dot) com.

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.

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