Vermont
Peak Oil Network Newsletter
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August Monthly News and
Views
Uploaded 7/31/06, with revisions on
August 8th.
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page is updated for the first of each month.. Please send submissions
by the third week in each
month.
Next update scheduled for Aug. 29th.
Special
Events:
Vermont Council
on Rural Development
(VCRD) to hold Energy Summit
The Sierra Student Coalition's
National Leadership
Gathering
Statewide Eat Local Challenge!
Who Killed the Electric Car?
Under
the
Golden Dome:
Douglas Walks Away from
Energy Efficiency Benefits for Vermont
Jeffords' Bill on Reducing
Greenhouse Gas Pollution
Vermont's
Food and Energy Challenges (and, btw, whatever happened to H.654?)
Bernard Sanders on
H.R.5206 - The Securing
America's Energy Independence Act
Scudder
Parker is "All About Energy"
Tracking
Legislation in Vermont
Tracking Legislation Nationally
Quote
of
the Month:
Moshe
Braner, on preemptive war
Editorial:
Between the Worlds
Guest Editorial:
How to Respond to Change: Meditations on the
Motion of Cheese
Articles:
Youth Activism
Peak
Oil Student Activist Sarah Grillo
on 20/20 Vision's National Summit on Energy Security
Hope in Action:
Youth Activism on the Rise!
Energy
Report on the Sustainable
Biodiesel Conference
(July 15th and 16th, 2006)
SERG on Keeping
your
Cool this Summer
Heating Costs Scaring You??
Food
Homestead
Security equals Free-Range Chickens, a
Good Dog, and plenty of Jerusalem Artichokes
Taking the
Plunge - Random Thoughts on Starting the
Localvore Challenge
Related News:
Peak Grains
Take Back Vermont Dairy!
Sweet Clover Market
to open in Essex (and looking for help...!)
Media
July Peak
Oil Sightings in the Vermont Press
Living Post
Carbon - Vermonters Begin Grappling with Peak Oil (Vermont Commons)
Vermont
Commons Journal: articles by Megan Quinn, Peter Forbes, Catherine
Austin Fitts, and more... a great resource.
Book Review: The
Bottomless Well: The Twilight of Fuel,
the Virtue of Waste, and Why We Will Never Run Out of Energy
As
the Crow Flies: Reports from Around the State
ACoRN
- Addison County
Cabot
Peak
Oil Network
Greater East
Montpelier Peak Oil Group
Mad
River Sustainability Group
PLAN
C - Chittenden
County
Post
Carbon Tunbridge
Post
Oil Solutions - Windham County
Route 12 Loop Group
Gold
Stars
to...
The Cornerstone Project
Action!
Petition the
Vermont Legislature!
Idle-Free Vermont Petition Project
"Table" for
Peak Oil, Local
Foods and Local Economies
Organize
a Peak Oil Book Display
Write
a Letter to the Editor of Your Local Paper
Write
a Letter to a Local Representative
Write
your Congressman! Securing American
Energy
Independence Act
What's
a Citizen TO DO? newsletter
Plan
Ahead
Facing
the Media Crisis
Center for Whole Communities
Harvest and Courage
Festival
ASPO Conference in Boston this Fall
Resources
(click
here to get there!)
Robert Newman's History of Oil (sizzling and
informative satire)
Greater East
Montpelier's
Power Point Presentation on Peak Oil
Connect! - On-line Peak
Oil Discussion Group for Vermonters.
VPON Archives
VT Resources - Sustainability, Food,
Farm
& Garden, Energy, Local Economy, Community
Building, Transportation, and Planning.
National Links/Educational
Resources - charts, DVDs, posters, and more.
Special Events
VCRD SPONSORS ENERGY SUMMIT
The Vermont Council on Rural Development will convene a one-day Summit,
“Local Power: Energy and Economic Development in Rural
Vermont." The event will provide opportunities to explore
existing and potential initiatives that will advance fuel development
and power generation in Vermont. The conference will be held on
Tuesday, August 22 from 9:00am
–4:00pm at Lyndon State College.
Advances in renewable energy generation and development are occurring
throughout the state in solar, wind, biomass, and farm-based fuels.
VCRD’s Summit will allow entrepreneurs, developers, policy
leaders, consumers, and potential investors to work collaboratively
toward a shared vision of a robust energy future in Vermont.
Observations and recommendations offered in panel discussions,
presentations and focus groups will be presented in a final report to
the Governor and Legislature for consideration, and will contribute to
a year-long Energy Policy Council produced by VCRD this summer.
The Summit will feature breakout discussion groups in specific areas of
interest, presentations by leaders of diverse energy fields, and
invited speakers Senator Patrick Leahy and Governor Douglas. To receive
an invitation, or more information about VCRD’s Energy Summit,
please contact Bonnie Smoren at vcrd2 (at) sover.net
or (802) 828-6022.
SIERRA CLUB STUDENT COALITION NATIONAL
LEADERSHIP GATHERING:
Celebrating 15 years of student organizing for a just and sustainable
future
August 4-11, 2006 at Kimball Union Academy, Meriden, NH
This year's Shindig promises to be one of the
biggest and best we've ever had. The 2006 National Leadership Gathering
will provide a space for the SSC's leaders to gather and build
community among students working for change across the country.
Organizational meetings will focus on how to most effectively implement
our priority campaign, the Campus Climate Challenge. This year's
Shindig will include a gathering of the Energy Action Coalition, where
workshops will highlight best organizing practices and teach
participants how to make significant, concrete changes in their
communities.
And...
August 6-11 - CAMPUS CLIMATE CHALLENGE SUMMIT (also at Kimball
Union Academy)
This year's conference includes trainings intended
for organizers to meet wiith our partners in the Energy Action
Coalition, as
well the SSC's Campus and Community Organizers. These workshops will
highlight best organizing practices, teaching participants how to make
significant, concrete changes in their communities. Here’s a
sampling of the workshops and panels that will occur over the week:
- Meeting the Challenge - How to Run a Successful
Campus Climate Challenge Campaign at Your School
- Reclaiming our Future: Revitalizing our Energy
Systems, Jobs and Economy
- The Moral Imperative of Stopping Climate
Destabilization
- Separate But Not Equal: Environmental Justice and
the Environmental Movement
- The Environmental Movement: Where Does it go From
Here?
To find out more about the Campus Climate
Challenge and to register for one or both events: http://www.ssc.org/temp/shindig.php
STATEWIDE EAT
LOCAL CHALLENGE BEGINS AUGUST 1ST
Kick-Off Local Dessert Potluck
Social on the 31st of July!
Join fellow Vermonters in making a personal commitment to only eat food
grown within 100 miles of your home, or within the state of Vermont,
for the month of August. Help raise awareness that the average food
item travels 1500 miles to reach your plate. Eating local food not only
reduces your environmental footprint by saving fuel and improving the
sustainability of our food system, but also helps our economy and food
security. Learn more, and sign up to take the challenge here.
What does "The Challenge" involve? The Localvores have gone out
of their way to provide manageable options for the Challenge. And
here they are:
Option # 1
A full DAY of eating only ingredients grown/raised within a 100-mile
radius of home. Breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks, you get to sample
what a whole day of local eating might involve.
Option # 2
A full WEEK of eating only foods grown within a 100-mile radius of
home. Your creativity will be challenged as you experiment with a range
of different locally-grown meals.
Option #3
A full MONTH of eating only foods grown within a 100-mile radius of
home. A month of local eating is likely to have a profound long-term
effect on your food choices.
Option # 4
Organize a potluck dinner of locally-grown foods. Invite your friends
and ask each to bring food that is locally-grown. (At dinnertime, you
could ask each person to "introduce" the food brought - where did it
come from? was there a recipe? is there a story about this food?)
Option# 5
Create your own challenge: $15 spent on local food each week? One local
meal each day for a week or a month? At least one local ingredient in
each meal for a month? You decide.
WILDCARDS
Everyone gets this wildcard to start - Salt, spices, baking soda and
baking powder. Other wildcards can include olive oil, coffee, tea,
chocolate, or a card for special dietary needs. Try to limit yourself
to only a few, including the "starter card."
The Central Vermont Localvore Project
invites you to a Local Dessert
Potluck Social to kick-off the August Challenge with fellow
localvores. Socialize and strategize!
Monday, July 31, 2006
7:00pm
Unitarian Church, Montpelier
Bring a dessert made from local ingredients, we'll provide local tea.
Bring ideas for great local food
sources, we'll provide some too.
Bring your favorite recipes, menus, and substitutes to share.
Bring your friends and family!
For more information contact Susan Atwood-Stone sastone (at) wcvt.com
/ 223-1932 or Laura Philipps laura.philipps@gmail.com
/ 225-1322. For recipes, resources, and inspiration, check out vermontlocalvore.org
(Ed Note: eating locally is a
tremendous way to create "demand" for local food production... read
Anita
Kelman's article on preparing to take the Localvore
Challenge and you see what we mean...)
WHO KILLED THE
ELECTRIC CAR?
In 1996,
electric cars began to
appear on roads all over California. They were quiet and fast, produced
no exhaust, and ran without gasoline. Ten years later, these cars were
destroyed. Who killed the electric car? This film chronicles the life
and passing of the GM EV1, examining its cultural and economic ripple
effects and how they reverberated through teh halls of government and
big business.
Opening August 11th in
Burlington: Roxy Cinema, South Winooski and College Streets.
Showtimes: 864-FILM (3456)
Opening September 8th in St. Johnsbury: Catamount Arts Center
Showtimes: 748-2600
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
Governor
Douglas Ignores Efficiency Benefits
PRESS
Release - Tuesday, July 27,2006
Nearly $1 billion dollars worth of savings are on the table according
to an updated Department of Public Service study related to energy
efficiency, and the Administration is walking away .
Montpelier, Vermont - Environmental and consumer advocacy
groups blasted Governor Douglas for missing an opportunity, according
to hisown administration's analysis, to save Vermonters money and
reduce the state's electricity needs. An updated report done by
the Department of Public Service identified nearly $1 billion dollars
worth of savings for Vermonters if just under $35 million dollars is
invested every year in energy efficiency. But, in a new filing
sent to the public service board today the Governor supports only a
nominal increase of 4.7 million in the 2007 efficiency budget leaving
behind millions in energy savings. Doubling the budget is required to
reach the $35 million dollar investment and they have gone less than
half the way.
Ten months of detailed analysis done by the Department of Public
Service concluded that Vermont could reduce its electricity
demand by 19.4% over the next decade and reduce Vermonter's electric
bills by investing more in energy efficiency. "The State is
walking away from efficiency and affordable energy," said Sandra
Levine, attorney with the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF).
"Efficiency is the lowest cost and cleanest energy resource. The
State should be doing all it can to use more efficiency and avoid more
expensive power and more pollution. Vermont should not leave half the
savings still on the table," she added.
Over the next decade Vermont will loose 2/3 of its power contracts as
Vermont Yankee's license expires and the current stable power contracts
with Hydro Quebec end. With this reality in mind the state
legislature in 2005 instructed the Public Service Board to invest in
efficiency measures that would lower Vermonter's electric bills and
reduce the amount of power the state's utilities have to buy from the
volatile and expensive power market in New England.
"First the Governor is opposed to wind power, then the Governor
suggests that we need to be considering a coal or natural gas plant for
Vermont and now the Governor is walking away from reducing our
electricity demand when his own department's analysis says it could
save Vermonters nearly $1 billion dollars. We could create a
clean energy future but not if we continue down the path we are on
right now," said James Moore, clean energy advocate for the Vermont
Public Interest Research Group (VPIRG).
Ultimately the Public Service Board will decide how much money will be
invested in efficiency. Levine commented that while disappointed
with the Governors recommendation, "We are confident that the public
service board will follow the law and set a more aggressive budget that
will save all Vermonters from higher electric bills."
Contact:
James Moore, VPIRG office: 803-223-8421 ext.
4077
Sandra Levine, Conservation Law Foundation: 802-249-2607
JEFFORDS INTRODUCES LANDMARK
LEGISLATION TO REDUCE GREENHOUSE GAS POLLUTION
Courtesy of Liz
Moore: alert (at)
energysmart.net
Senator Jim Jeffords (I-Vt.), ranking member of the
Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, introduced sweeping
legislation that will for the first time set the United States on a
path to decrease and, in time, reverse the emissions of greenhouse
gases that cause global warming.
“The science is clear, mankind is heating the planet in a manner
that is destructive,” said Jeffords, who summoned the United
States to take its rightful place as a world leader. “We can no
longer afford to watch from the sidelines. We are a nation of
innovators, and we have the skills to develop the technology to make
these needed changes.”
"This legislation is a flexible and forward-thinking approach to
combating the threat of global warming. Senator Jeffords has laid down
an important marker for us to work toward, so that our children and our
grandchildren will see that we had the wisdom and leadership to choose
a better path for our world,” said Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA),
the bill’s lead co-sponsor.
Highlights of Jeffords’ Global Warming Pollution Reduction Act:
Requires that the U.S. reduce its emissions between 2010 and 2020 to
1990 levels. By 2030, the U.S. must reduce its emissions by 1/3 of 80%
percent below 1990 levels, by 2040 by 2/3 of 80% percent below 1990
levels and by 2050, to a level that is 80 percent below 1990 levels.
Requires that power plants, automobiles and carbon intensive businesses
reduce their global warming pollution.
In the event that global atmospheric concentrations exceed 450 parts
per million or that average global temperatures increase above 2
degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above the pre-industrial
average, EPA can require additional reductions.
Provides for standards and grants for sequestration of greenhouse gases.
The National Academy of Sciences will report to EPA and the Congress to
determine whether goals of the Act have been met.
Requires the US to derive 20% of its electricity from renewable sources
by 2020.
Establishes energy efficiency standards similar those found in
California and ten other states.
Invests in innovative technologies.
--------------------------------------------------------
“I appreciate the strong
leadership that Senator Jeffords has
demonstrated on protecting our environment, including his latest
proposal on climate change,” said Sen. Jeff Bingaman
(D-NM). “Sen. Domenici and I have worked for more
than a year on a different approach to what needs to be done to address
this serious problem, and we will continue to work together.
Regardless, I am encouraged that Senator Jeffords and other senators
are offering fresh ideas on how to slow, stop and reverse the
greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming.”
Senators joining Jeffords and Boxer
as original co-sponsors are
Senators, Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA), Patrick
Leahy (D-Vt.), Jack Reed (D-RI), Daniel Akaka (D-HI), Chris Dodd
(D-CT), Paul Sarbanes (D-MD), and Robert Menendez (D-NJ).
---------------------------------------------------------
ACTION:
To
support the bill, which has not yet received a bill number (so mention
it by name: "Reduce Greenhouse Gas Pollution") call: 202-224-5141.
ENERGY, EATING, AND H.654
An op ed piece by Jim Masland, courtesy of The Valley News
Someday we'll be glad we all pitched in.
Many of us forget that readily available cheap energy affects much more
than the price of gasoline. In today's global economy, the cost of
energy is figured into everything we consume. And that includes the
food we eat. A century ago, most of what was put on the table and the
energy we relied on were produced close at hand. Now we depend on
produce from California and electricity from Quebec. What would we do
without them?
To begin to address these questions, I introduced legislation this year
in the Vermont House, H.654, to
begin developing state, regional and
local food supply plans. This process also would identify local sources
of renewable energy, community resources that could serve as shelters
should the need arise and sources of electric power for times of
extreme scarcity. Further, it would identify and protect aquifers and
essential farmland to assure that they would remain available instead
of being covered with asphalt. Read full
article.
(Jim
represents the Windsor-Orange 2 District in the Vermont House.
You can contact Jim at: jmasland
(at) leg.state.vt.us)
BERNARD
SANDERS ON H.R. 5206 - The Securing America's Energy Independence Act.
Dear Annie:
Thank you for contacting me with your support for H.R.
5206, the
Securing America's Energy Independence Act. You will be pleased
to know I am a cosponsor of this legislation. As you
may
know, the Energy Policy Act of 2005 authorized tax credits for both
residential and commercial solar power systems as well as for
residential photovoltaic, solar water heating and fuel cells.
Unfortunately, these credits are set to expire at the end of the year,
but H.R. 5206 seeks to amend the Internal Revenue Code to extend these
tax credits through 2015. H.R. 5206 is a small but
important step in the shift towards greater energy independence and a
more secure and healthy future.
I am proud of my record of supporting the use of wind, solar and other
clean, renewable sources of energy. Please rest assured I will continue
to support legislation in Congress that expands renewable energy
programs and promotes a progressive, sustainable energy policy that is
good for our health, the environment, and the economy.
(The fastest way to contact
Congressman Sanders' office is by calling 1-800-339-9834 or by visiting
the contact page on the website at http://bernie.house.gov/const_serv/comments.asp.)
SCUDDER PARKER - ALL ABOUT ENERGY
BENNINGTON — One thing is abundantly clear about
Scudder Parker, a Democratic candidate for governor: He is all about
energy. He knows energy policy better than most, and during an
interview with the Banner last month, he fervently outlined where he
believes Vermont has gone wrong and where it can improve... read more
(original article appeared in the Bennington Banner on July 10, 06).
You can read
Parker's energy plan for Vermont in its entirety
at: http://www.scudderparker.com/
(Ed
note: Although we
are a non-partisan group, the
Vermont Peak Oil Network encourages all citizens to take the
participatory nature of their membership in a democratic society
seriously.)
KEEP TRACK of what's
happening with legislation in Montpelier: http://www.leg.state.vt.us/database/database2.cfm
And, on the National front,
you can follow the trail of activity at: http://www.govtrack.us/ -
GovTrack is a noncommercial project unaffiliated with the U.S.
Government or any other group. You're welcome to reuse any material on
their site. "Transparency in government is key for a healthy democracy.
Transparency is achieved through spreading information about
government, and making that information accessible to everyday
citizens."
Quote
of the Month
Moshe Braner, in response to Jim Kunstler's blog entry
You
blogged:
"Jihad is not a program that a civilized world can tolerate
indefinitely because it is essentially a form of genocidal hubris. My
own guess is that it has risen as a consequence of runaway population
growth in a part of the world that has grossly exceeded its carrying
capacity by artificial means, namely oil wealth. It is a geopolitical
psychotic reaction to an ecological crisis. But that is just an
explanation, not an excuse."
That has some truth to it, but the converse is also true:
"Preemptive war is not a program that a civilized world can tolerate
indefinitely because it is essentially a form of genocidal hubris. My
own guess is that it has risen as a consequence of runaway consumption
in a part of the world that has grossly exceeded its former oil wealth
by artificial means, namely borrowing money to buy oil. It is a
geopolitical psychotic reaction to an ecological crisis. But that is
just an explanation, not an excuse."
(Moshe Braner is a
member of Plan C in Chittenden County; he can be reached at mbraner (at) hotmail.com. For Jim Kunstler at
his best, see The Twilight of
Mechanized Lumpenleisure)
Editorial
Between the Worlds
by Annie Dunn Watson
In indigenous cultures, a shaman is one who is
able to stand with one leg in the world of consensual reality, and the
other in the non-material world, the world of the unseen where great
dramas whose outcomes will impact the fate of all creation are forever
taking place. Piercing the veil that separates these two worlds
is the shaman's special gift - as is the ability to withstand the great
pain and suffering that is borne by all creatures, from which we are
shielded on the this side of the veil.
Why does this image court me now? In many ways, the worlds that
are the domain of the shaman seem to provide an allegory for the
conflicting seen and unseen nature of our own troubled times. In
the daily world, we go about our business - and even with a knowledge
of the implications of peak oil, engage in many of the same
unsustainable behaviors that we have always known (and there's the
rub). Behind the veil of our awareness, countless creatures past
and present suffer, and a drama that has been developing for thousands
of years continues to unfold.
Habit is physiologically embedded and therefore facilitates and is
facilitated by repetition; it is therefore very difficult to break,
particularly when habits are the result of coping strategies, as
they most often are. As early as 1890, psychologist William James
explored the relationship between habit, physiology and "ease," noting
that the nervous system in its design and function depends
on physiologically embedded habit patterns - if these patterns of
movement and behavior were not developed in such a way as to preserve
their availability to the individual, much time
would be spent each day in reinventing the means by which that person
would rise, wash, eat, dress, work, play and rest. Habit
increases the ease with which a goal is accomplished and reduces
fatigue, making it a highly preferable means of addressing problems of
every sort. It also increases the likelihood that we will dull
our sense awareness as well as our aptitude for critical thinking;
unless we develop new habits to enhance these wonderful attributes,
which we must do by exercising them, our view of the world and our
impact upon it will continue to slip behind the veil.
I don't like it when my partner hands me the next piece of wood to
split as if it were a gift. My habitual response is to see that
wood as the personal labor (mine, of course) it represents, rather than
as the many years
of stored sunshine it offers to heat my bones come winter. I work
constantly to shift my perspective, to set down new neural pathways
through which strategies for coping with the cold move beyond adjusting
the thermostat to putting on sweaters, wearing warmer socks, and, yes,
seeing all our woodlot has to offer as a tremendous gift. This is
not ease-ful. Change requires much greater effort than we
realize. As our guest editor Carl Etnier points out, it is
hardest to do when the impetus to make that effort is still somewhat
buried under a continual flood of pleasant distractions. It
is hard to prepare for the consequences of peak oil when we are still
enjoying the benefits of pre-peak experience.
As always, I try to identify the place of heartening. I am
heartened by the response of many young people I know, people like this
edition's contributing writers Sarah Grillo and Will Bates who somehow
have alligned their thoughts and behaviors with a strategy that
supports the development of a sustainable future. It's their
future. Perhaps they face it with different eyes than those of us
who are older and more accustomed to The Party have been able to do.
They face the state of the world with
standing, with both legs
beneath
them, placing a foot in both the seen and the unseen of the world;
this
prepares them to withstand glimpses of the future with clarity and
courage, the tools we will all need in order to discern the best
possible
approaches to the compelling issues of our day.
We must encourage the ingenuity with which solutions are being
discussed and explored by individuals and groups
across various generational and philosophical lines. And we must
do so even as we nudge one another to
think outside whatever boxes currently warehouse our analytical skills.
A great confluence of ideas and perspectives is upon us; we will
move through and beyond them, largely because we have to think about
them.
Occasionally, we'll irritate one another with our constructive
criticisms, but all of this is part and parcel of the work of making
change.
Like it or not, we are between the worlds. Whenever we are asked
to put an ear to the ground, we will hear the suffering of the world
below its hectic pace. There is great need for balance here, and
nature has issued many warnings. As more of us heed these calls,
and share our insights and actions, we move beyond habit to create the
very paradigm we hope to usher in. Our efforts take on standing, and serve to guide
others through the maze of illusions and past habits into the formation
of new ways of thinking and being together in all the worlds.
VPON is a statewide network of individuals and groups working
regionally on issues of relocalization and sustainability. As
always, we welcome your contributions to these efforts to
promote intelligent, community-based responses to the challenges
of peak oil. It's everyone's future, after all. Take a
stand.
(Annie is the editor and
webmistress for the Vermont Peak Oil Network website. She can be
reached
at newsletter (at)
vtpeakoil.net. To find a Regional Peak Oil group near you, or
for assistance in starting one, see our Regional
Groups page.)
Guest Editorial
How to Respond to Change:
Meditations on the Motion of Cheese
By Carl Etnier
Is blithely moving out into the Maze and
randomly searching for new Cheese (ethanol, nuclear fission or fusion,
electric cars) the most sensible approach? Or wouldn’t it be more
helpful to try to stop some of the Cheese-destroying behavior that is
occurring and chart where the best-tasting new Cheese lies before
searching for it?
Preparing for peak oil means preparing for change. That much is clear
from the long,
ascending line that charts oil production and consumption from the
beginning of the oil age in the 19th century to the present, and then
its decline. Exactly what type of change to prepare for, or how best to
prepare for it, is the subject of much discussion; but change, perhaps
very rapid change, is imminent.
For that reason, I was interested to find an allegory about how to cope
with change: Who Moved My
Cheese? An Amazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Work and in Your Life,
by Spencer Johnson and Kenneth H. Blanchard. The small book contains a
story of two mice, Sniff and Scurry, and two
“Littlepeople,” Hem and Haw. The Littlepeople are humans
who happen to be the same size as the mice. All the characters live in
some undefined place, and every day they enter the Cheese Maze. Before
our story starts, each character had searched through the maze a long
time and eventually found his way to Cheese Station C. This Cheese
Station was abundantly provisioned with many different types of Cheese.
They spent their days lounging around Cheese Station C, eating Cheese
and enjoying themselves. Each night, they return by the familiar path
to their abodes, and each morning they use well-known maze landmarks to
guide them back to Cheese Station C.
One morning, they arrive in Cheese Station C and find that it contains
no Cheese! All four characters were taken by surprise, and shocked.
(Later, after he had gone through a number of stages
of grieving, Haw recalls that the supply of cheese had been
visibly dwindling.) Sniff and Scurry don’t try to figure out
where the Cheese went. They remember how they found Cheese Station C,
through random searches through the Maze, and decide to look again. Off
they go, and the Littlepeople don’t see them for a long time.
Hem and Haw take longer to process the change. Hem is particularly
indignant that someone took their cheese. When Haw suggests following
the mice’s path into the Maze on a Cheese hunt, Hem scoffs.
“Why should we change?” Hem asked. “We’re
Littlepeople. We’re special. This sort of thing should not happen
to us. Or if it does, we should at least get some benefits.”
“Why should we get some benefits?” Haw asked.
“Because we’re entitled,” Hem claimed.
“Entitled to what?” Haw wanted to know.
“Entitled to our Cheese.”
“Why?” Haw asked.
“Because we didn’t cause this problem,” Hem said.
“Someone else did this and we should get something out of
it.”
Haw suggested, “Maybe we should stop analyzing the situation so
much and go out and find some New Cheese?”
“Oh no,” Hem argued. “I’m going to get to the
bottom of this.”
One day, acting on the hunch that their Cheese had been hidden, Hem and
Haw tear apart the walls of Cheese Station C to find their Cheese. They
end up with nothing but large holes in the walls and rubble scattered
throughout the Cheese Station. In despair, they decide to wait around
for someone to bring back their cheese.
At last Haw considers how ridiculous they look, returning to the same
empty Cheese Station day after day. With enough distance on his
situation to laugh at himself, he finds the strength to try a different
strategy. He finds his old Maze-running athletic shoes and begins
running through the Maze again.
Haw finds many empty Cheese Stations, gets lost many times, and gets
discouraged some days, but eventually he finds his way to another
Cheese Station that is filled with Cheese. In fact, it contains more
Cheese and more types of Cheese than had ever been in Cheese Station C
before. His friends Sniff and Scurry wave happily to him, and resume
munching the Cheese. Haw settles into his new life of abundant Cheese,
having learned many lessons that he has written on the walls of the
Maze during his travels. For example, “The Quicker You Let Go Of
Old Cheese, The Sooner You Can Enjoy New Cheese.”
My first reaction to this simple story was delight similar to that of
the people whose testimonials the publisher includes with the book. The
Cheese, in my mind, was the rush that oil addiction gives: the speed of
fast cars, the magical change of surroundings from a ride on a jet
plane, the simplicity of setting a thermostat to 72˚ and forgetting
about it, the taste of fresh strawberries in January and of fresh
asparagus in October. The supply of oil that makes these pleasures
possible is dwindling, and many people are like Hem and Haw, just
eating the Cheese and not thinking about any coming changes.
When the Cheese disappears—the era of cheap oil comes to a
definitive end—then those people who refuse to accept it will be
the most unhappy. They will be the people who club someone to death
with a tire iron for cutting into a three-block line at the gas
station. They will demand invasion of Venezuela and other countries
that refuse to direct the first share of their oil resources to the US.
And they will demand further tax subsidies to reduce the cost of oil
and gas.
Those who accept the disappearance of previous, pre-peak Cheese will
follow some of the maxims written in Haw’s handwriting on the
wall of the Maze: “Anticipate Change: Get Ready For The Cheese To
Move,” And “Monitor Change: Smell The Cheese Often So You
Know When It Is Getting Old.” They will superinsulate their
houses. They will plant gardens and set up barter networks with their
neighbors. They will strengthen themselves by parking their cars and
taking more frequent and longer trips by foot or bicycle. They might
cash in their stocks and bonds and turn paper wealth into horse-powered
farm machinery.
My first reaction gave way to doubts. What if I think of Cheese not as
the rush of temporary pleasure from oil addiction, but oil itself and
its benefits? Maybe Hem is at least partially right, and some analysis
is in order? What if some people are devouring more of our Cheese
Station’s Cheese than they can handle and then barfing it up on
the floor?
What if they are using our Cheese and our friends to kill people and
mice in other Cheese Stations and steal their Cheese? Is blithely
moving out into the Maze and randomly searching for new Cheese
(ethanol, nuclear fission or fusion, electric cars) the most sensible
approach? Or wouldn’t it be more helpful to try to stop some of
the Cheese-destroying behavior that is occurring and chart where the
best-tasting new Cheese lies before searching for it?
I guess it’s too much to expect one simple allegory to provide
all the answers for how to respond to any possible sort of disappearing
Cheese. At the highest level of abstraction, I admire the ability of
Sniff and Scurry to jump right into action. I admire Haw’s
ability to laugh at himself and prod himself into more productive
action. And I see that Hem’s denial and then stubborn waiting for
the return of the Cheese is going to benefit him about as much as New
Orleans residents were benefited last year waiting for FEMA to rescue them.
We’re left to imagine what happened to Hem, by the way. One day,
Haw hears a noise outside the Cheese Station, and wonders whether Hem
has found his way there. In my optimistic view, Hem eventually did
struggle into the new Cheese Station. He was emaciated, but alive, and
the notes that Haw left for him on the walls of the Maze gave him hope
and guided him to the new Cheese. May some part of what we write on
this website be so valuable!
(Carl
is a member of the Greater East Montpelier Peak Oil Group. He can
be reached at carl (at)
etnier.net)
Articles
ACTIVIST SARAH GRILLO RETURNS TO
VERMONT
Here
is her report on 20/20
Vision's National Summit on Energy Security
...baby
steps in the right direction are nothing compared to the miles of
ground we must cover to truly allow for a livable future.
It is like
preparing to weather out a blizzard by lighting a candle.
Amid coverage of turmoil in the Middle East in world news, and stories
of rolling blackouts devastating communities across the U.S.—one
of the consequences of record-breaking summer temperatures—I had
the opportunity to attend the National Summit on Energy Security,
presented by 20/20 Vision. This organization is a national
non-profit, non-partisan group working to promote effective
environmental, energy and global security policies in the U.S.
Indeed, the conference could not have been timelier. It is
becoming readily apparent to many Americans that our energy
infrastructure is in a fragile state, effected by international war and
conflict. This massive problem is compounded by unpredictable
weather, including soaring temperatures and dangerous storms.
There is a sense that things are bad and will probably get worse before
they get better.
However, even within the community of advocates
working for an overhaul of our energy system, not much time is being
spent contemplating the effects of oil loss. Whether this
reduction comes from natural means, such as a peak in world oil
supplies, or as the result of complicated and volatile political
situations, it will be swift and brutal. The results of global
warming will be no less destructive, nor the outcome of uninhibited
population increases. The consequences cannot be
downplayed. Terrible as they may be, if we are to survive in any
way as a society we must be willing to entertain all plausible
outcomes, and we must be creative and innovative with our
solutions.
Unfortunately, even the most well intentioned of activists are working
tirelessly lobbying for legislation that will do too little too
late. Among a political arena crippled by representatives who are
ignorant on the subject of peak oil or set on denying the
scientifically undisputed reality of global warming, it is believed
that any gain for the environment, for sustainability, and for energy
security is a step in the right direction. And indeed, it
is. But what this same group of lobbyist must realize is that
these baby steps in the right direction are nothing compared to the
miles of ground we must cover to truly allow for a livable
future. It is like preparing to weather out a blizzard by
lighting a candle.
I have hope, however, that people are willing to be
convinced. I cannot believe otherwise, because the consequences
of denial would be just too terrible. We have to have hope that
with time to prepare things may not be too bad.
A year ago, regional directors—student activists selected by
20/20 Vision for a yearlong internship program—gathered in
Washington to discuss the war in Iraq. They discovered oil as a
root cause, and this year fourteen students across the nation, myself
included, assembled to discuss what we could do to spread the message
on energy security. A year from now, it is my hope that the
consequences of oil depletion—the backbone to the theory of peak
oil—will be similarly discussed. A positive spin on things
may be good, but we, the activists, must recognize the realities of oil
depletion and environmental change. We must spread the word and
educate our communities. There are people willing to listen.
Thus it is my intention to inform not only the
public about the significance of oil depletion, but also the activist
community as well. Among this group is an effective,
well-organized lobbying force that can educate legislators and college
students, and receive the support of citizens and the attention of the
media. One of the primary ways I plan on meeting this goal is to
produce a documentary on the effects of oil depletion, and what we can
do to prepare. It will be an exciting challenge that I am
enthusiastic to take on.
And so even in the midst of rolling blackouts at
home and war in the Middle East abroad, there is reason to hope that a
strong student movement may be in the making. If we in the
community of peak oil activists are willing to work together, to pool
our resources, and to spread the word—as grave as the news of oil
depletion may be—we may be able to do something positive
yet. That, at least, is my goal.
(Sarah Grillo is a student at
Burlington College. We look forward to her energy and action on
this issue.)
HOPE
IN ACTION
by Will Bates
...the voice of hope is rising.
As bad news concerning global warming and peak oil relentlessly barrage
those who care to listen, it is often hard to maintain hope for the
future. The young generations of today and generations yet to
come are entering a complex and deeply troubled world. And yet,
the voice of hope is rising.
The youth global climate movement is among the most promising and
inspiring growing phenomena in our country and world today.
Amidst a world constantly waging wars, perpetuating social and
environmental injustice, and ignoring the deep-seated spiritual crisis
ailing our population, youth are striving to reclaim their future and
create a just and sustainable world for all.
Across North America and in some places around the world youth are
taking the lead in organizing and taking action to address the global
climate crisis. Organizations such as Energy Action (www.energyaction.net) and the
Sierra Student Coalition (www.ssc.org)
are making huge strides in organizing campuses and youth across North
America to take action and work towards realizing a clean energy
future. (For dispatches on the youth global climate movement go
to www.itsgettinghotinhere.org).
Closer to home, students from UVM, Middlebury College, St.
Michael’s College, Sterling College, and Green Mountain College
are joining together to take action here in Vermont. On April 1st
of 2005 and 2006, now being called Fossil Fools day by youth activists
across the country, students biked 40 miles from Burlington to
Montpelier to support legislation related to climate and energy.
Students at Middlebury College have organized the Sunday Night Group
(SNG), a gathering of over 50 students that meet weekly to take action
and reduce their campus’s energy consumption and eventually reach
carbon-neutrality.
The youth movement reaches beyond the campus level, however, with
action targeting local communities, states, as well as national and
even international bodies in the effort to transform our world and
create a responsible global civil society. Last December over 130
Middlebury students went to Montreal, Canada for demonstrations at the
United Nations Conference on Climate Change. And this summer
youth are working diligently in Philadelphia on a campaign they have
dubbed “Climate in the House (and Senate),” a project
aiming to influence close congressional elections and get climate
change higher on the candidates’ agendas.
Youth are shedding the stereotypical apathy of our generation and
organizing for action. The destructive forces we are striving to
counter are frighteningly powerful. However, we will not let
these forces sabotage our future nor perpetuate the cycle of violence
and injustice that remains dominant throughout the world today.
Our action is our hope. Together, we can create the voice
and force of hope powerful enough to transform our communities and
transform our world. Join us!
(Will Bates is a member
of ACoRN and an active youth advocate for a responsible global civil
society. You can contact Will at wbates (at) middlebury.edu)
REPORT
ON THE SUSTAINABLE BIODIESEL CONFERENCE
by Netaka White
I had many informal opportunities to
explain the range of initiatives
that are underway in Vermont, and I realized in speaking with others
that we are involved in a very unique undertaking here.
Greetings!
An event this past Saturday and Sunday (July 15th and 16th) in Golden,
Colorado (at the Colorado School of Mines) opened my eyes to the
growing movement that is producing and using B100 around the country...
and around the world. The event, the "Sustainable Biodiesel
Conference", organized in large part by one of the leading authorities
on small-scale production, Maria "Mark" Alovert, drew 125 people from
all regions of the U.S. and some from as far away as South
Africa, Germany, and Puerto Rico.
This group, passionate about the use of B100 for transportation and
farm use (including greenhouse heating), are mostly experienced
producers, making biodiesel from waste vegetable oil --- and some
moving toward seed oil crop production and crushing. Weekly production
volumes of those who attended ranged from +/- 200 gallons to 2000+
gallons, with two presentations offered by micro-biofuel facilities
coming on line with 500k to 1m gallons/year. Participants ranged from
young 'twenty somethings' to successful entrepreneurs to chemists and
engineers with PhDs, with women 'practitioners' making up a
recognizable (and welcome) component of the group.
The event was intensely educational with case studies, and technical
demonstrations held from 10:00 to 5:30 both days. There was a
considerable amount of expertise (and experimentation) represented in
each class, leading to robust discussions and sharing of knowledge at
every opportunity. Topics included: Numerous examples of the successful
use of B100 (year round in warmer climates), forming local
producer/user Cooperatives, economics of cultivation and production of
canola for small scale biodiesel (and feed meal), handling
'sidestreams' like methanol, glycerin, and wastewater, efficient
strategies for waste oil collection (from small loads to 1000 gallons
per week!), setting up a B100 filling station, how (and why) to pay
your excise taxes, other permit and regulatory issues governing
commercial and non-commercial production, using a Gas Chromatograph as
well as other quality control and testing methods more readily
available to the 'homebrewer' and small scale producer, and so on....
Since the majority of the participants made and used biodiesel for
themselves and other members of their Biodiesel Co-ops, most of the
presentations focused on scale (small and local) and biodiesel as one
part of a pattern of sustainability (after all this was the
"Sustainable Biodiesel Conference").
I was also invited to present my perspective on the value of
cross-sector collaboration, and strategies for education and outreach.
I had many informal opportunities to explain the range of initiatives
that are underway in Vermont and I realized in speaking with others
that we are involved in a very unique undertaking here. We are seeing
the statewide growth of a sector that includes a wide array of
approaches and inclinations, with the majority of Vermont's biofuel
activity taking up the middle road. There are some very inspiring
projects going on elsewhere, but I saw no other examples of the kind of
successful collaboration and cooperation that exists here among the
business and professional community, fuel suppliers, state government,
small-scale producers, personal and commercial fuel users,
environmental and citizens groups, non-profits, and those involved in
Vermont's agriculture. In preparing this summary, I thought it would be
useful for you to gain access to another facet of biofuels development
that has some national momentum---and one that we don't usually hear
about. I welcome your thoughts, questions, or impressions if you have
time to respond.
I'm in the process of pulling together notes from the conference into a
report, since there was quite a bit of information pertaining to the
projects many of us are working on. Let me know if you're interested in
a copy of that, which I will have finished in PDF format by next week.
regards
____________________________
Netaka White
Executive Director, Vermont Biofuels Association
802.388.1328
POB 307, Middlebury VT 05753
info@vermontbiofuels.org
www.vermontbiofuels.org
www.vtbiodieselproject.org
____________________________
(Netaka White is also a member of ACoRN - the Addison County
Relocalization Network)
KEEPING YOUR COOL THIS SUMMER
Energy and planet-saving tips from
Robert Walker of SERG -
Sustainable Energy Resource Group
Mild winters, wet summers, high energy prices, and an unending
war over dwindling fuel reserves are beginning to wake people to the
looming energy crisis. There are things you can do to make a change,
but we must all begin to act soon or face a rude awakening in the very
near future.
Get educated. See "An Inconvenient Truth" and "End of Suburbia".
Read "The Oil End Game" and "The Long Emergency". Click on
to www.theoildrum.com.
Get active. Form a energy committee and implement energy-saving
programs in your town. Work on climate change and peak oil
issues. Get your town to sign on to the U.S. Conference of Mayors
Climate Protection Agreement. Demand that politicians support
energy efficiency and renewable energy policy and vote for those who do.
Change your own energy use and encourage those around you to do the
same. Below is a list of Keeping Cool Summer Energy-Saving Tips from
SERG. By working together we can begin to turn this ship
around. Thanks for all of your efforts and support.
Keeping Cool: Summer Energy-Saving Tips
Here are some energy-saving tips from SERG to help you keep
comfortable, save money and protect the planet this summer.
HOME COOLING
o Seal all air leaks in your house and add insulation, especially
in the attic, to prevent outside heat from getting in.
o Open windows, doors, drapes and shades at night to allow the
house to cool down and close them up in the morning to keep the heat
out.
o Use exhaust fans to blow hot, moist air out of your kitchen
while cooking and bathroom, during and after a shower.
o Room and whole house fans will keep you cool using much less
energy than air conditioners (AC).
o Hang your clothes on an outside line to dry and let dishes air
dry rather than use the dishwasher's heater to save energy and keep you
house cooler.
o Plant shade trees to block the heat from the sun. As the trees
grow, they can dramatically cut your cooling bills.
o If purchasing a new air conditioning system, buy ENERGY STAR
models to save energy, save money, and help the environment.
o Place room AC units on shaded walls so they do not heat up and
have to work harder. Seal any gaps along the sides of your room AC unit
with foam insulation to prevent cool air from escaping.
o With central AC units, seal all ducts to prevent cool air loss
and close off vents to unoccupied rooms.
o If your heating system has a pilot light turn it off during the
summer. A pilot light typically costs $3-$5 per month to keep lit so
why not turn it off when you aren't using it.
o Set your cooling system thermostat at 78deg. F or higher. Each
degree that you raise the thermostat typically saves 2% on your cooling
bill..
o Consider using a dehumidifier instead of turning on the air
conditioning. You will be comfortable at much higher temperatures if
you reduce the humidity.
o Use an attic fan to get rid of the heat build-up in your attic,
which eventually finds its way into your home.
o Use Compact Fluorescent Lights which are 3 to 4 times more
efficient, last 8 - 10 times longer and emit much less heat than
incandescent bulbs.
o Bake in the cooler times of day - late evening or early morning
- if possible.
(Robert Walker can be contacted
through SERG - Sustainable Energy Resource Group)
HEATING COSTS SCARING YOU?
by Henry Swayze
Oil prices will trend upwards over the years although we may see some
sudden down turns as well. Demand is rising and supplies are
limited. This is true for natural gas and propane as well.
You can get the biggest bang for your
buck by making your house more energy efficient.
These measures include in order of payback period: install an auto
setback thermostat for less than $50; cut down on air infiltration
around doors, windows, electrical outlets and look for openings to the
outside especially up high, doors to attics, open fireplaces, unused
chimney openings. Fill cracks in plaster, paint or patch wall
paint or paper (especially in split lath construction); increase R
value: add plastic storm windows on the inside of windows and unused
doors, reduce the size of the north facing windows by insulation board
or curtains, add insulation to the attic and lastly add insulation to
the side walls. Pointing up clapboard and brick exteriors will
also help. Consider zoning off parts of your house to run at
reduced temperatures. Replacing windows with energy efficient
ones help a lot but requires much more capital. In many parts of
the country state mandated energy eficiency programs will come to
your house and do an audit for free. In Vermont it is done for
electricity but not for heating. Gubernatorial candidate Scudder
Parker is campaigning to have that service here as well: http://www.scudderparker.com/docs/Scudder%20Parker%20-%20Energy%20Vision%20for%20Vermont.pdf.
Consider adding some lower cost
renewable fuel to your heating situation.
In rough numbers with oil as the comparison: air dried cord wood is app
1/2 the price of oil. Wood pellets is 1/3 less than oil and
electricity is half again to double the price of oil. Wood has
the advantage of being a renewable resource i.e. the wood we cut down
regrows and the CO2 it produces when burned is taken back up by the new
growth so we do not add to climate change when burning wood. We
do when burning oil or gas. The devil is in the details on
electricity since it is only a conveyer for energy generated
elsewhere. In Vermont our current energy mix has perhaps
30% fossil fuel but the inefficiencies in generation and delivery
raise the fossil fuel carbon used per unit of energy delivered to
perhaps 60% . Looking down the road to 2012 when the Vermont
Yankee contract expires and to 2015 when most of the Hydro Quebec
contract expires we will have to go the open market and pay more for
what is likley to be produced by much more fossil fuel. So unless
you are buying green power or making it your self electricity is to be
avoided. Calculator for relative fuel prices: http://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/articles/fuel_cost_comparison_calculator/
or simpler one at
http://www.pelletheat.org/3/residential/compareFuel.cfm
If you don't have something to burn these materials in then that must
be calculated in and new stoves and boilers do not come cheap. If
you can make use of cord wood then you may find what you are looking
for used.
Wood pellet stoves are getting
pretty automated and efficient as well. Sam at Morrisville feed and
grain 802-889-2025 told me about a Europa they carry. It has a
100 Lb hopper, runs quietly (they all run fans continually) and has a
rechargeable battery back up for power outages. It sells for
$3500, cheaper models are available. You can talk to him at
802-888-2025. They have a branch in Montpelier but get your info
from Sam because he is the man. I only explored this avenue
because I herd and add on DEV from them for wood pellets. A
seasonal prebuy at $219 a ton in 40 Lb plastic bags for soft wood
pellets. I am sure there are many other choices and avenues of
supply out their and supporting a local supplier is a great idea.
Pellet fed boilers-furnaces are also a possibility. Harmon is
supposed to be introducing one shortly and Tarm http://woodboilers.com/pellet-corn-heating.asp
was recommended to me by a user just over his second season. Be
sure to line up a source of supply for pellets before making the
plunge. There is some variation in pellets: hard wood- soft wood
and mostly bark and not much bark. All work but the soft wood
ones are bulkier and the bark ones have more ash and less heat
value. Some of these units will burn corn and pellets made of
switch grass and reeds canary grass. The market is expanding
rapidly. Perhaps we could go into production as a First Branch
Valley Project. Bio Diesel is another possibility as it will burn
in tractors and furnaces but is not cheaper then current oil. I
suspect we would be short on tillable ground to make much
biodiesel here. I am also exploring wood into alcohol for
auto fuel.
If any one wants to get into any of this thinking let me know and we
can form a working group. If you just dig in for yourselves pass
information back and we can share it.
Working to create a sustainable
community,
Henry & Cornelia Swayze
Swayze@pngusa.net
47 Swayze Road
Tunbridge Vermont 05077
802-889-5556
HOMESTEAD
SECURITY EQUALS FREE-RANGE CHICKENS, A GOOD DOG, AND JERUSALEM
ARTICHOKES
by Jim Hogue, featuring the wisdom
of Karl Hammer of Montpelier, Vermont, whose successful business is
feeding the soil (Vermont Compost, 1996 Main St., Montpelier, VT 05602;
vermontcompost.com) and, as
a by-product, getting eggs to market.
Published on 25 Jul 2006 by
Countryside Magazine / Energy Bulletin.
Archived on 25 Jul 2006.
We all take steps to protect ourselves - to mitigate the effects
of catastrophe. The fear of catastrophe is sold to us, and sometimes,
in the selling of protection, real threats are missed. This article is
an attempt to sell you protection against food shortages. But unlike
other sales pitches, the promoters of this idea have little to gain,
and this insurance could repay itself 10 fold. The point is that
people routinely insure themselves against the unlikely, but that most
have given neither thought nor preparation to the biggest problem
facing most of the world: famine...
Good advice is, of course, plentiful. Bad planning is the rule.
Economic collapse is always predicted by the few and ignored by the
many. Here we are at a turning point in history: Peak oil prices,
global warming, and ruthless empires grabbing the last resources from
the weak. It is ironic that those who can function as did their
grandparents, with less, with Yankee ingenuity, with barter, and with
knowledge of the natural world are much more likely to make it in the
coming years. It is possible that, soon, many people in New England
will find it hard to get food. That doesn't matter or register on the
radar screen of the Agriculture Department or our elected officials.
But it will when people get uppity.
"A populace that has no control over its food supply is hard put
to describe itself as 'free.' Eating is one of those things people do
pretty often, and need to. It's hard for Americans to imagine how
that could affect their freedom, not having had a situation where money
couldn't buy food. Central Vermont has a food supply of 72 hours, and
within 24 hours there's a shortage of fresh produce. I don't know if
you've seen the co-op when the truck doesn't come for a day. It gets
pretty lonely and empty in there. Three days without food and people's
values shift. They give you the keys to their BMWs for a glass of water
and a bagel. We need a shift in resources: from surveillance equipment
for the constabulary to food planning..." read full article.
(Ed note: The article
features practical ideas about food security - on an individual and
community basis.)
(Jim Hogue (aka Ethan Allen) is a former
high school teacher, now an actor and farmer living in Calais, Vermont,
and a frequent contributor to Vermont Commons. He has a weekly radio
program on WGDR Plainfield 91.1fm.)
TAKING THE PLUNGE! RANDOM THOUGHTS ON
STARTING THE LOCALVORE CHALLENGE
by Anita Kelman
I've decided to do the August Localvore
Challenge; a month of eating only foods grown and produced within 100
miles of home. I've selected the “Caffeine Addicted Modern Marco
Polo” exception- allowing yeast, salt, baking soda and powder and
whew- coffee. If I had to do without coffee I'd find a way to manage,
but if I don't have to.......
Some other members of my Peak Oil group and a few
neighbors are joining me in this venture. It should be fun- we're
planning a pot-luck- “Local Food for Local Localvores”!
It's interesting talking to people about it though and seeing their
responses. I was chatting with one neighbor and she expressed the
thought that she just didn't have time to do it; how would she have
bread if she had no time to bake it? Well I said, I'm planning on
baking, so it's not really much more work to make extra for you is it?
She clearly was surprised; hadn't thought of that.
My neighbor Kristen and I are planning on making
pasta, which led us to thinking about ravioli- and that means ricotta.
There isn't any local ricotta that I know of, but I have made it
before, so I plan on scoring some whey hopefully, from a local
cheesemaker and we'll just make ricotta together.
I was thinking that August is such a great month to
try this. Local produce is abundant. I should have, just from my own
garden; blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, cherries, lettuce,
chard, beets, kale, beans, peas, tomatoes, garlic, broccoli, zukes and
cukes, and some other stuff too. Actually, it's been such a rough year
here, between the rain, slugs and woodchucks, I'll be thrilled to
finally see the zucchini and cukes. I doubt I'll have peppers or
eggplant but you never know.
Actually, there is a great deal available that is
local. I have been pondering this as I get ready for August. Dairy is
easy; Strafford milk, cheese from Neighborly Farms or Cabot- Cabot is a
bit of a question- it's not all Vermont but I think it's all from the
general area so I'm allowing it! Eggs, honey, maple syrup, herbs for
tea, fish,; all available locally. The hard part is grains.
I went to the co-op in search of local flour. In
Randolph, they had Champlain Mills flour; milled locally, but of
uncertain origin. I was in Montpelier so I tried the coop there; found
the bin of local flour(Butterworks farm) and....it was all gone! My
fellow Localvores had beaten me to it! I asked at the desk and was told
it was out until after this years harvest! So, I'll compromise
for the challenge and use Champlain Mills flour which may or may not be
grown in nearby NY state, but in a real-life situation, well, there'd
just be no flour until the harvest.
I realized that so little grain is grown locally.
This is a problem. We use grain heavily; cereal, bread, pasta, animal
feed. I had been pondering that even some of the local products;
eggs, dairy etc. are based on grain that is imported from elsewhere. We
need to grow more grain locally. It is doable. We have a few farms here
in Vermont that do it well and we can learn from them.
While I was at the co-op, I thought about what I
wouldn't be able to eat in August. so, I nabbed some dates, an apricot
and a chocolate bar. Figured I'd savor these before August begins.
Started walking around the co-op noting what isn't grown here- most of
the coop actually, other than some of the produce and dairy.......
I was also thinking how healthy a local food diet
will be; no corn syrup, sugar, preservatives, trans fats, packaged
foods. Very fresh and basic. Also, minimal packaging. Hmmm- this could
be good for me. Will have to weigh myself before it starts and see if I
drop those couple of extra pounds and get back to my college days
weight!
(Anita is a member of the Route 12
Loop Group in the Randolph area.
You can contact Anita at anita (at) innevi.com)
RELATED NEWS: PEAK GRAINS? http://www.nowtoronto.com/issues/2006-07-20/news_story7_p.html
Brace yourself for crises at the cash register. Major price hikes for
food are coming, as Peak Grains join the lineup of life-changing events
such as Peak Oil and Peak Water. Unless this year's harvest is
unexpectedly different from six out of the last seven, the world's
ever-decreasing number of farmers will not produce enough staple grains
to feed its ever-increasing number of people.
TAKE BACK VERMONT DAIRY! Rural Vermont on
retaining local control of
Vermont's dairy farms.
Courtesy of Rural VT
“It's time to add milk and dairy products to the list of locally
produced foods. It's time for the state to get behind this idea and
really help out Vermont's dairy farmers.” AgriMark, Dairy Farmers
of America, DairyLea and the St. Albans co-op
market nearly 80 percent of Vermont's milk. This consolidation means
Vermont farmers are tied to a national market that isn't interested in
competition or preserving Vermont farms. One solution to this problem
is giving Vermont farmers more control of
the processing and marketing of their products. This would ensure a
steady and fair price for Vermont milk. Read full
article.
SWEET
CLOVER MARKET COMES TO ESSEX, VT
We met each other on the very first day of college at Boston University
and have been fortunate enough to remain close friends through thick
and thin. After each of us had our first child a few years ago, we
started to dream about what kind of career we would want next in our
lives and honed in on the development of a natural foods market in our
neck of the woods. We had both struggled to find time to travel all the
way to South Burlington and other locations for the natural food we
valued so highly and figured others must be facing the same challenge.
A few feasibility studies later, we knew we were on the right track.
Ellen runs the front of the house with her background in design,
retail, and education. Also, with a bachelor’s degree in
environmental science and master’s in environmental analysis, she
brings a broad perspective on how actions of individuals and social and
economic institutions (including Sweet Clover Market) impact the
natural environment. Ellen most recently worked at Rail City Market in
St. Albans.
Heather runs the back of the house, with a bachelor's degree in
business administration and experience with financial management, human
resource management and information technology in a variety of
settings. Heather most recently worked as the Development Coordinator
at Women Helping Battered Women.
Sweet Clover Market will support local agriculture and feature local
organic natural foods. For more information about the Sweet
Clover Market difference, please go to www.sweetclovermarket.com
And, for a specific article on Sweet Clover Market, check out Vt.
Guardian's article at http://www.sweetclovermarket.com/docs/VG_03_31_06.pdf
Sweet Clover Market is
hiring!
If you are passionate about good food... if you want to support local
agriculture... if you enjoy exceeding customers' expectations... if you
want to be part of the excitement of a start-up business (local,
organic, natural)...
Your new local foods market is hiring! Join our team!
Sweet Clover Market is a locally- and family-owned business that will
open in September at the Essex Shoppes and Cinema. Localvores,
gardeners, moms & dads, and do-it-yourself-ers are encouraged to
apply. Equal opportunity employer.
E-mail a letter of interest and a resume to
funwork@sweetclovermarket.com, or mail to:
Sweet Clover Market
PO Box 9003, Essex, VT 05451.
Full- and part-time positions available. No phone calls, please.
PEAK
OIL SIGHTINGS: Peak Oil in the
Vermont Press
Op Eds and Letters
to the Editor
put peak oil and related issues on the Vermont media map this summer.
July 23rd: Back to Back in BackTalk, the Valley News Op Ed Column
- Two sightings:
1. Op Ed by Annie Dunn Watson
A well-respected cadre of oil geologists tells us that global
oil production is about to peak and then decline; some of them say it
already has. Demand is rising faster than supply may be able to match,
even before the peak is reached. With the industrialization of China
and India, this trend will continue. George W. Bush recently called
America's own appetite for oil an addiction. What are the consequences
of “peak oil”? And why should we care? read full
article.
2. Op Ed by Jim Masland
Who could have predicted that the recent violence between the
Israelis and Hezbollah would drive the price of oil toward $80 a
barrel? Who would have guessed a year ago that a natural disaster such
as Hurricane Katrina could result in driving gasoline prices through
the roof? And who can say what the next event will be that will disrupt
our economy and make us victims of our insatiable demand for foreign
oil? read
full article.
(Jim
represents the Windsor-Orange 2 District in the Vermont House.
You can contact Jim at: jmasland
(at) leg.state.vt.us)
Also sighted July 23rd:
Burlington Free Press Op Ed
by Robert Costanza
Global oil production is going to peak sometime this decade, if it has
not already, and even President Bush has acknowledged that we are
"addicted to oil." Connect the dots. Gas prices can be expected to rise
well beyond their current $3/gallon and energy costs affect the costs
of everything else in our globalized economy. Our current patterns of
economic production and consumption are not
sustainable (but they are also not desirable) and some major changes
are in store whether we want them or not. We can react to these changes
in chaos, or we can anticipate them and create for ourselves and our
children a sustainable and desirable future. Both Iceland and Sweden
have recognized this choice and have committed to breaking the fossil
fuel addiction. Sweden's new Minister of Sustainable Development, Mona
Sahlin, has declared that the country plans to be completely fossil
fuel free by the year 2020. They have set up detailed targets,
mechanisms and indicators to implement the effort. read
full article.
(Robert Costanza is Gordon Gund
Professor of Ecological Economics and director of the Gund Institute of
Ecological Economics, Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural
Resources at the University of Vermont.)
Two Letters to the Editor of Times
Argus:
1. From Carl Etnier
(published July
20th):
I was disappointed that the AP article you ran on record high oil
prices (July 14) did not mention the underlying cause: world oil
production is at or near its peak. After a century of increasing oil
production, the world has pumped out about half the oil available.
Pumping out the rest of the oil takes greater time and energy, so
production is likely to level off and decline, now or in the near
future. As with any commodity that becomes increasingly scarce, prices
are likely to continue rising.
The reason that violence in the Middle East or a hurricane have the
power to cause large price increases now-and didn't have such an effect
10 or 20 years ago-is that there is no longer much spare oil-production
capacity. Geological realities mean that the industry no longer has
much, or any, ability to increase production. We need to restructure
our society to thrive without cheap oil. See the Vermont Peak Oil
Network website (vtpeakoil.net) for more information.
Furthermore, the AP article quotes Daniel Yergin, who ignores evidence
of peak oil and has little credibility in price prediction. In November
2004, he predicted prices would be $38 a barrel a year later, and they
were over $60 a barrel last summer even before the hurricanes hit. Your
readers are better served if you quote someone who understands the
dynamics of peak oil, like Kjell Aleklett of the Association for the
Study of Peak Oil & Gas or Julian Darley of the Post Carbon
Institute. Please run articles that acknowledge what the real problem
is and therefore help us to find workable solutions.
Carl Etnier
East Montpelier
Carl adds: I want newspapers to
publish letters that are factually correct. The facts on peak oil are
available in many places, including energybulletin.net/primer.php, www.peakoil.net, and www.postcarbon.org. Daniel Yergin's prediction is from
a column in Forbes, and is discussed at http://energybulletin.net/18111.html
2. From Dave Grundy (published July 21st):
In his letter printed on July 10, Michael Murdock called for a
redeployment of U.S. troops out of Iraq - a sentiment that is gaining
more adherents. However, in his letter, he states "There is no
argument or justification for American troops being in Iraq that makes
any logical sense." I believe there is a reason, although some
might question the justification, that our troops are in Iraq and will
likely be there for years to come. To answer the question of why
our troops are still in Iraq, I believe it is necessary to first go
back to the question of why they were sent there in the first place.
Over the three plus years since Bush started the war, more information
has come to light that requires us to ask this question again.
The answer is that is wasn't about weapons of mass destruction.
This was a grand lie concocted to win our support for the
invasion. As time has passed, it has become obvious it is not
about installing democracy. We, of all people, should know that
democracy cannot be imposed, it has to come from within. And it's
not about fighting terrorism. Most of the action in Iraq is about
Sunnis and Shiites attacking one another or both of them attacking the
occupiers - us.
No, the real reason we went into Iraq and the reason Bush will keep
troops there is because Saddam Hussein took a huge risk. Back in
2001, he decreed that Iraq's oil would be sold in euros instead of
dollars. It is commonly accepted that the dollar is maintaining
its shaky value because the international oil market is based on
dollars. If all OPEC countries converted to euros, it is
predicted the dollar would drop by 20 - 40 % against other currencies,
and our economy would tank. Also, it didn't hurt that Hussein has
entered into contracts with France, Russia, Germany and China to
develop Iraq's petroleum reserves. These contracts could have
been activated if the UN sanctions were ever lifted, and it began to
appear this might happen since the inspection team wasn't finding and
WMD.
So, what was Bush to do? He couldn't let Hussein get away with
this affront. Also, he couldn't allow Iraq's oil to go to other
countries. (Is it any wonder those countries were against the
plans to invade Iraq?) He had to show the other OPEC countries
they had better not have similar ideas. So, there had to be a
visible example of what happens to those who have plans that would
threaten the American dollar - ergo, shock and awe.
Now we're there, and Bush realizes that we have to keep control over
the country so that its oil is sold in dollars and so that other
countries don't get to develop its reserves. This may help
explain why Brown and Root Co. has no-bid contracts to build 14 very
permanent military bases throughout the country as well as the largest
U.S. embassy in the world in Baghdad. Why would we be doing that
if we weren't planning a permanent occupation?
David B. Grundy
East Montpelier, VT 05651
(If you sight Peak Oil
in the Vermont media, let us know!)
LIVING POST CARBON - VERMONTERS BEGIN GRAPPLING WITH GLOBAL
PEAK OIL
by Dennis Derryberry, courtesy of
Vermont Commons
During the past several months, as the ominous phrase “Peak
Oil” has begun appearing on the U.S. public’s collective
radar screen, hundreds of forward-thinking Vermonters already have
decided to look for new ways to live which do not rely upon the use of
fossil fuel energy, and not least among their reasons is the simple
fact that oil fields don’t exist in or anywhere near Vermont.
Just a few months since its creation, the Vermont Peak Oil Network
(VPON) website www.vtpeakoil.net has networked at least nine local and
regional groups who have rallied around the possibility of creation an
alternative energy future in the face of dramatically increasing fossil
fuel energy and shrinking production capacity globally.
This is thinking and acting locally. This is choosing energy
independence. Read full
article.
VERMONT
COMMONS JOURNAL THIS QUARTER
Featuring articles by Megan
Quinn, Peter Forbes, George Schenck, our own Pete Sutherland, the new
quarterly version of Vermont Commons has a LOT to offer. Link to
them here.
Here's a bit from Megan's article: The Renewed Activist.
"As an environmental activist at the peak of industrial civilization
I've always felt like the underdog. I've imagined myself as a
street-protesting, petition-signing, door-to-door knocking David trying
to bring down a money-wielding, corporate-clad, government-shielded
Goliath. With such long odds of victory, many environmental activists
have either lowered their expectations or just burned out. We may have
succeeded in convincing Goliath to paint himself green, but he still
goes on destroying the planet and the collective future of humanity.
And being thoroughly exhausted and frustrated at the daunting task
before us, we have ended up defeating ourselves." (See where she
takes us at: http://vtcommons.org/node/551)
THE DATALESS ARGUMENT
Review of The
Bottomless
Well: The Twilight of Fuel, the Virtue of Waste, and Why We Will Never
Run Out of Energy. Peter W.
Huber and Mark P. Mills. New York: Basic Books. 2005.
By Carl Etnier
Though I spend much more time reading authors focused on peak oil, like
Richard
Heinberg, than perusing the arguments of oil optimists like
Daniel Yergin or
Michael Lynch, I
try to keep an eye out for data and
arguments that will challenge my view of the timing of peak oil and its
consequences. When I found Montpelier’s library had a book whose
subtitle claimed we would never run out of energy, and whose cover
depicted a container much more than half full with gasoline, I decided
to let myself be challenged.
In Huber and Mills book, I did find arguments to challenge my views,
but the book comes up short on relevant data. The thrust of the book is
to observe trends in energy consumption and modes of use for the last
100 years and, projecting them into the future, argue that energy
availability will never be a problem. Concerns about the availability
of oil are dealt with largely by waving them away. They merely note
that Malthus long ago predicted the exhaustion of food, and that
predictions of the imminent exhaustion of oil were made as early as
1886. No data about present supplies or rate of extraction bother these
authors, who see human “logic” triumphing over any putative
natural limits.
Technology, we are told, will advance, and new forms of power will
allow us to access more than most people now think possible. Lasers
hold the key to our salvation: they will power fusion reactors or
replace 6-inch drill bits to seek oil at the bottom of 5-mile long bore
holes.
Huber and Mills do allow themselves the tiniest bit of doubt, before
taking comfort in past trends again:
No universal law of nature holds that power and logic will improve
faster at the top of the energy pyramid than resources recede at the
bottom. But energy-capturing technologies are improving across the
board, and faster today than ever before. The logic of the
fuel-retrieving machines has advanced much faster than the fuels have
retreated—and we keep getting closer to the receding horizon.
Environmental concerns are a separate matter, important in their own
right. But the issue of exhaustion is resolved. Energy supplies
are—for all practical purposes—infinite.
If you doubt that energy-capturing technologies are improving across
the board, and point to declining energy
return on energy invested
(EROI) in the oil, gas, and coal industries, Huber and Mills will tell
you that a low EROI is a good thing. As humans have learned to harness
energy for ever-more-refined ends, we have moved from “junk
photons” of sunlight falling on a pasture to the highly ordered
photons of a laser that can do marvelous things. Most of the energy
used to produce the highly ordered photons of the laser is wasted. If
it is powered by coal-generated electricity, then oil is used to mine
the coal and move it to the power plant, two thirds of the coal’s
energy is lost in generating electricity, more is lost in heating the
transmission lines, and very much energy is lost in the laser itself.
The large amount of fossil energy that went into making the small
amount of energy in the laser is not a problem; it is a sign of how
sublimely refined the laser’s energy is. From this argument, they
conclude that waste is “virtuous.”
I agree that loss of much of the original energy is necessary to run a
laser, and I’m glad the process works so I can listen to CDs at
home and laser surgery can save people’s vision. However, I view
the energy loss as a necessary evil, part of living in a world governed
by the first and second laws of thermodynamics, not as a
“virtue.” Following Huber and Mills logic, it would seem
that virtue would lie in making generating plants less efficient and
mining less concentrated veins of coal than necessary. For some reason,
the authors refrain from condemning profit-maximizing capitalists who
do the opposite.
The Bottomless Well misses the point in many ways. It contains no
musings on the effects of exponential growth in population and demand
for fossil fuel on the ability of humans to secure sufficient supply.
There is no assessment of how environmental concerns—“a
separate matter, important in their own right”—can be
separate from humans’ ability to wrest energy out of nature
through logic, if the humans who supply the logic are starving due to
collapse of world fisheries and declining per capita food production.
And there certainly are no attempts to anticipate the price effects of
a constrained oil supply when terrorism or hurricanes disrupt a small
part of world production.
If you’re looking for a data-free riff on how wonderful life with
lasers would be if past trends continued, The Bottomless Well is for
you. If you’re looking to have your assumptions challenged with
logically consistent, data-driven arguments, look further.
(Carl
is a member of the Greater East Montpelier Peak Oil Group. He can
be reached at carl (at)
etnier.net)
As the Crow Flies:
Reports from Around the State
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." (Mission
Statement, Ratified January 2006)
ACoRN has compiled a list of the county's farms and their
products. You can see that here.
Visit ACoRN on line at http://www.acornvt.org/
to find out about scheduled meetings, current projects, and
Addison County resources.
CPON:
Cabot Peak Oil Network
CPON continues to develop interfaces between farmers in Cabot.
Organic dairy farmers are aware of peak oil. Grass-fed
dairy, beef and poultry are, from beginning to end,
"sustainability."
This raises the question of what we feed chickens when "all you
have is what you have." Lee is working with the town through the
Democracy Committee, using his conflict management skills. He
recommends Non Violent Communication training, a skill he feels we will
need to facilitate good relationships in hard times. For more
information about CPON, contact Lee: leeb
(at) pivot (dot)
net
Greater
East Montpelier Peak Oil Group
Monthly
meetings on the second Tuesdays. Call Carl Etnier
223 2564 or carl
(at) etnier.net or
more
information and travel directions.
Power
Point Presentation on Peak Oil
updated and available! The Greater East
Montpelier Peak Oil Group used this power point in its discussion
session with Vt. Representatives and other officials, (report appears
on
May 06 VPON Monthly News and Views Page - archived), and recently
updated it for presentation to the Lamoile County Planning
Commission.
Members of GEMPOG are available to offer the presentation; please
contact Carl Etnier for more information carl (at) etnier.net.
Here's
where
you can download the slideshow: http://rapidshare.de/files/23204728/Peak_Oil_final_for_2006.06.13.ppt.html
The download takes @20 minutes on a dial-up connection.
Please be
aware that materials disappear from the site if they are not downloaded
once in 30 days; contact Carl if you are unable to
access, and he will repost it for you: carl (at) etnier.net
Plan
C - Chittenden
County Peak Oil Group
A
group with representatives from Burlington,
Charlotte,
Essex, and Richmond came together in March, and welcomes your input
and participation. A variety of committees have been formed, and
a social event this June 24th allowed members of the group and their
families to get to know one another better.
For
more information, please e-mail ccpeakoil
(at) yahoo (dot) com
Plan
C has developed the following
Committees:
A. Education/Outreach - communicating through other groups, though
workplaces, through websites and meetings.
B. Big Picture Group - Assessment of what the county needs, including
statistics. Jobs, local economy, Cedo, Livable Community Project.
Also assess county's existing assets.
C. Policy:
D. Entertainment Group: working to keep the membership connected and
happy!
E. Service Committee (new): This committee, which may rotate every few
months, will make sure that there is an agenda and a facilitator for
meetings, make sure we have a meeting place, and will take a higher
level of responsibility.
To find out more about these committees and how you can participate,
contact Rachel: rbeddoe2
(at) gmail.com
Plan C will next meet on Sunday, August 13th, 7 p.m. at the Brownell
Library in Essex (by the 5 corners).
Mad
River Sustainability Group
Meets
third Tuesday of the
month at 5:30 p.m., with a topical discussion or event to kick off each
meeting. For more information: nbehn
(at) northernpower (dot) com
Our meeting with Linda Lloyd, Jim Sanford, and Sal Spinosa of the Mad
River Valley Planning District and Bill Maclay (crafter of the original
Warren Energy Plan) bore much fruit. The MRVPD have a handful of
priorities one of which is to develop an energy plan for the MRV and
create an energy efficiency campaign. We found that our resource
mapping Project fits very well into the goals of the MRVPD and there is
a clear opportunity for partnership here. We also learned that there
are other initiatives occurring within the Mad River community that
align with our goals and we will explore these avenues and report on
them as they emerge.
Our first tangible piece of the Resource Mapping Project, a list of
local farms and what they produce, has been compiled by Dorothy Tod (see doc). Dorothy is a member
of the Mad River Valley Localvores as well and this list will also be
used by them as part of their Localvore Challenge Project. This theme
of partnership of similarly align groups is one that continues to come
up for us and we see great possibilities for the future through a
united effort toward a common goal,
MRSG will soon have its own Web page which will be part of the Vermont
Peak Oil Network (VPON) website. The VPON site is currently undergoing
an overhaul which promises to greatly improve navigability and network
support. We will let you know when the site is up and running.
In the NEWS: BP is closing its Prudhoe Bay oil pipeline indefinitely
for repair which will remove 8% of US oil production (2.6% of total US
supply). The price of oil is expected to rise by up to $10 a barrel.
Our next meeting will be at Rootswork (upstairs of the East Warren
Grocery, School House Market) this Tuesday 8/15/06 at 5:30PM
We invite any and all to join us and help in the creation of a sensible
and sustainable future for the Mad River Valley.
Nils Behn
Mad River Sustainability Group
Tel. Office: (802)583-7272
Please visit us at:
VPON-regional <http://vtpeakoil.net/regional.html>
And
Relocalization Network | Post Carbon Institute <http://www.postcarbon.org/groups/>
Post
Carbon Tunbridge
Meeting 2nd and 4th
Mondays of each month. Proposed
Mission
statement: "Work together to maximize quality of
life as we
reduce dependency on oil."
Contact Henry at: swayze
(at)
pngusa (dot) net
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 in local economy,
food
production and preservation, social network building, education, basic
herbal and natural health care, and more..
POS continues to move
ahead on food security and localization initiatives. Tim
Stevenson of POS had a fine article in the recent NOFA NOTES quarterly newsletter
(Northeast
Organic Farming Association of VT) on developing infrastructure
for food security.
For those of you who are planning to show peak oil or
localization/educational films with follow-up
discussion, here is some advice from Tim at Post Oil Solutions, which
he offered a Plan C committee as they prepared to screen films in the
Burlington area:
"We've typically attracted modest-sized audiences to our
presentations. We feel we are able to engage them after the screenings
because we don't so much dwell on the depressing thrust of "Suburbia,"
as launch into the self-sufficiency/sustainability/community
what-we-can-do-about-this-in-our-area approach. In fact, we start the
post-"Suburbia" discussion immediately with a reminder that "next week"
we will be screening the antidote to this film with "The Power of
Community." We also talk a lot about Post Oil Solutions, and the
various projects we're engaged in, which seems to stimulate a lot of
conversation. People often have ideas of their own, and we run with
them, encouraging them, offering to help them realize these ideas. This
is our whole purpose--not so much to educate people about peak oil and
climate change (which, we feel, those who attend our presentations are
already somewhat familar with by virtue of their attendance), but to
engage/involve them in recognizing that local approaches (which are
within their power and reach to undertake) are the only way to
go. In general, we try to attract an audience, and then to engage
them once we've got them, with more of a local activist approach to the
issue, rather than strictly educational."
Visit Post Oil Solutions at www.postoilsolutions.org
Route
12 Loop
Group
Conact Anita at: anita
(at) innevi.com
Gold Stars to...
Vermont
Sustainable Jobs Fund (VSJF) and Middlebury College: Partners in The
Cornerstone Project
One of the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund
(VSJF)’s flagship market development initiatives is the
Cornerstone Project. Working in conjunction with the Office of Senator
Leahy, VSJF assembled a network of large institutions that agreed to
explore opportunities for sourcing Vermont wood products from
sustainably harvested forests for their construction projects. Buying
from businesses in Vermont keeps money circulating locally, triggers
new wealth for other community businesses, and grows small
businesses’ bottom lines. The overall aim of Cornerstone is to
grow a sustainable economy and help Vermont businesses and communities
find their niche. This approach is a long-term strategy for job growth
and economic security in isolated rural communities like those found in
Vermont.
VSJF pioneered this far-reaching effort to connect large institutional
purchasers with local producers or craftspeople. During the late
1990's, a tremendous amount of work went into supporting the
state’s wood products sector leading to the certification of
thousands of acres of forests under the leading green standard
developed by the Forest Stewardship Council. Middlebury College had
demonstrated its desire and ability to source local wood from certified
forests, and their early leadership provided examples for others to
follow. By reaching out to other institutions, Cornerstone encouraged
cooperation and generated new opportunities for more wood products
purchasing. With more buyers learning how to source local and certified
wood, the efforts of VSJF and partners such as the National Wildlife
Federation yielded a fully connected system starting with certified
Vermont forests feeding into mills and then on to value-added
manufacturers that provide high quality products for local and regional
buyers.
The construction projects of the Cornerstone partners continue to
provide on-going opportunities for local businesses to gain new
in-state markets. With leaders such as Middlebury College, the
University of Vermont, the Vermont Law School, the Vermont Department
of Buildings and General Services and others demonstrating commitment
to the local economy and environmental well being, Vermont now has a
sound foundation for expanding the Cornerstone concept into other
sectors. Due to the initial success with in the forest products sector,
VSJF is now focusing attention with its partners in building demand for renewable energy.
Action
Petition the VT Legislature: A Suggestion
from one of our Readers
I became aware of the peak oil concept a couple of years ago, but only
recently learned about VPON’s existence. In listening to
Carl Etnier
on the Mark Johnson show, I believe I heard Mark note that until
recently, Governor Douglas was unaware of what peak oil means.
Has
there been an effort to petition the VT legislature to bring an
awareness to people about peak oil and encourage alternative energy use
and development? As you are probably aware, most of the
population is
probably oblivious to this concept and the implications for the
“American way of life.” I hope an effort is being
formulated to use
the political system to bring awareness and change. Given the sad
state of our current government, this is going to take a major
effort.
Just a few thoughts from a concerned citizen. Thanks.
D.C., Wolcott, VT.
(Ed note: If someone would be
willing to formulate a petition and take responsibility for collecting
the signed docs, we'd be happy to put that up on VPON site, and forward
to our subscribers. See how Idle-Free Vermont put theirs together
(below), and let us know if we can help launch the effort.)
IDLE-FREE VERMONT!
a request for help from ACoRN's
Wayne Michaud
Dear People,
I am a member of ACoRN--Addison County Relocalization Network, in
Middlebury, a recently formed post-carbon/localization group. With
ACoRN's encouragement, I have started an idle-reduction campaign called
Idle-Free VT, a grassroots effort to raise an awareness of needless
vehicle idling while conducting a statewide petition drive to get an
idle-reduction law enacted in the state of Vermont.
The goal is to begin the petition drive at the beginning of August. One
or two volunteers from each county will offer literature and gather
petitions on main streets or town greens of the three to five largest
towns in most counties. They will do this for one to two hours, once a
week until the end of October. Petitions will be presented to the state
legislature at the beginning of the new legislative session in January,
2007. (Please see the petition here;
you can download it and put it to good use right away!)
While printing and getting petitions signed on one