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Lawmaker to Minn. guv: What happens at the end of oil?
G.R. Anderson Jr., Minneapolis Post
Remember back in January, when Gov. Tim Pawlenty was getting his green on, hosting a climate change forum with explorer Will Steger?

Well, he hasn't said much on a green economy since the Legislature's been in session, but at least one lawmaker wants to press a bit on the issue.

On Wednesday, the House passed a "peak oil" resolution 81 to 7 that calls for the Legislature and the guv to get ready for the day when we run out of gas. (The term refers to the idea that we've maxed out our global oil production, and we're on a slow decline from here on out.)
(1 May 2008)

Massachusetts Governor says: We're "at the end of the age of fossil fuels"
Dick Lawrence, ASPO-USA via The Oil Drum
NPR just reported that Massachusetts Governor Duval Patrick declared, in a speech today before the Boston Chamber of Commerce, "We're at the end of the age of fossil fuels" [approximate quote]. The Boston Globe carries a preview of the speech here :

Governor Deval Patrick will call on business leaders today to embrace his vision for the state's emerging clean energy industry, both to reduce their own costs and to boost the state's economy, according to administration officials briefed on the speech.

Convinced that the age of fossil fuels is coming to a close, the governor hopes to seize on the imagination of business leaders to make Massachusetts the center of the clean energy industry through incentives that would eliminate the gas tax on certain biofuels and recruit innovative renewable energy firms to develop their technologies in the Bay State.

In a speech before the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce this morning, Patrick will also outline his vision for a regional pact to limit the carbon content of fuels, similar to the pact aimed at reducing power plant emissions that contribute to global warming.
["Patrick to press for clean energy by Stephanie Ebbert", Boston Globe, May 1, 2008]

I organized a meeting at the State House on March 31 to present the Peak Oil story, and consequences for Massachusetts, to the Massachusetts legislature. Roger Bezdek (co-author of The Hirsch Report), John Kaufmann from Portland, OR, and the two Connecticut legislators who started that state's Peak Oil Caucus, all agreed to come and present at the State House. We had about 20 legislators and staff and another 50 interested citizens, so it was standing-room-only.

Following our presentations, two Representatives agreed to launch an initiative in the Massachusetts legislature, and a key Senator (who chairs the Senate Climate Change Committee) is likely to join them in starting the group. He and his staff spent more than an hour on Tuesday talking to Richard Heinberg, who was in New England on a 10-day tour.

Later on Tuesday I had dinner with Richard and a group of New Hampshire energy activists prior to his talk there at Keene State College. Nancy Lee Wood (who organized his tour of New England) told me that Richard apparently made a deep impression on the Senator

The Governor's presentation today with its tacit acknowledgement of Peak Oil should be hugely beneficial in helping us develop policies that begin to prepare Massachusetts for rising energy costs, potential severe price spikes, and eventual shortages.

If you're interested in our Massachusetts project with the legislature, please contact me:

dlawrence (at) aspo-usa (dot) com

We also invited our New Hampshire hosts to consider launching a similar effort in their state. TOD readers should be aware that these state-level efforts are part of a rising tide which started in Connecticut and now has spread to Massachusetts, Virginia, Minnesota, Oregon, Colorado, and probably more states by now. You will hear more about it soon.

Dick Lawrence
ASPO-USA
(1 May 2008)

Rising prices spread fear at the pumps
Ken Gray, The Ottawa Citizen
You drive past the gas station in Orléans and the sign says your fill is going for $1.22 a litre. Blame it on Russia.

The world's largest oil producer reported that its output decreased for the first time in 10 years. It delivered one per cent less oil than a year ago.

What's disconcerting about this little-known fact, trumpeted recently on the front page of The Wall Street Journal but getting little play elsewhere, is that the scenario unfolding in Russia is being repeated the world over. Essentially, its Siberian oil fields are aging, becoming tired, the easy-to-reach oil declining.

It is not alone. The world's great oil deposits -- the North Sea, Mexico's Cantarell deposit and Alaska's Prudhoe Bay -- are seeing their production diminish despite astronomical demand.

So what of production from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries? Its output is flat, in part due to declining fields.

... City council needs to realize our transportation problems are now, not in some far-off fanciful date 20, 30 or 40 years in the future. Peak oil won't wait for them.

... Electric rail must be built quickly. If not, we're in trouble.

Ken Gray is the city editorial page editor and a Citizen editorial board member.
(2 May 2008)

The future of energy
Sean McCarthy, SouthCoastToday
If you believe Richard Heinberg, then you think we're facing some very serious problems.

But if you believe Van Jones, then we have hope in the future.

If we act soon.

Mr. Heinberg and Mr. Jones spoke last Wednesday at White's of Westport in a forum focused on environmental awareness that drew more than a hundred attendees.

The event, "Urban Employment and Development Opportunities in the Green Economy," was sponsored by the Fall River and New Bedford chambers of commerce. titled Ultimately, the message of the morning was that the world has to make a rapid "transition" in its economies from one that is oil-driven to one that is ecologically-based.

From oil to "green."
(1 May 2008)
Also at SouthCoastToday: Peak oil expert also makes presentation at BCC