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The Climate/Peak Oil Divide
Asher Miller, Post Carbon Institute

Last Friday I was on a radio program called Terra Verde with Tom Stokes from the Climate Crisis Coalition to discuss whether or not there was a divide between the movements of people focused on climate change and those focused on peak oil or peak resources in general.

Both Tom and I quickly rejected the notion, though perhaps for different reasons. From my perspective, any sort of tension would require some kind of equal status. The sad truth is that--as far as movements go--one clearly swamps the other (though neither has yet crossed the threshold from early majority to late majority, which means that both camps still have a lot of work to do). Of 100 people who are concerned about climate change, maybe one of them understands peak oil. And I think that generally extends to the activists.

Now, some peak oilers do dismiss concerns about global warming because they believe we'll run out of oil before the worst case scenarios can come to fruition. I know people who feel this way. On the other side, I know even more climate change activists who either ignore peak oil because--to be blunt--they're in denial, or because they fear that acceptance of it will diminish our collective sense of urgency to mitigate climate impacts. And that is despite the position of James Hansen, to whom many climate activists otherwise regularly turn.

This entire subject is pretty much irrelevant and 'inside the beltway,' until you get to this substantive question: How does understanding of one crisis change our response to the other?

First, let me say that I think both positions are dangerous naive.

On the climate side, the worst case scenarios seem to be leaping, not creeping, up at us. Virtually every new study points to more immediate and more severe climate impacts. It's unclear whether or not we have passed the tipping point whereby positive feedback loops rapidly increase greenhouse gas levels, but it's hard to deny that the global climate has already gone funky. Welcome to the new world.

What that means is that we're already faced with the question of adaptation. Therefore, any solutions to addressing our dependence on depleting fossil fuels better factor in a changed climate in the equation. Regionalized flooding, storms, drought, water scarcity, loss of forests and habitat, fires, heat waves, mass migrations of people, economic destruction--namely, all the impacts of climate uncertainty--are going to have a major say in what types of alternatives are available to us, not to mention how we adapt to a low-energy world.

On the peak energy side, any large-scale solutions to address global climate change must be grounded in realism about fossil fuel production. I never understood the concern that awareness of peak oil would somehow take the wind out of the sails of the climate crisis. To me the exact opposite fear is true: Because we are facing declines in oil and natural gas production, and ultimately coal, our window for solving the climate crisis is even narrower. It will take massive investments of fossil fueled energy to produce the kind of renewable energy production we'd need to replace any meaningful amount of our current energy portfolio.

(17 March 2009)
Interview below.

Interview with Asher Miller and Tom Stokes (audio)
Adam Greenfield, Terra Verde, KPFA via Global Public Media
The depletion of oil and other finite resources is often forgotten when pondering environmental solutions.

Post Carbon Institute Executive Director Asher Miller and Tom Stokes, Coordinator of the Climate Crisis Coalition, explain why we cannot ignore peak oil.

This program was originally broadcast on KPFA.org, Berkeley, CA on March 13, 2009.
(17 March 2009)
The interview starts several minutes into the recording.

De la dépendance au pétrole à la résilience des communautés (Transition in French)
Villes et Communautes en Transition
Le mouvement des villes (ou villages) en transition (appelé aussi culture de transition) est né en Grande-Bretagne sous la houlette de Rob Hopkins, enseignant en permaculture (voir son site). En septembre 2006, la petite ville anglaise de Totnes devenait la première “ville en transition” après un an de préparation. Il y a aujourd'hui plus de 130 villes en transition dans le monde, principalement au Royaume-Uni et en Irlande, réunies dans le réseau des Transition Towns (villes en transition). Deux réseaux similaires, Transition USA et Relocalization, existent aux États-Unis.
(March 2009)
Recommended by Rob Hopkins: Transition in French.

The (re)birth of Frucool
Ed Gillespie, Guardian
As it maybe our savings – not our spending – that supports the economy, I'm exploring whether we can help the planet by being both frugal and cool
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"Shop damn it shop – it's your patriotic duty," roared the familiar face of Lord Kitchener from the beleaguered retailer's window. One of my colleagues spotted this fervent plea in London just before Christmas last year. Now the government's pleas for us to fall into line and do what any responsible citizen of a market-based capitalist economy should do – splash some cash around – are becoming ever shriller.

... by not spending our money on stuff we don't really need and saving it instead (especially if we do this at an ethical bank like the Co-op) we are not only helping to underpin bank lending but we're also being thrifty and anti-establishment … and therefore cool. Welcome to the world of Frucool (frugal+cool), my new series based on the idea of "conspicuous austerity".

Frucool will set out to explore whether we might actually change the world by being sensible with our dosh, controlling personal debt, buying things we really need, things that last or make a real difference to the lives of the folk that made or grew them.
(18 March 2009)
Related at the Guardian: What crisis? .

Leading climate scientist: 'democratic process isn't working'
David Adam, Guardian
Protest and direct action could be the only way to tackle soaring carbon emissions, a leading climate scientist has said.

James Hansen, a climate modeller with Nasa, told the Guardian today that corporate lobbying has undermined democratic attempts to curb carbon pollution. "The democratic process doesn't quite seem to be working," he said.

Speaking on the eve of joining a protest against the headquarters of power firm E.ON in Coventry, Hansen said: "The first action that people should take is to use the democratic process. What is frustrating people, me included, is that democratic action affects elections but what we get then from political leaders is greenwash.
(18 March 2009)