San Francisco Becomes First City to Pass Peak Oil Resolution
By: SF Informatics/San Francisco Oil Awareness
Published: Apr 17, 2006 at 08:09
Email this article
Printer friendly page
San Francisco on Tuesday became the first major U.S. city to pass a resolution acknowledging the threats posed by peak oil, urging the city to develop a comprehensive plan to respond to the emerging global energy crunch.
The resolution (http://www.sfgov.org/site/uploadedfiles/bdsupvrs/bosagendas/materials/060442.pdf), which won unanimous support by the board was sponsored by supervisors Aaron Peskin, Jake McGoldrick and Sophie Maxwell. It cites an influential study commissioned by the U.S. Dept. of Energy, known as the Hirsch Report (http://www.mnforsustain.org/oil_peaking_of_world_oil_production_study_hirsch.htm), which raised concerns about the nation's ability to avert a major crisis from the peak and decline of oil production.
The measure comes on the heels of an increasingly effective grass roots campaign by groups such as San Francisco Oil Awareness, Post Carbon San Francisco, and SF Informatics, who have sponsored mailings and meetings targeting Bay Area elected officials for more than two years. San Francisco has been making strides in the area of energy independence, energy watchdogs have reported. The group Sustainlane.com says that San Francisco was voted third best city to withstand an oil crisis.
Michael Poremba, spokesman for SF Informatics, congratulated the supervisors on their action Tuesday. "We are thrilled to see the city finally acknowledging the peak oil issue," Poremba said. "Our society runs on oil, our economy runs on oil, and farsighted local governments should begin planning now--indeed years ago--for an era of declining supplies, because that era is starting now."
Citizen's group San Francisco Oil Awareness played a key role in bringing the idea of a resolution in front of city officials. Members of the group, including Jennifer Bresee, Allyse Hartwell, Dennis Brumm and David Fridley, formed a committee promoting a draft resolution discussing the issue with officials on the board and at other venues.
Local peak oil activists have been gaining wider recognition in recent months as the topic has gained traction in the media and in the US Congress, where Rep. Roscoe Bartlett introduced the first-ever "peak oil resolution" and formed a caucus to study the issue. Members of the SF Post Carbon group were featured in a recent article in Salon.com salon.com surveying the growing movement.
Among the high-visibility tools used by the groups is a colorful poster called The Oil Age, created by SF Informatics in association with Global Public Media. The poster traces the history of oil production worldwide and displays relevant energy statistics from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, BP Statistical Review and other industry sources. The poster was hand delivered to dozens of Bay Area elected officials in January, including the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, The Department on the Environment and the Communion on the Environment.
"The poster is a great way to open up city officials' doors," said David Fridley, a scientist with the Lawrence Berkeley Lab and a member of San Francisco Oil Awareness. "It's a very effective passport into the halls of power because of its polished and professional quality." Co-member Jennifer Bresee agrees: "Plunking down this poster in front of a supervisor is a lot more effective than trying to explain it in words alone," she says.
Copies of The Oil Age poster can be purchased at www.oilposter.org. To date, over 1,600 posters have been donated to teachers worldwide. And thanks to Congressman Roscoe Bartlett, the poster has been distributed to every member of the U.S. Congress.
PDF of San Francisco's Peak Oil Resolution available at: sfgov.org
Robert L. Hirsch, R. Bezdek, R. Wendling, Peaking of World Oil Production: Impacts, Mitigation, & Risk Management, February 2005 (http://www.mnforsustain.org/oil_peaking_of_world_oil_production_study_hirsch.htm). |
