Willits: Regional localization networking conference
Jason Bradford, Willits Economic LocaLization (WELL)
Improving and coordinating the efforts of groups working towards sustainable, localized economies is the focus of a conference to be held in Willits, CA from April 7-9, 2006.
The conference aims to share best practices on group organization and activities, develop consistent messages for the public, politicians and business leaders, and foster on-going communication among localization practitioners. A Saturday evening presentation by David A. Schaller, Sustainable Development Coordinator of the US Environmental Protection Agency is included in the weekend activities.
The “relocalization” movement is especially active in Northern California and Oregon (see: postcarbon.org/_tmp_maps/NorthAmericaOutpostsImageMap.html), and while anyone is welcome to register, preference is given to attendees from this region. Each local group is encouraged to send one application form with a list of delegates to the conference. These forms are available at: www.willitseconomiclocalization.org/RLNC.pdf
Willits Economic LocaLization (WELL) sponsors this event. WELL's mission is to foster the creation of a sustainable economy based on local resources. (See: www.willitseconomiclocalization.org).
Contact: Spring Senerchia, 707-459-1256; spring@redinet.org
(14 February 2006)
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Bush may be taking the idea of peak oil seriously
John P. Judis, The New Republic
...Bush's proposal for solar or safe nuclear power will not lead energy prices to fall anytime soon. So while it's true that, like most Bush statements, this one clearly contained a kernel of politics, it may also have reflected genuine concern about a real problem: America's dependence on oil, regardless of where it comes from. This concern, which originated decades ago among maverick geologists, has spread recently to Bush's Department of Energy (DOE) and may have been at least partly responsible for his surprising and uncharacteristic remark about the country's addiction to oil. If so, it's a welcome admission--even if the solutions Bush is proposing fall woefully short.
...Until recently, the Bush administration's DOE appeared to side more with [PO skeptic] Yergin than with [PO writers] Deffeyes and Goodstein, but a DOE report issued last February, along with recent comments from Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman, suggests it might be rethinking its position. The report, "Peaking of World Oil Production: Impacts, Mitigation and Risk Management," by Robert L. Hirsch, Roger Bezdek, and Robert Wendling, argues that the predictions of imminent peaking must be taken seriously. "
...The authors of the DOE report do not offer a prediction of their own about when the peak will be reached. Instead, they argue that the dire forecasts rest on a sufficiently "robust geological foundation" that policymakers must now take into account. "Prudent management calls for early action," they conclude. And the department is clearly worried. Bodman, a former professor of chemical engineering at MIT--and, unlike some of his colleagues, eminently qualified for his cabinet post--recently ordered another report on peak oil.
(14 February 2006)
Has anyone else heard about another DOE report on peak oil?
The article just went behind a subscriber-only wall. Except for the mention of another DOE report on Peak Oil, there is nothing in it new to people following peak oil. -BA
UPDATE: Reader KC suggests that the study being referred to is the one described in Can oil production satisfy rising demand? (USA Today)
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Hubbert talk: "Nuclear energy and the fossil fuels" (PDF)
M. King Hubbert, www.hubbertpeak.com
The evolution of our knowledge of petroleum since Colonel Drake's discover of oil in Titusville, Pennsylvania, nearly a century ago, resembles in many striking respects the evolution of knowledge of world geography which occurred during the century following Columbus's discovery of America. During that period several continents, a number of large islands, and numerous smaller islands were discovered, but how many more might there be? Also during that period geographical charts had to be continuously revised in order to incorporate the new discoveries that were repeatedly being made, and also to correct some earlier speculations which had proved to be seriously in error. In addition, more detailed knowledge of the shore lines and other features of the areas discovered earlier was rapidly accruing, which also had to be added to the charts.
Then, as now, a voyager starting out on a major expedition of discovery needed to equip himself with charts of two kinds. He needed the large-scale detailed charts for piloting along known shores, and the comprehensive charts of whole oceans, or even of the known world, as a guide for his major navigations.
Likewise for the petroleum industry the last century has been a period of bold adventure and discovery. Whole petroleum provinces analogous to the continents have been discovered and partly explored; a few tens of very large fields, corresponding to the large islands, and hundreds of small fields, the small islands, have been discovered. But how far along have we come on our way to complete exploration?
(8 March 1956)
Hubbert's prepared remarks prepared remarks (57 pages) for the March 1956 meeting of the American Petroleum Association in San Antonio, Texas. Suggested by JB, keeping in mind that March 7, 2006 is the 50th Anniversary of Hubbert's prediction. More of Hubbert's writings are available at hubbertpeak.com.
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