Los Angeles Post Carbon
Educating our Los Angeles communities on the issue of peak oil and taking steps to prepare ourselves for the post carbon age.

News Archive

Sustainable Living Workshops in Santa Monica

If you are interested in finding out what you can do to shrink your footprint on your environment then join residents in Santa Monica who are working together to actively make a difference. Join one of the many 6-week workshops and learn about all the things you can do in the following areas: WATER, ENERGY, WASTE, CHEMICALS, TRANSPORTATION, AND FOOD & SHOPPING. We are focused on helping you to create the positive change you want to make. Expect to save $200 - $300 on utility bills from adopting the suggestions we recommend. Workshop is subsidized by the City of Santa Monica and material costs are only $25 for Santa Monica residents and $35 for all others. Call or email to be apart of the next workshops starting in January. Workshops are ongoing through the year. www.sustainable-works.org / (310) 458-8717 x 1

Lawn to be replaced with Edible Landscape in Los Angeles

GardenLab announces Edible Landscapes #2. They are currently seeking the skilled, eager and adventurous occupants of one conventional American house on a typical street of endless sprawling lawns. These L.A. citizens should be brave enough to break this toxic uniformity, by having their entire front lawn removed and replaced by an edible landscape. The landscapes will be established in Spring 2006 and will be the basis of an exhibition the following Autumn.

http://www.fritzhaeg.com/garden/initiatives/edibleestates/main.html

Master Gardener Program will be Training New Volunteers

On 13 Saturdays from March 4th to May 27th, 2006, the Common Ground Garden Program will train Los Angeles County volunteers to help low-income and limited-resource residents to grow and eat more nutritious vegetables. Applicants should know the basics of gardening and be active community volunteers (not necessarily in gardening). There is a $100 material fee (partial scholarships are available for low-income participants) and the training is from 9 AM to 4 PM each Saturday.

To get onto the mailing list, contact Administrative Assistant Gloria Mitchell at phone 323-260-3348 or email gjmitche@ucdavis.edu Deadline to request application packet is January 16, 2006.

http://celosangeles.ucdavis.edu/garden/

Fruit Trees in Los Angeles Combat Hunger

For those of us that have been following the issue of global oil peak and our dependency on fossil fuels, we know that food security will become a major issue as fossil fuels go into decline. If you think otherwise, check out the article "Eating Fossil Fuels" by Dale Allen Pfeiffer. The below article published by Tree People highlights how they have been increasing food security in low income neighborhoods by planting fruit trees.

From TreePeople.org:

Fruits and vegetables are an essential part of a healthy diet, but for residents of low-income neighborhoods, fresh produce is often prohibitively expensive. For the past 21 years, TreePeople has addressed this problem by distributing free fruit trees in underserved communities. Since 1984, TreePeople’s Fruit Tree program has distributed approximately 60,000 plum, peach, apricot, fig and nectarine trees to community groups, schools and churches.
Read more at http://www.treepeople.org/vfp.dll?OakTree~getPage~&PNPK=28

Sun Valley Watershed Stakeholders Group Addresses Flooding, Water Conservation, Recreation, Wildlife Habitat and Polution

The mission of the Sun Valley Watershed Stakeholders Group is to solve the local flooding problem while retaining all stormwater runoff from the watershed, increasing water conservation, recreational opportunities, and wildlife habitat, and reducing stormwater pollution. There's something exciting going on in Sun Valley! A serious effort to solve the area's chronic flooding problem is underway, but that's not the half of it. Planners envision a solution that will bring many other benefits to the community as well. The implementation here of what's known as a "watershed approach" to urban environmental problems could focus regional and national attention on Sun Valley. On this website, we'll provide both an introduction to the Sun Valley Watershed Project and a clearinghouse for project information. We hope you'll find the site informative and useful - maybe even inspiring!

http://www.sunvalleywatershed.org/

It is within our power – even the Unknown Consumer’s!
by Jan Lundberg

I feel much sorrow for the Unknown Consumer, the poor schlump (blue collar or affluent) whom I see making any kind of purchase – what else is anybody doing in public, besides driving? Odds are overwhelmingly that the average U.S. citizen - rightly called a consumer, if the shoe fits – is doing nothing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions or the use of that deadly, strategic, dwindling commodity: oil. Nevertheless, there is a sleeping force of change biding its time among today's unconscious and oppressed folk. I see working people as well as disabled or unemployed people trying to manage as low-income consumers. They constantly do things such as drink from plastic soda bottles and thus poison themselves, thereby cheating their bodies out of clean water and honest food. I'm sorry for these folk, but I'm getting more angry at their plight and the greedy few who keep them in their condition and class. It is no consolation that the greedy rich are poisoning themselves too and weakening the gene pool. Also sad is the fact that an oppressed member of society is likely to desire the usual "opportunities" that lead nowhere. There are better approaches to dealing with "The System," even when leaders don't lead...

www.culturechange.org/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=30&Itemid=2#cont

DRY DIPSTICK LAUNCHES "BEYOND PEAK"

DryDipstick, a web guide to Peak Oil, launches BeyondPeak.com, a guide to self-sufficiency and preparing for, and dealing with, Peak Oil and economic collapse. The new website focuses on preparation for, and dealing with, the effects of Peak Oil, economic collapse, and a host of other looming disruptions, any one of which could cause serious problems in our society. Mick Winter, founder of both Dry Dipstick and Beyond Peak, says: "Many visitors to Dry Dipstick have told us, 'Okay, we get Peak Oil. Now what can we do about it?'"

www.beyondpeak.com

Free NYC Cyclists Campaign

A year ago on Aug. 27, the New York City police mounted a major offensive, but not against drug dealers, terrorists or criminals. They went after people on bicycles, cracking down on a Critical Mass group bicycle ride. Since then, more than 500 cyclists have been arrested and many more have had their bicycles stolen by police. Video evidence shows beautiful, peaceful bike rides in New York with artistic bikes, stunt bikes and even small children on training bikes. Then, the camera shows unresisting cyclists being stopped by the police, beaten to the ground, tear gassed and hauled away in handcuffs. Truckloads of bikes have been confiscated, many cut from their locks while their owners stand by helplessly. This is a blatant abuse of human rights, not to mention the equal rights to use public streets. World Carfree Network has initiated the "Free NYC Cyclists" campaign. You can help by sending letters to the New York mayor and police commissioner demanding an end to the arrests, by organizing screenings of the documentary film Still We Ride and by passing out letters at your local bike rides and other events.

Take action: www.worldcarfree.net/nyc/index.php

The Second U.S. Conference on Peak Oil and Community Solutions

More than 350 people from 39 states and five countries gathered with about 100 area residents in Yellow Springs, Ohio in late September to learn how to prepare at the local level for the coming steep decline in global oil production.

Richard Heinberg, author of the seminal work, The Party's Over, gave a keynote address on the unprecedented challenge of peak oil at the global and local level.

Steve Andrews, the ASPO — USA co-founder, followed with an assessment of alternative fuels..."Long term, we must focus on renewables," he said.

Jan Lundberg, founder of the Auto Free Times magazine, Alliance for a Paving Moratorium, and CultureChange.org, talked of this upcoming petrocollapse as a chaotic disruption of society that may occur from even a small decline in oil supplies.

Petrocollapse for change of culture

Jan Lundberg speaks at Manhattan peak oil conference, Oct. 5

...One reason for my stance is that petrocollapse, like peak oil, is inevitable and is right up ahead. There is little the government can do about it except to try to protect the most powerful elites. This will not work in the long run, and more equitable means of people helping one another will jump in. I’m accused of being too optimistic about a new culture of egalitarianism and mutual aid, when I predict cooperation and solidarity will be the order of the new day. I frankly do not see any alternative if we are to survive as a species, and if peace is the only state we can allow at this juncture.

A Peek Beyond the Peak: Heinberg in Venice, California

by Margaret Morris

On July 16, the United Methodist Church of Venice hosted a gathering under the sponsorship of the Post Carbon Institute dealing literally with the end of civilization as we know it. Richard Heinberg, one of the world’s most respected experts on peak oil, spoke to a group of 50 to 60 people about the impending depletion of the world’s petroleum reserves and how best to meet the challenges this presents. He is a professor of ecology and author of Powerdown — Options and Actions for a Post-Carbon World and The Party’s Over: Oil, War and the Fate of Industrial Societies.

www.hopedance.org/new/issues/52/article12.html

Love-Ins No More, Now We Have Critical Mass!

Published September 19, 2005 by CICLE.org
By: Harv

...A growing awareness of the downside of the bell curve of world crude oil supply has created a thirst for information among the forward-thinkers of L.A. Exacerbating the decline in oil production is the volatile motor fuel supply/demand balance; we are on the razor's edge. Current events in the Gulf Coast area are the text-book example of this; one glitch in the petrol-system and prices rise and waves of anxiety are generated. A video concerning peak oil would be shown at F y C. Since I wanted to see these particular videos I decided to pedal over there at the appointed hour. Some of us have already begun changing our lifestyle for less petroleum-dependence. Bicycles are the new symbols of opting out of corporate commodification of transportation, cutting the oil-umbilical cord, while simplifying and naturalizing our lives. Love-ins of the 60's have given way to Critical Masses in modern times...."

Md. Representative Roscoe Bartlett hosts public Peak Oil conference

by Paula Hay

Congressman Roscoe Bartlett, representing Maryland’s 6th district in the U.S. House of Representatives, hosted an energy conference Sept. 26 focused entirely on Peak Oil and its potential solutions. Approximately 400 people filled the Kussmaul Theater at Frederick Community College in Frederick, Md., to hear a broad range of expert perspective on the issue.

In Los Angeles:
Solutions for Food Security and Peak Oil/Energy Decline

This is one of the topics that will be covered in the Permaculture Design Certificate Course. Come see what people are calling "tremendously hopeful", "life-changing" and "an enormous breath of fresh air"... Join us as we will examine some of the most inspiring examples of human ingenuity and sustainable solutions ever documented. It will be held one weekend a month for six months, second weekends of Oct 2005 through March 2006. There are still spaces available. Reserve your space now!
www.earthflow.com

Larry Larry Santoyo
Earthflow Design Works
805.459.0452

Update on the South Central Farm

I'm writing this message on behalf of the South Central Farmers today to thank those of you who have showed support and interest in our struggle. Currently things have been quiet at the farm as we wait for our appeal to be prcessed in the Supreme Court, but we still have the threat and fear of physical eviction. At the moment we are looking to build a "phone tree" for that in the event of an action against us, we can call in friends to support us. However, you should know that there is possibly a risk of being arrested. I know for some of you it is not a risk you'd like to take but you can still support us by showing up at the farm as witnesses. The importance is having people there to have an imposing presence on the authorites and developer. You can also help by contacting the media and swarming them with urgent messages of our situation. If you are interested in supporting us or would like visit the farm, contact me so we can make arrangements or visit the farm Sunday for our open to the public farmers market (41st ST. and Alameda, Los Angeles). If you have any questions or would like to give us an endorsement through your organization, please contact me.

Also, every Wednsday night we have our support coalition meeting at 7:00 pm at the farm to discuss our struggle to save the farm, community, culture and the supplemental food supply for hundreds of families.

Thank you, Fernando

www.southcentralfarmers.com www.saveourgarden.com

What is an Ecological Footprint?

Have you ever stopped to consider the total environmental impact involved in you daily activities? The ecological footprint is one technique to answer the question of how our lifestyle effects the planet.

The ecological footprint (EF) was developed at the University of British Columbia department of Community and Regional Planning by Dr. William Rees and Dr. MathisWackernagel. It estimates how much of Earth's productive land and sea is used to produce the food, materials and energy that we consume and to assimilate our wastes. The EF looks behind the scenes to really see what it takes to make an alarm clock, a cup of coffee, our clothes, our home and to operate our automobile.

Read More at www.lapostcarbon.org/footprint.htm

Upcoming USA Peak Oil Events

Second U.S. Conference on Peak Oil and Community Solutions
September 23 – 25, Yellow Springs, Ohio
Website: www.communitysolution.org

Congressman Roscoe G. Bartlett’s Maryland 6th District 2005 Energy Conference
September 26, Frederick, Maryland
Website: http://www.bartlett.house.gov/Events.asp

Sustainable Living Fair with keynote by Pat Murphy of “The Community Solution”
October 1, Columbia, Missouri
Website: http://peaceworks.missouri.org/

Peak Hour Conference on Community Development and Alternative Energy
October 1, Muskegon, Michigan
Contact: vbown@aol.com

Global Oil Depletion and Implications for the Pacific Northwest
October 4 – 5, Spokane, Washington
Website: www.capps.wsu.edu/globaloil

Petrocollapse Conference
October 5, New York City
Website: http://www.petrocollapse.org/

ASPO – USA Denver World Oil Conference Beyond Oil: Intelligent Response to Peak Oil Impacts
November 10 – 11, Denver, Colorado
Website: http://www.aspo-usa.com/fall2005/index.cfm

THE ESSENCE OF PERMACULTURE

By David Holmgren

[Permaculture] is 'Consciously designed landscapes which mimic the patterns and relationships found in nature, while yielding an abundance of food, fibre and energy for provision of local needs. People, their buildings and the ways in which they organise themselves are central to permaculture. Thus the permaculture vision of permanent or sustainable agriculture has evolved to one of permanent or sustainable culture.

The design system
For many people, myself included, the above conception of permaculture is so global in its scope that its usefulness is reduced. More precisely, I see permaculture as the use of systems thinking and design principles that provide the organising framework for implementing the above vision. It draws together the diverse ideas, skills and ways of living which need to be rediscovered and developed in order to empower us to provide for our needs, while increasing the natural capital for future generations.

Food Safety, Costs and Oil Dependency Lead Pasadena Residents to Grow Food

Suburbanites getting back to farming roots
By Daisy Nguyen, Associated Press writer

Pasadena residents Jules Dervaes, Tony Kleintz, and Dermott O'Connor and others are interviewed about growing their own food.

Inevitable: New Orleans as victim of oil
by Jan Lundberg

There is more than a double whammy at play in the U.S. Gulf as to the energy supply picture. Besides the devastation of the general infrastructure, Katrina has inflicted two shortage situations as never before experienced simultaneously: oil (and refined products), and natural gas.
www.culturechange.org

More articles on Katrina at www.postcarbon.org

Council supports Sustainable Willits: Unanimous vote for economic localization
By Claudia Reed/Willits News Staff Writer

[The relocalization effort in Willits seems to be making great headway, this is a group we should watch - Eric Einem]

A statement calling for sustainable local production of necessary goods and services including food was unanimously endorsed by the city council Wednesday night.
http://www.willitsnews.com

The 'Green Car' Myth
by Richard Register

Consider the energy required to move a 130-pound human body by foot as compared to moving that same body the same distance seated behind the wheel of a 4,000-pound SUV. The average human can hit about 5 miles-per-hour in a brisk walk while the typical car averages 40 mph (city and freeway). While it is true that you can move eight times faster inside a two-ton vehicle, accomplishing this feat requires burning around 1,900 times as much energy (and that’s not factoring in friction, which increases with speed). This should tell you something about the fundamental insanity of depending on gas-fueled cars in an oil-starved future.
http://www.energybulletin.net/8248.html

Jamey Hecht reports on ASPO in Lisbon Portugal

After three days of mathematically powerful modeling, surveys of the discrepancies between industry and government statistics, histories of the political distortions affecting reserve reporting, and regional studies of basins and traps, nobody could blithely walk out the conference doors with much hope for world economic growth.
http://www.fromthewilderness.com

Announcing ASPO-USA

A Non-profit, Non-partisan Research and Public Education Initiative to Address America's Peak Oil Energy Challenge
www.aspo-usa.com

LA Post Carbon at the 2004 Doo Dah Parade
by Eric Einem

LA Post Carbon Entered the Doo Dah Parade with an entry called Got Oil? The actors included the out-of-gassers pushing their car carrying empty gas cans, the Earth being followed by a doctor(s) with a thermometer and stretcher, a Soldier fighting for oil, Uncle Sam who is "Addicted to Oil", a TV set looking for a place to plug in and a "Wake up!! We are here, Peak Oil" sign.