The
campaign that we launched last year to pass a Peak Oil Resolution has succeeded.
Joining forces with members of the Sustainability Action Network earlier this year, we were able to host presentations on peak oil to the City's Sustainability Advisory Board and the City Commission itself. With the helpful initiative of the Mayor, Michael Dever, the resolution was put on the agenda promptly the first Tuesday of September. All of the commissioners were in full support of the effort, and around 8:30 that night, the resolution to establish a Mayor's Task Force on Peak Oil passed unanimously, 5-0.
Passing
this resolution puts the City of Lawrence at the forefront of the growing movement to address peak oil at a local, city-wide level, joining just a handful of other cities who have passed similar resolutions, among them San Francisco, CA and Portland, OR. We would like to give our thanks to several people for helping to see this come to fruition. Most notably, SAN members Michael Almon, Steve Moring, and Tim Hjersted, without whose dedicated work over the course of the last year this all wouldn't have happened. Also, Daniel Pool, Bayliss Harsh, and Hudson Luce, as well as everyone who gave public comment at the last two city commission meetings.
Thanks, and cheers!
Now that the resolution has been passed, in the next month the Task Force will be established, and the group will spend the next year studying the myriad ways Lawrence will be effected by the long-term depletion of fossil fuels. Working closely with the community, they will propose actions and
specific recommendations that the city can take to make Lawrence a more
sustainable city, socially, ecologically, and economically.
This is one of the most important things to remember. While peak oil represents a great challenge, it also presents a great opportunity - a chance to rethink and reinvent the American way of life. The future need not be dreaded. Understanding
Peak Oil gives us insight into what a sustainable future would look like. When you add up all of the solutions that are already being implemented in cities around the world, it is easy to imagine a society that can not only survive in a post-carbon world, but thrive in it. This is the promise. We're just going to have to work for it.
For more information: Read the text of the resolution (PDF) Read the Portland Peak Oil Task Force's Final Report, with actions and recommendations starting on page 33 (PDF)