An Evolving Exploration into the Head, Heart and Hands of Energy Descent
Transition Culture has moved
I no longer blog on this site. You can now find me, my general blogs, and the work I am doing researching my forthcoming book on imagination, on my new blog.
A fabulous piece by Richard Heinberg. Great to read him being optimistic, well. in a Heinbergy kind of way. I also read this piece as an early, brief version of the history of the peak oil/relocalisation/Transition movement that someone will inevitably write one day…. One correction though, ‘Transition Handbook’ wasn’t my PhD, unfortunely I am still flogging away at that!!
In 2008 the U.S. economy tripped down a steep, rocky slope. Employment levels plummeted; so did purchases of autos and other consumer goods. Property values crashed; foreclosure and bankruptcy rates bled. For states, counties, cities, and towns; for manufacturers, retailers, and middle- and low-income families, the consequences were—and continue to be—catastrophic. Other nations were soon caught up in the undertow.
While Chris Martenson was in the UK recently, Peter Lipman and myself did an interview with him, which was fascinating and wonderful, but the memory chip it was on just got corrupted before I could download it and it is lost. Gah. As a meagre way of overcoming the profound sense of trauma I am left with (I will try and do it again via. skype sometime soon), here is a film of the talk he did later that day in the Grand Committee Room at the Houses of Parliament for the All Party Parliamentary Group on Peak Oil and Gas. For now, you’ll just have to imagine how brilliant our interview was.
We’ve got so many wonderfully diverse and inspiring activities to show you this month…ideas for getting people involved and having fun! And they’re here for the sharing…
In the UK, TT Luton is organising a series of Grow Your Own events to relocalise food production and consumption, with discussions and a quiz to encourage people to grow their own fruit and vegetables, while Southend-on-Sea in Transition organised a day’s introduction to Permaculture with more events lined up that you’re invited to get involved with. TT Leek is getting hold of allotments and orchards so they can plant more trees and increase production of native British apple varieties, while TT Nailsea is sharing its gardening skills with other local people to increase self-sufficiency in food production, strengthen local resilience and encourage people to think more about their carbon footprints.
There have been critiques of Transition in the past, such as the Trapese Collective’s one, or other more ranty online versions, usually from the very deep green Left, who argue that unless it can get rid of capitalism/economic growth [insert personal pet political issue here] first then it is unforgivably naive. It was interesting therefore, at EcoBuild 2010 at Earl’s Court on Tuesday, as part of a session called ‘Sustaining Transition Initiatives’, to hear a talk by Alastair Brown of mantownhuman give a talk attempting to put the intellectual boot into Transition. It was coherent, articulate, well illustrated … and utterly mistaken.
Sonya Wallace (L) and Janet Millington with the Sunshine Coast Energy Descent Action Plan.
Transition Sunshine Coast is very pleased to announce they have delivered their Energy Descent Action Plan (EDAP) to the Sunshine Coast Regional Council. The Sunshine Coast EDAP covers the entire region of the Sunshine Coast located in Queensland, Australia which has a population of 330,000+ and covers an area of more than 3100 square km.
How might our response to peak oil and climate change look more like a party than a protest march? This site explores the emerging transition model in its many manifestations
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