Post Carbon Cities :: Newsletter #1, July 2007

IN THIS ISSUE:

1. PREVIEW: The Post Carbon Cities Guidebook for local governments
2. PARTICIPATE: Post a comment, suggest a resource, share your story
3. UPDATE: Austin and Oakland move ahead on Peak Oil
4. Top recent NEWS on postcarboncities.net
5. Top recent RESOURCES on postcarboncities.net
6. What's new at Post Carbon Institute?

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1. PREVIEW: The Post Carbon Cities Guidebook for local governments

Our long-awaited guidebook for local governments, Post Carbon Cities: Planning for Energy and Climate Uncertainty, describes the challenges that peak oil and climate change pose to local governments of all sizes, and outlines what local leaders can do in response. Our online store opens in a few weeks for pre-order; in the meantime, visit www.postcarboncities.net/guidebook to read or download the Executive Summary.

As energy and climate change become increasingly important issues for businesses and citizens, Post Carbon Cities comes not a moment too soon for local leaders who want to know more about these long-term challenges. Renowned urbanist James Howard Kunstler (author of The Long Emergency and The Geography of Nowhere) has this to say about the Guidebook:

"Post Carbon Cities is an exceptionally clear and comprehensive
call-to-action to those who actually work in the trenches of city governance. We don't have any more time to waste getting ready for an energy-scarcer future, and for those who remain dazed and confused, this book is an excellent place to start."

Visit www.postcarboncities.net/guidebook for more information.

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2. PARTICIPATE: Post a comment, suggest a resource, share your story

The Post Carbon Cities website at www.postcarboncities.net is a forum for you and your peers in local government, whether you're an elected official in a small town or a staff planner in a big city. We rely on our users to send us the useful resources and relevant news items to share with the Post Carbon Cities community.

You can help us out even more by contributing your own thoughts and experiences, whether by commenting on our postings or by telling us about how you're addressing energy and climate change in your own jurisdiction. Share your story on our website, or contact Daniel Lerch, Post Carbon Cities Program Manager

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3. UPDATE: Austin and Oakland move ahead on Peak Oil

On June 7th, the Austin, Texas, City Council unanimously passed a resolution acknowledging the threat of peak oil and establishing a Task Force on energy depletion -- the second-largest city (behind San Francisco) to take official action on peak oil. This follows nearly a year of work by a Austin Crude Awakening, a local citizen group, to draft the resolution and bring it to the Council.

The City of Oakland's ad hoc "Oil Independent Oakland By 2020" Task Force, established by resolution last October, began meeting monthly in April of this year. Composed of local, regional, and national experts, the Task Force is developing an independence plan, consolidating measures from around the world that can be used locally to reduce oil consumption citywide. The action plan will recommend bold initiatives to not only reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, but to also to secure Oakland's energy needs and establish Oakland as a national leader in the green economy.

The Oakland Task Force is scheduled to complete its final plan by the end of the year. In the meantime, agendas, meeting minutes and resources are available at www.oaklandnet.com/oil.

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4. Top NEWS on postcarboncities.net

Every business day we dig through over thirty top news feeds for the latest on how energy and climate concerns are affecting cities, and what city leaders are doing in response. Search for recent articles by subject and region, or jump to our Editor's Choice section for the most significant and interesting stories of the past few months.

Here are a few of the more popular news items of the last month:

* Solar panels, recycled water: a glimpse inside Britain's carbon-neutral housing development
Published by 24 March 2007 by The Independent (UK)
The 100-unit "BedZED" zero-energy housing development in Surrey could be a model for the future of environmentally sound living encouraged in forthcoming federal tax breaks in the UK.

* Swedish municipalities going fossil fuel free
Published 17 June 2007 by The Age (Australia)
The Swedish city of Vaxjo is chasing a future free of fossil fuels, and it's almost halfway there without having sacrificed lifestyle, comfort or economic growth. Vaxjo's model of investing in bioenergy, combined heating and power (CHP) systems and district heating has been repeated all over Sweden.

* How to Keep 18 Million People Moving

Published 1 June 2007 by IEEE Spectrum (international)
As cities grow and fuel becomes more expensive, modern bus systems are getting a surge of attention from officials, planners and engineers. In this article, IEEE Spectrum --the magazine of the world's largest professional technology association-- looks at the operations and technology behind the world's most technologically complex bus system, in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

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5. Top RESOURCES on postcarboncities.net

The Post Carbon Cities website catalogs resources for addressing energy and climate uncertainty at the local government level. Here are a few of the more popular resources we've recently added:

* Online: Data: Local government responses to peak oil
This regularly-updated table lists all known local government actions in the U.S. and Canada made specifically in response to peak oil, whether internal (e.g., staff report, internal vulnerability assessment) or external (e.g., official resolution, community task force).

* Book: How Green is Your City? (The SustainLane US City Rankings)
This excellent resource by SustainLane Government is the first systemic report card ranking the sustainability of the 50 largest US cities. It provides analysis of each major city's management policies, strengths and challenges, as well as a survey of where clean technologies might break new ground to expand job-markets and tax-bases across the country.

* Report/Paper: Implementing the Most Effective Transportation Demand Management (TDM) Strategies to Quickly Reduce Oil Consumption
This report from leading engineering firm Parsons Brinkerhoff aims to help local and regional government agencies prepare for fuel supply disruptions by reviewing lessons learned from previous fuel supply disruptions and recommending the transportation demand management strategies that offer the most potential to quickly reduce fuel and oil consumption.

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6. What's new at Post Carbon Institute?

Visit www.postcarbon.org to find out more about our other programs. Here are some highlights from the last month:

* We've just launched our 2007 Summer Fund Drive, and an anonymous patron has generously offered to match each donation received through July 19th! Please help us continue filling the gap of knowledge, resources and support for local responses to peak oil and climate change, and donate today. We thank you for your support.

* Global Public Media is now on YouTube. Catch teasers and "shorts" of our interviews with leaders in energy, economics and relocalization at www.youtube.com/globalpublicmedia.

* Our Relocalization Network now includes 158 grassroots groups working for local economic, environmental and social sustainability. Many of these groups have been instrumental in passing local legislation addressing peak oil and climate change; find out more at www.relocalize.net.

* Our Local Energy Farms program continues to put theory into practice, testing ways of producing fuel and electricity at the most local levels. Read our new farm blog at www.energyfarms.net or watch a whirlwind tour of a prototype energy farm at this Global Public Media link.