Politics is in the air this fall, as a critical presidential election in the U.S. coincides with swiftly growing public concern about climate and energy issues. Multitudes of recent local elections, in small towns like Tracy, California and world capitals like London, highlight these issues in microcosm. Those candidates who have not stated positions on energy and climate change may be more likely to find themselves asked to clarify - or even fill out a questionnaire, as some New Zealand Council and community board members found. It is ever more important for public officials and staff to be well-informed about energy and climate uncertainty.

1. Governments and candidates need to embrace peak oil
2. One Rhode Island town's peak oil task force
3. Energy uncertainty in Vermont's gubernatorial race
4. Recent News
5. Upcoming Events
6. Oil Depletion Analysis Centre releases report for local governments

1. Governments and candidates need to embrace peak oil

In the last few years, climate change has emerged as a serious issue among politicians at all levels in the United States. State and local leaders across the country have addressed it for years through climate action plans and GHG benchmarking, and, more recently, carbon markets and even land use policy. At the national level, climate change now has a prominence unthinkable even four years ago, with both presidential candidates talking about the need to reduce carbon emissions (albeit not necessarily in the smartest ways).

Peak oil is a different story, however... Read the rest of this article on the Post Carbon Cities blog.

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2. One Rhode Island town's peak oil task force

"A great deal of education had to take place before the Town Council agreed to form the Peak Oil Task Force. More education had to take place as people were invited to serve on the Task Force. And so on..."

The Westerly, R.I. Peak Oil Task Force formed in May and released its report in August — an impressive feat for a group of volunteers, demonstrating the dedication they have to their town's well-being. When they presented their report to the town council, the task force was asked to continue working on the issues, helping the council implement some of their wide-ranging recommendations. In this interview with Post Carbon Cities' Laurel Hoyt, Patricia Hval—one of the co-chairs of the task force— shares some thoughts about their experience and the way the task force is continuing its service to the community. Read the interview with Patricia Hval.

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3. Energy uncertainty in Vermont's gubernatorial race

As autumn creeps in, Vermonters are ever more concerned about staying warm this winter. This is evidenced by projects like Montpelier's neighborly public safety initiative and the rising popularity of wood heat. Some towns are revisiting community forest stewardship, a trend almost certainly linked to interests in sustainability and energy.

Back in July, Governor James Douglas created a cabinet-level food and fuel task force to deal with what his Lieutenant Governor termed "an energy emergency" -- a laudable step. But now we learn that both of his opponents in the current gubernatorial race "don't believe Douglas has done enough to prepare the state for a period of energy uncertainty." It's an issue that seems to be resonating with voters this fall.

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4. Recent news

Each business day, Post Carbon Cities staff hunt through the wilds of the internet to find news relevant to local and state governments planning for energy and climate uncertainty. We share one story each day in our news section (), and many more in our del.icio.us feed (). If you run across articles that we should share, please email us at info@postcarboncities.net - or if you use del.icio.us, tag it with postcarboncities.

	A less car-dependent California Published 21 Sept by The Sacramento Bee Post Carbon Cities' Daniel Lerch on our enduring relationship with the personal automobile, and the potential for transitioning to a less car-dependent California.
	Think globally, power up locally Published 14 Sep by The San Francisco Chronicle The "locavore" movement is big, especially in California. With the bounty of food found locally in the Bay Area, living off the land - and sea - is not only possible, but also a delicious exercise. But there's another, less obvious, revolution brewing in the Bay Area: the "locavolt" movement.
	Alachua County plans favor bus rapid transit over more roads Published 28 Sep by The Gainesville Sun A new proposed traffic concurrency management plan in Alachua County, Fla. scraps extensive roadwork and instead creates a rapid transit system that would be subsidized in part by fees on new growth. Another part of the plan encourages denser, mixed-use development.
	Atlanta Suburbs of Doraville and Chamblee Adopt Mandatory LEED Ordinances Published 2 Oct by Building Codes Assistance Project Doraville and Chamblee, suburbs of Atlanta, Ga., are the first towns in their state to pass ordinances requiring LEED certification on new development.

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5. Upcoming Events

Rail~Volution: Building Livable Communities with Transit
Oct 26 - 29 | San Francisco, CA
Rail~Volution 2008, a national transit and livability conference, provides a perfect opportunity to apply new approaches and lessons learned in your own community. Rail~Volution offers something for everyone: planning professionals, community activists, government officials, civic leaders, private developers and business leaders.

Plan C: Individual and Community Survival Strategies for the Energy Crisis
Oct 31 - Nov 2 | Rochester, MI
The fifth annual conference on peak oil and community solutions, put on by the organization Community Solutions. Features a number of excellent speakers, including scholar Richard Heinberg and Pat Murphy, author of the book that gives the conference its name, Plan C - Community Solutions to Peak Oil and Climate Change.

Re-Imagining Cities: Urban Design After Oil
Nov 6 - 8 | Philadelphia, PA
This ground-breaking symposium has been organized to address the role of urban design in the face of one of the most profound and important challenges facing global society: the need to re-imagine and rethink how cities are designed and organized in a future without the plentiful and abundant oil upon which prosperous urban economies have been built.

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6. Oil Depletion Analysis Centre releases report for local governments

The U.K. based non-profit Oil Depletion Analysis Centre (ODAC) recently released a new booklet, Preparing for Peak Oil: Local Authorities and the Energy Crisis. The booklet report was created to serve a purpose parallel to the Post Carbon Cities guidebook, but for a U.K. audience. Preparing for Peak Oil is available for download on their website and does a good job of describing the U.K. situation with regard to declining energy supplies.

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Photo credits:
Show of hands for artists in the room by musicFIRSTcoalition
Westerly lighthouse by daawn