The North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority held a symposium to identify issues as it prepares to write its Regional Transportation Plan for the next 25 years. Among the main messages was that the old assumptions about what parts of the state will grow and where transportation dollars should be spent have been thrown out the window because of the volatile situation with oil prices and supplies.

Mick Winter of Drydipstick.com reviews Post Carbon Cities: Planning for Energy and Climate Uncertainty. "Post Carbon Cities focuses on the basics: what the energy problem is, why it is, and what can be done about it. It brings home the effects that oil and gas depletion—and climate change—are apt to have (and indeed already have) on local governments."

San Francisco is looking to become the United States' "Berlin of solar power" in terms of installed solar capacity - and is backing up that goal with a solar rebate program that's the nation's highest local solar subsidy.

This week, Architecture 2030 released an unprecedented guide for every city, county and state in the nation to swiftly meet their greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets through existing building codes, asserting that meeting reduction targets through existing codes is the critical ‘missing piece’ to getting major reductions underway immediately.

It may be June, but Vermont's Governor and legislature are planning for the potential emergency when high fuel prices and low temperatures coincide this coming winter. The Governor has created the Vermont Fuel and Food Partnership and established a Cabinet-level task force. The state legislature has called an emergency home heating meeting of the Joint Fiscal Committee, all in recognition that plans need to be made for the state's needs sooner rather than later.

Some Idaho Falls city officials are proposing construction of a fuel storage facility that in case of emergency could sustain services, like police and fire, for a month. They estimate that they would require 50,000 gallons of fuel.

Vancouver, B.C.'s EcoDensity policies have been the subject of much debate, but they've become a fixture of the city's political and planning landscape, even after the term of the mayor who promoted them.

Skyrocketing energy costs have fueled fresh interest in the four-day workweek across the United States as a means to help workers as well as employers cope with the surge. In Birmingham, Alabama, city officials decided to implement a four-day week starting July 1 for some 2,400 municipal employees and later in the year for around 1,000 police and firefighters.

Two years ago, when Portland created the Peak Oil Task Force, it sounded apocalyptic. Not anymore. Summer of 2008 may be remembered as the moment we awoke from our long national gas binge. Whether oil production has peaked or will do so in a few decades is almost academic. Every fill-up knocks home the realization that we can't afford to go on like this.

Cities everywhere are looking for ways to deal with high fuel costs. In Missoula, the city's vehicle maintenance superintendent is approaching the issue with ingenuity, efficiency, and strict rules enforcement.

The wide open spaces of Oklahoma's cities and towns mean that their residents are heavily reliant on cars to get around - part of the reason that Tulsa and Oklahoma rated last on Common Current's rating of US cities' readiness for high gas prices. Commuters find themselves carpooling and counting the gallons in ways they haven't since the 70s.

The cities of Richmond and La Quinta, California are seeing the construction of solar-powered affordable rental communities. One is certified LEED gold; both add significantly to the amount of solar power installed and affordable housing available in each city.

Creating what urban planners call '20-minute neighborhoods' was a recurring theme among residents and city officials during the launch of the Portland Plan. Participants focused on the idea of 20-minute neighborhoods, where residents can reach most of their day-to-day needs within a 20-minute walking distance.

New Zealand, which gets about 75% of its energy from hydroelectric sources, is facing the prospect of shortages due to two years of drought. The backup is fossil-fuel based. Seeking to avoid rolling power cuts, the electric industry and the government are promoting conservation measures.

Some are reducing paving; others reverting some roads to gravel. Cities pool purchasing power, raise bond money, try new techniques to stretch their road repair budgets as the price of asphalt, a petroleum product, rises.

Hilly terrain may deter some from cycling in Stuttgart, Germany. But that obstacle is surmountable: the city is piloting a program a plan that would put electric-assisted bikes in the hands of citizens, and appropriate infrastructure around the city.

"You measure what you care about," and according to a new law in New York, the Department of Transportation now cares a lot more about pedestrians and cyclists. Intro 199 creates a framework for DOT to set goals for traffic reduction and the growth of cycling and bus ridership.

It's impossible to understate how crucial cheap oil has become to our way of life. It's shaped how we get our food, what we buy, where we live, how we work, and the way we play. Cheap oil opened up the world to millions of travellers via discount airlines, allowed thousands to buy their first homes in sprawling suburbs, and enabled consumers to get their hands on ever cheaper goods, shipped just in time, from around the globe. Now economists say all of that is at risk.

Schools across the country are looking for ways to economize on their fuel bills. In Minnesota, one school district will be moving to a four-day school week. Mississippi's athletes will be traveling to fewer games. Every little bit counts as administrators seek to balance programs and the rising cost of busing.

During the gas crisis in 1979, there were riots at the pumps in places like suburban Levittown. While there haven't been riots due to prices in the U.S. yet, there have been protests both in the U.S. and abroad, and riots in some countries.