This excerpt of Daniel Lerch's presentation at the Spirit of Red Hill Valley 2007 lecture in Hamilton, Ontario, categorizes some of the short and long term challenges that peak oil will present to local governments. A good introduction for colleagues who may have heard of peak oil but don't associate it with local issues.

This report, from the organization Architecture 2030, seeks a way to rapidly meet the goal of 350 ppm of atmospheric CO₂ and finds it in a coal moratorium and efficiency codes.

Post Carbon Institute's Julian Darley and Richard Heinberg present the facts and relevance of peak oil for local policymakers. What is peak oil? What's the evidence? Why don't we just drill for more? How does this relate to climate change? And what can policymakers do in the face of these daunting challenges? A good introductory video.

Developed as a toolkit, "Getting Density Right" was written for land use and design professionals, as well as government officials and community leaders. The book describes the successful methods used in jurisdictions across the country to enact policies, programs, and regulations that support compact development, including codes, zoning, development types, density and design strategies, financial incentives, and planning programs.

This free book from the Environmental Law Institute describes and categorizes three different types of policy strategies for encouraging green building in U.S. cities and counties.

This "Vision Plan for the City of Buenaventura" analyzes probable implications of Peak Oil on the City of San Buenaventura, California, and the surrounding region, and describes a vision for post-Peak Oil planning that responds to these implications by building upon positive trends that are already taking place. This vision is supported by planning and design guidelines, as well as a phased implementation plan. The regional vision emphasizes preservation of natural resources, concentration of the developed footprint, and intra-regional collaboration.

Resolution establishing an Energy Scarcity Resource Task Force to study and make recommendations regarding the consequences of potential changes to the supply of energy resources in Whatcom County and the City of Bellingham. The County Council passed Resolution 2008-042 unanimously on 20 May 2008; the city of Bellingham had passed a resolution to create this joint task force on the previous day.

A proposed resolution submitted on Feb 26, 2008, to the parliamentary group of Bündnis90/Die Grünen-GAL (the Green Party in Hamburg) after intensive discussions within the Peak Oil Group Hamburg, with the intention of submitting the resolution for approval to the state parliament of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (Bürgerschaft).

Three reports created by the National Association of Realtors and the National Association of Home Builders seek to better explain alternative mechanisms that governments can use to finance and manage infrastructure, and offer examples of how these alternatives have been applied successfully by state and local governments.

Created through a collaboration between the UK's Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment and the Town and County Planning Association, Climate change adaptation by design outlines how built environment professionals can adapt our towns and cities to the effects of climate change at the conurbation, neighbourhood and building scale.

The DSIRE website provides a fast and convenient method for accessing information about renewable energy and energy efficiency incentives and regulatory policies administered by federal and state agencies, utilities, and local organizations.

Written by the chair of the LEED-Neighborhood Development (LEED-ND) initiative, Sustainable Urbanism: Urban Design with Nature is both an urgent call to action and a comprehensive introduction to "sustainable urbanism"--the emerging and growing design reform movement that combines the creation and enhancement of walkable and diverse places with the need to build high-performance infrastructure and buildings.

Presentations and reports presented at the 2007 Challenge of Global Warming and Peak Oil for Local Government conference, sponsored by the Municipal Association of Victoria (Australia), illuminate many aspects of the issue for local governments.

Planning for likely high oil prices and reduced supply of oil is essential to avoid the worst consequences and ensure public services can be provided in a timely and economic manner. Maribyrnong Council's Peak Oil Policy and Action Plan describes how they will continue to deliver community programs and services in spite of global oil price increases.

Video (1 Nov 2007) presentation of John Kaufmann, former lead staffer for the groundbreaking Portland (Ore.) Peak Oil Task Force, to the Connecticut Legislative Peak Oil and Natural Gas Caucus. Kaufmann is a Senior Policy Analyst at the Oregon Department of Energy.

In early 2008, the NACo Green Government Initiative launched this searchable database of county green programs, policies, plans, staff descriptions and more. Meant to be a comprehensive resource on all things green for counties, NACo continually seeks submissions in any of the below green categories from counties throughout the country.

This report, prepared for the Portland Peak Oil Task Force in 2006, is a good introduction to the issue report, and also takes into consideration many aspects of the city's vitality and resiliency. The categories of potential areas of impact were influential in shaping the task force's inquiries and eventual recommendations.

Rob Hopkins is the founder of the Transition movement in the UK, "transition" being the term for a process of creating more resilient and self-reliant communities. The handbook is a good guide and motivator to making changes at the local level and includes a compelling argument that peak oil and climate change must be addressed together.

The Brisbane (Australia) City Council's Climate Change and Energy Taskforce report, released on 12 March 2007, included 31 recommendations across eight strategy areas having to do with how this large, coastal, sub-tropical city can face the challenges of climate change and peak oil.

This study by Warren Karlenzig, author of How Green Is Your City?: The SustainLane City Rankings, ranks the largest 50 US cities by their readiness for $4+ a gallon gas and $100+ barrel oil prices. It considers a variety of factors, including city resident public transit use, city carpooling rates, metro public transit ridership, metro area sprawl, telecommuting, biking and walking-to-work rates, and use of heating oil.