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.

Centre for Cities director Dermot Finch argues: If the [UK] government focused its energies on creating denser, more carbon-friendly eco-quarters in existing cities, the economic benefits over the long term would outweigh the initial costs. It's the magic formula of higher density, good public transport links, and easy access to jobs that profits both city residents and the wider economy.

If Kilkenny is to free itself from oil dependency, it will have to come up with local solutions rather than relying on the Irish government or the EU. And the best results will come if the initiative is taken by residents and businesses rather than just the local authorities.

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.

The world will have to suffer a deep economic downturn before serious attempts are made to kick the oil habit, according to Robin West, chairman of PFC Energy, the Washington-based oil consultancy. Summary of a recent interview with award-winning investigative journalist David Strahan.

Florida's suburban housing boom was fueled by low gas prices, and now those developments are hard-hit. While it's a little late for elected officials to put the brakes on far-flung projects that resemble ghost towns, local governments must start insisting on more sensible, less energy-consumptive models. These include mixed-use enclaves that combine work and home inside urban service boundaries, along with well-situated local transit grids that wean residents off single-occupant cars.

The costs of taking action on climate change may be a sticking point for some people. But doing nothing is a much riskier economic proposition; it could lead to economically-damaging outcomes including higher utility costs, greater risk of natural disasters, damaged infrastructure, and lower agricultural yields. "The truth is that spending money now to mitigate and adapt to climate change is an investment. Spending money later to cope with public health emergencies, drought, crop damage and natural disasters is a waste."

Oregon's renewable energy mandates and tax credits are stimulating lots of activity in related industries, with even greater growth expected in the next year. "We’re already seeing a huge increase in investments in renewable energy," said state Rep. Jackie Dingfelder (D-Portland), who worked to pass the state renewable energy standard. "Between renewable energy and the biofuels bill, we’re seeing lots of new jobs."

This touchstone book by James Howard Kunstler (author of The Geography of Nowhere)offers a vivid and uncomfortable vision of a post-oil future. As a result of artificially cheap fossil-fuel energy we have developed global models of industry, commerce, food production, and finance that are now threatened with collapse. Building on his previous work analyzing American suburban (i.e., energy-intensive) lifestyles, Kunstler sketches potential outcomes that may result from our current dysfunctional economic and cultural patterns.

The upcoming months will shape the future of the North American Carbon Emission market and legislation. Issues such as policy, market place and technology will be formulated and created. CFA is the first US industry event which combines a Trade Fair with a Conference. Organized by the International Emissions Trading Association (IETA) and Koelnmesse.