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.

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.

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.

Huntington Beach Mayor Debbie Cook writes about her city's dependency on cheap oil and the services that will suddenly become much more expensive as gas prices rise. There are countless services that local government provides to residents: streets, curbs, gutters, tree trimming, sewers, street sweeping, water, parks, community centers, emergency services, senior services including meals on wheels. All of these are energy intensive and mean local government is extremely vulnerable to supply disruptions and high costs.

With gasoline climbing toward $4 a gallon, police officers around the country are losing the right to take their patrol cars home and are being forced to double up in cruisers and walk the beat more. Some police think it helps them do their job better.

Despite the building boom in the United Arab Emirates, cement companies there are facing lean times and closing their factories, leaving builders to source their projects on the black market. While the price of cement has been capped, the price of inputs - notably natural gas - have not. The higher prices of imported or black market concrete force building costs ever-higher.

Higher gas prices push up transportation costs, which means higher costs for most goods. In the Richmond, Virginia area, the results are being felt everywhere, from the pizza joints to the school buses.

With high energy prices, distance really makes a difference. Remote Gordo, California is seeing what may be the highest gas prices in the country; but it's not just gas that's expensive. Their distance from larger cities makes everything cost more - a difference that will just be amplified as energy prices soar.

A new report 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. This unique study 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.