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.

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.

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.

The Oregon Legislature has approved a bill that funds the further development of the public schools' Farm to School and School Garden programs. Getting local produce into schools has benefits on many levels, not least in that it encourages development of the local food system.

Health care is Pittsburgh's economic anchor. Unfortunately, it is also heavily dependent on cheap petroleum, both as a material for crucial supplies and in the form of cheap energy. Medicine must overcome its conservatism, bureaucracy and ethos of uniqueness to recognize and then respond to the challenge of peak oil; there is much that can be done to become more efficient.

The city of Fort Collins, CO wants to become more energy independent and be involved in the production of "zero-carbon" energy. But they find themselves weighing energy options that may conflict with their convictions and intentions.

Petroleum scarcity will affect the health system in at least 4 ways: through effects on medical supplies and equipment, transportation, energy generation, and food production. This JAMA article examines potential impacts and some steps toward creating contingency plans.

Our health care system is incredibly dependent on petrochemicals. Despite this enormous vulnerability, public discussions of health care routinely ignore the prospect of peak oil. Health care consultant Dan Bednarz explores how the looming threat of peak oil combined with ever-rising health care costs might overwhelm our medical system -- and how we can avoid collapse by creating a health-care system that consumes fewer (and different) resources.

Mayor Enrique Peñalosa's unorthodox initiatives transformed the megacity of Bogota, Colombia from a sprawling, polluted, violent mess a into successfully model for mobility, social equity and --perhaps most surprisingly-- citizen happiness. This lengthy article describes what Peñalosa did, how he did it, and what lessons might be learned by North American cities.

Presentation transcript of Mary McKee, Director of Public Health Practice at the Marion County Health Department (Indianapolis, Indiana) at the American Public Health Association's 2006 conference. McKee proposes a four-phased process for developing a local public health oil depletion plan.