[Plantagenet]

Hoooray for Lawrence, KS.

At least they are thinking about the problem.

"~every journey begins with the first step~."

[tribalzendancer]

Mos6507 - There are many side benefits to engaging our local city leaders about peak oil.

In the process of getting this resolution passed, we gave two presentations to city officials - one to the Sustainability Advisory Board, which advises the City Commission, and one to the City Commission itself.

Some of the SAB knew about peak oil, but not all, and only one of the City Commissioners out of 5 knew about peak oil before we engaged them. One of them said they knew zero about the issue, but after we gave our presentation, he looked through all of our supporting documents and has since become a strong advocate of the cause.

Now that they are aware, all of the decisions they make from now on will be made with consideration given to peak oil realities.

It makes an important difference. Just spreading awareness can make a big difference if you are raising the awareness of the right people. ie - city, business, and community leaders within your city.

After doing many film screenings to raise awareness of the 'general public', I have concluded that targeting specific leaders in city, business, and community spheres contribute greatly to actually seeing some changes start to happen.

Whenever someone says that a particular effort to do something is a waste of time, I have to ask what they are doing that is better. Mos?

[mos6507]

Whenever someone says that a particular effort to do something is a waste of time, I have to ask what they are doing that is better. Mos?

You're right. I shouldn't say it's a waste of time. I'd like to know what kinds of things they feel can be done at the governmental level. Relaxing regulations to allow everyone to turn their homes into earthships would be a good first step. But really, if the public doesn't get on board, it won't matter, or could even backfire and have them run the guy out of town on a rail. So ultimately peak oil is about individual word of mouth, each and every one of us having the guts to bring this topic up in conversation to spread the meme. Unfortunately I am NOT doing that to any degree. I am very guarded about what I say on the topic so as not to alienate myself. I haven't even been able to convert my own family, which is probably the source of a lot of my cynicism.

[ReverseEngineer]

You're right. I shouldn't say it's a waste of time. I'd like to know what kinds of things they feel can be done at the governmental level. Relaxing regulations to allow everyone to turn their homes into earthships would be a good first step. But really, if the public doesn't get on board, it won't matter, or could even backfire and have them run the guy out of town on a rail. So ultimately peak oil is about individual word of mouth, each and every one of us having the guts to bring this topic up in conversation to spread the meme. Unfortunately I am NOT doing that to any degree. I am very guarded about what I say on the topic so as not to alienate myself. I haven't even been able to convert my own family, which is probably the source of a lot of my cynicism.

Bravo for the City of Lawrence, Kansas. Perhaps this community can survive. They are already working together, they already see the problem. It is only unfortunate that Lawrence KS is in the Great Plains of the US and quite vulnerable to being subjugated by a mechanized army.

I hope other towns see this problem soon as well, towns in valleys protected by Mountains. Really BIG Mountains. The Great Wall that God Built.

Reverse Engineer

[Ludi]

Anyway, the whole point of the Task Force is to determine actions the city can take. Drawing from the best-practices and research that has already been done, they'll recommend actions that are unique to Lawrence's specific vulnerabilities and opportunities.

That ought to take a couple weeks, thanks to the Internets.

[mos6507]

It is only unfortunate that Lawrence KS is in the Great Plains of the US and quite vulnerable to being subjugated by a mechanized army.

And which mechanized army do you see likely to roll into town, and why?

[mos6507]

That ought to take a couple weeks, thanks to the Internets.

Finding out what to do is the easy part. What's time consuming is coming up with a way to present the plan to the public without being given the Jimmy Carter treatment.

[MidwesternMom]

That's good to hear, I just hope other towns/cities start acting also. I really like lawrence, btw, I'm about 30 miles from there, it has a really great atmosphere.