[Peakoil] Important Announcement

[Keith Thomas]

I have thought about this long and hard. I'd love to help and my 
instinct is to join in. It'll be a challenge, but fun working with you. 
But I have allowed my rational mind to talk me out of it. I am already 
spread quite thin now. As you know, I think climate change is the 
bigger one and that's where I'll be focusing my public energies.
Another reason for declining is that I have switched over the past 
couple of years to a down-shifted lifestyle (cutting my income by 75%) 
and making myself about as peak oil-ready as I can get in Canberra. 
This means I spend (a) between 5 and 20 hours a week in my garden, (b) 
another ten hours in the kitchen and (c) another eight hours a week 
cycling - doing what wage-earners spend just a few hours doing (i) in 
the supermarket, (ii) in front of the microwave and (iii) behind the 
wheel of a car. There's not a lot of leeway there!

A few further thoughts. These are pretty extreme, so read no further if 
you don't want to read about a possibly unpleasant future.

Traditional social structures (committees, constitution, minutes) are 
in danger of bogging you down and hampering you. You'll have a meeting 
and believe you have done something (that's a sure sign the rot has set 
in :-).  I am doing my stuff (observing my garden as I water it by 
hand, learning what to take notice of among my chooks, maintaining my 
physical fitness and friendships and sharpening all sorts of useful 
skills that don't require fuel or electricity).

The old system is pretty much on its last legs (at peak the partying is 
the hardest it will ever be) and none of us know what it will look like 
ten years from now. I expect that I'll be able to ride it out better 
than 90% of the population. I could survive for years with no income at 
all (that wouldn't be in Canberra!), not because I have stockpiled 
stuff - just knowledge, attitudes, skills, good health and friends. I 
can travel light. Each person who knows about peak oil (and climate 
change and other perils) may be better off preparing quietly, and not 
talking to anyone else about the problem, as the more people who are 
prepared, the worse off they'll all be - millions of people will die 
worldwide, so you might as well make it easy on yourself.

There are good reasons for incorporating ACT Peak Oil. But all these 
are predicated upon 'business as usual'. One thing we know is that 
there won't be business as usual for more than about four years. If you 
slot in with the reality-denying mainstream then you'll get results 
that match.

However, if there was a peak oil / climate change action committee (the 
emphasis on action) with a community mandate to provide solutions 
(think up, build and run - without the debilitating requirement for 
consultation) for communities to weather PO and climate change, that 
would be better. Remember the magnificent, rule-breaking mobilization 
to deal with Cyclone Tracey?

At Nature and Society Forum we are working on a "Social Change 
Project". This looks at a whole raft of issues (climate change, 
pollution, ozone depletion, biodiversity, water, salinity, energy 
depletion, urban design, transport, nutrient cycles, human population, 
soil health, GM, human health and others) under a single scientific 
paradigm with a view to proposing social change sufficient to reduce 
the worst of the effects that are amenable to reduction. Perhaps it's 
quixotic, perhaps it's futile, but it's a genuine attempt to do 
something practical - even if it is politically incorrect. We need more 
volunteers to help with that, so it you are interested .....

Best wishes

Keith

On 15/02/2006, at 6:46 PM, Leigh Kite wrote:

> All,
>  
> The time has finally come for ACT Peak Oil to become more than a bunch 
> of people sending email around, or attending the occasional stall.
>  
> As Alex announced recently, he's being paid for the Senate submission 
> by the cycle dudes, and we want a bank account for this.
>  
> To open a bank account with signatories in the name of an 
> organisation, we need a constitution describing how we operate, and 
> letterhead/logo for identification purposes, as well as minutes 
> detailing the decision.
>  
> We need to form an exec committee, and we need cash to open the 
> account with.  Buy in will probably be around $50, so along with Alex, 
> Sarah and I we're looking for two to three members to join us, who can 
> commit a few hours a week this coming year for active political 
> engagement and community awareness raising.
>  
> If anyone wants in, please contact me ASAP
>
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