Chicagoland Sustainability Calendar

Our next event, called Suburbia's Uncertain Future
will take place Saturday, October 23, 3-5pm.

View and discuss The End of Suburbia: Oil Depletion and the Collapse of The American Dream, a recently released 78 minute documentary on the expected peaking of world oil production in the next five years and it's potentially devastating effects on most of our lifestyles.
At North Park Village Nature Center, 5801 N. Pulaski, Chicago. Turn left at the first T intersection. Free. 773-907-1465. raelearth@yahoo.com

DETAILS: This is the first showing of the video in our region. Other viewings have provoked considerable discussion in other parts of the country.

THE PROBLEMS AND SOME SOLUTIONS:

According to David Goodstein, author of "Out of Gas: The End of the Age of Oil", the world will start to run out of cheap, conventionally produced oil much sooner than most people expect, possibly within this decade. ...It may be possible, with considerable difficulty to substitute other fossil fuels for the missing oil, but if we do that, we may do irreparable damage to Earth’s climate. And even then we would start to run out of all fossil fuels, including coal, probably within this century. Can civilization survive if that happens? We will consider the possibilities.

This is the view of many geologists as well as a growing number of analysts from other fields. See Dry Dipstick, a peak oil metadirectory, for breaking news and commentary as well as other resources.

On the other hand, Rocky Mountain Institute's recently released report "Winning the Oil Endgame", envisions our country free of fossil oil by 2050. RMI's plan proposes that at an average cost of $12 per barrel (in 2000 dollars), the US can save half its oil usage by increasing efficiency, and substitute biofuels and saved natural gas for the rest - without changed taxation or other federal regulations.

RMI claims all this can be achieved solely by businesses seeking profit, in association with the Pentagon accelerating the process in order to fight better and save money.

However, James Lovelock, co-formulator of the Gaia Hypothesis, believes massive expansion of nuclear power is the only way to mitigate the effects of global warming in time to avoid catastrophe.

On the other hand, David Room, of the Post Carbon Institute, envisions that"Most future initiatives to stave off an energy meltdown will be led from the local level -- where most energy consumption actually occurs. Every city and community will have different portfolios of solutions tailored to their circumstances and culture."

Along those lines, the first U.S. Conference on Peak Oil and Community Solutions is scheduled for November 12-14, in Yellow Springs, Ohio.