PHCRI March 09 Newsletter

Newsletter #2 – March 2009


Is your family prepared for Peak Oil, and the dramatic impact it will have on the way we live?


Are you ready to reconnect to your community as we cross the threshold into a lower energy future?

We know how dramatic this sounds, and wouldn’t blame you if you thought it sounded a little far-fetched (especially with the low oil and gas prices we are currently seeing).

But here’s the thing – global oil depletion is already being talked about in the halls of government and in oil industry boardrooms. The concept of oil depletion is called Peak Oil.

Peak Oil is the historical point at which the annual volume of oil production is the highest it has ever been or ever will be again. Once we pass the peak, global oil production will begin to decline, following a downward trend until finally, decades later, the oil that remains in the ground is unrecoverable at any price because it takes more energy to extract the oil than one gets from using it.

The issue is not one of "running out" so much as it is not having enough to keep our economy running. This will – not may, but will – affect just about everyone globally, as food production, transportation, heating and manufacturing all are dangerously dependent on cheap and available oil.

Within a decade (plus or minus a few years) we’ll hit the point of Peak Oil, the consequence of which will be an unremitting contraction of economies, leading to a lower standard of living for people, families and communities, and lost revenues for business and government.

If you’ve read this far, you might be thinking that this is either a serious problem that hasn’t been given the attention it deserves, or that this flyer is filled with improbable, alarmist hype that couldn’t possibly come to pass. After all “they” wouldn’t let something like that ever happen. If the latter, please consider the following comments on Peak Oil from industry insiders and government officials, otherwise known as “they”;

“Over the next few decades, our reserves of oil will start to run out and it is imperative that governments in both producing and consuming nations prepare now for that time.”
Fatih Birol – International Energy Agency (March, 2008)

“We’ve embarked on the beginning of the last days of the age of oil.”
Mike Bolwin, Chairman of BP subsidiary ARCO

“Shell estimates that after 2015 supplies of easy-to-access oil and gas will no longer keep up with demand.”
Jeroem van de Veer – CEO, Royal Dutch Shell (Jan., 2008)

"It's obviously unsustainable and the world is increasingly drawing on the bigger, older fields. You couple that notion with the irreversibility of decline and you've got a very alarming picture."
James W. Buckee, retired President and CEO of Talisman Energy (January 2008)

“The peaking of world oil production presents the U.S. and the world with an unprecedented risk management problem. As peaking is approached, liquid fuel prices and price volatility will increase dramatically, and, without timely mitigation, the economic, social, and political costs will be unprecedented.”
Robert L. Hirsch - Energy Advisor, in testimony to Congress (2005)

“Fuel is our economic lifeblood. The price of oil can be the difference between recession and recovery. The western world is import dependent.”
Tony Blair, former British Prime Minister (April 2002)

"It's not about believing. It's about facts."
Gord Miller, Ontario’s Environment Commissioner (2007)

“We are not good at recognizing distant threats, even if their probability is 100%. Society ignoring Peak Oil is like the people of Pompeii ignoring the rumblings under Mt. Vesuvius.”

James Schlesinger, former US Energy Secretary (Sep., 2007

Poplar Hill/Coldstream Resilience Initiative (PHCRI) is a group of area citizens with a plan and a mission. Around the world, a growing number of communities, both large and small, have been embarking on responses to this looming crisis. PHCRI is an organization encompassing the power of community in Poplar Hill/Coldstream, dedicated to an awareness of Peak Oil, and the promotion of a back to basics approach to bring resilience to the community through innovation and imagination.

Resilience: (noun) an ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change; the ability to absorb shocks

The paths to building resilience are many, and have several personal, community, business and government approaches. All are important, but the heart and soul of the process is the power of community.

We urge you to learn more about Peak Oil and how it will affect you, specifically your job, your family, and our community. If you are interested in helping to prepare for the changes ahead, or if you are looking for more information, email us at phcri08@gmail.com.

In the meantime, please type ‘peak oil’ into the search engine of your choice, and begin reading. Alternatively, please check out the web sites provided below.

Credible online resources include;

ASPO (Association for the Study of Peak Oil and Gas) http://www.aspousa.org/index.php/peak-oil/

ODAC (Oil Depletion Analysis Centre) http://www.odac-info.org/peak-oil-primer

Peak Oil article in Toronto Star http://www.thestar.com/article/587901

Other Peak Oil news http://www.energybulletin.net/