Global Problems, Local Solutions     
 

International Conference
on Peak Oil and Climate Change:
Paths to Sustainability
   

PATHS TO SUSTAINABILITY

** Via pre-recorded video

Each "Path to Sustainability" provides four seminars for those interested in understanding sustainability within that system.

Within a path, participants learn the problems with the current system (Plan A), immediate strategies to improve the existing system (Plan B), alternate methods for providing these needs sustainably on an individual level (Plan D), and finally a vision for a sustainable system at a community level (Plan C).

Participants are invited to follow a particular path from start to conclusion, or sample seminars from various paths.  Participants are encouraged to explore paths with which they have limited knowledge, in order to expand their understanding of sustainability.

SEMINAR DESCRIPTIONS

PLAN A - UNSUSTAINABLE SYSTEMS

A0 - Peak Oil: Living the Transition - Steve Crower

Steve Crower has 10 years of energy industry and investment banking experience. He has a Civil Engineering degree from the University of Michigan and an MBA from Rice University. Mr. Crower will present his views on the world's aging oil-fields and the resulting petroleum supply issues. He will discuss why gas prices have increased, highlighting the portions of the energy industry that are most susceptible to supply and distribution shocks. He will provide implications of peak oil and discuss the timeframe for development of alternatives.

A1: Peak Oil and The End of Cheap Energy: Transportation - Tim Hudson

Tim Hudson is a co-founder of the Institute for Sustainable Energy Education (ISEE), a grass roots energy think-tank and outreach group that focuses on providing awareness and education as it relates to the science and economics of energy. Mr. Hudson will present a "State of the Peak" discussion of Peak Oil and deliver a "Dickens Walk Through Energy" with a focus on the unsustainable nature of our current cheap energy transportation culture.

A2 - The Coal Rush: Why Here, Why Now? - Tom Karas

Tom Karas has been swallowed up into the world of climate change for the past few years. Previously, a self employed residential builder, Karas, now employs a blue collar, get down to business, approach to educating, lobbying, and media work, to influence the path that Michigan is about to choose. The Michigan Coal Rush is no coincidence to our state at this particular time in history, Tom will give a high energy, information packed, presentation about the complete UNsustainability of coal as a future energy source.

A3 - Sustainable Urban Neighborhoods? - Tom Bulten

Tom Bulten has almost 20 years experience in community development and a master’s degree in geography and urban affairs from Michigan State University. He has lived and worked in Uganda, East Africa, and is currently the executive director of Oakdale Neighbors, a Christian community development organization, in Grand Rapids. Last year Tom and his family moved into Newberry Place--West Michigan’s first cohousing community. This presentation, Sustainable Urban Neighborhoods, will explore the challenges of urban sustainability. It will use Newberry Place and the Oakdale neighborhood to highlight possible steps toward sustainability in low-income, urban neighborhoods.

A4 - GMO’s & Monocropping: Industrial Ag. - Cynthia Price

Cynthia Price, an editor/reporter/photographer for two weekly newspapers, is chair and co-founder of the Greater Grand Rapids Food Systems Council and active in many West Michigan sustainability projects. She is also heavily involved with urban agriculture nationally, and co-chairs the Urban Agriculture Committee of the Community Food Security Coalition. Fascinated by Peak Oil since first encountering the concept in 2001, she began an ever-branching study into all aspects of petroleum dependence which undergirds her food systems work. Today's presentation covers food sovereignty as well as democracy in general; Cynthia opposes pushing genetically engineered seeds on the world. She went around the state with a group educating on GMOs during 2006.

A5 - CAFO's: Animal Agriculture - Anne Woiwode

Anne Woiwode (Why-wood-ee)has worked for the Sierra Club Michigan Chapter for 23 years on issues ranging from incinerators to forest biodiversity. For 9 years she has worked to bring awareness to the enormous health and resource damage caused by animal factories in Michigan. Her talk will focus on the pollution caused by these facilities and the barriers in Michigan that must be overcome to protect communities from these facilities. She has also been a Trustee in Meridian Township, Ingham County since 2000.

A6 - Unsustainable Growth, Credit & Fiat Currency - Albert Bates

Albert Bates is a permaculture and appropriate technology instructor at the Ecovillage Training Center, founder of the Ecovillage Network of the Americas and past president of the Global Ecovillage Network. He is author of eleven books, including/ Climate in Crisis (1990, foreword by Al Gore), and The Post-Petroleum Survival Guide and Cookbook: Recipes for Changing Times (2006, foreword by Richard Heinberg). Unsustainable Growth, Credit & Fiat Currency takes you from the Middle Ages to the present, through the sub-prime mortgage meltdown, the collapse of the dollar among international currencies, and the effect of peak oil on our money system.

A7 - Water Conflicts: The Future of Water Resources - Sara Gosman

Sara Gosman works on legal aspects of water resources management for the Great Lakes Natural Resource Center of the National Wildlife Federation. Ms. Gosman also teaches seminars on environmental justice and Supreme Court litigation at the University of Michigan Law School. From 2004 to 2007, she was an Assistant Attorney General in the Environment, Natural Resources, and Agriculture Division of the Michigan Department of Attorney General. The session will explore growing concerns about the quantity and quality of our water resources and the potential for conflicts at a local to global level.

A8 - The Story of Stuff with Annie Leonard - DVD & Discussion

What is the Story of Stuff? From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It'll teach you something, it'll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever. DVD & Discussion

A9 - Running on Empty: The Un-sustainability of Media - Jeff Smith

This session will look at the relationship between energy and media companies, how news media frames energy issues, and what we need to do to create sustainable media. Since 1998, Jeff Smith has been the director of GRIID, a area media watchdog. GRIID teaches media literacy and works with community groups to use media as an organizing tool.

PLAN B - IMMEDIATE STRATEGIES

B0 - Peak Oil & Supply Chain - Tim Radbourne

Cheap oil is the glue that binds the world’s economy. The cheap oil, is gone. What does the future hold? How we will get out of this mess? Tim Radbourne is a 20 year veteran of the transportation, logistics and supply chain field in the United States and Canada. Tim has worked with global shippers such as General Electric, Union Carbide, DOW, Wal-Mart, General Motors, BMW, Disney, Exxon, Petro Canada to name a few. Tim is an executive of the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals, the Global Institute of Logistics, the Maritime Logistics Council and has spoken at numerous conferences about corporate sustainability.

B1: Peak Oil and Transportation Strategies - John Richter

John Richter is a co-founder of the Institute for Sustainable Energy Education (ISEE) and former president of the Great Lakes Renewable Energy Association. He has presented to U.S. Congressional Staff on wind energy policy issues. Mr. Richter will present a compelling case for fundamental changes to our transportation infrastructure; hybrids and diesels aren't enough! Strategies to reduce the need for transportation and move away from liquid fuels will be revealed.

B2 - Smart Energy Solutions: Solutions to Climate Change - Jan O'Connell

Fighting Climate Change is a daunting task, but there are many steps we can all take to help curb it. The Sierra Club believes that we can save our planet while preserving our way of life; that instead of falling into despair, we should look to this challenge as an opportunity. Now is the time for a bold shift to a safer, cleaner energy future built on clean power and energy-saving technology through Energy Campaigns and legislation, Energy Efficiency, Renewable Energy, Clean Cars, Net Metering, etc.

B3 - Wind and Solar for the Home - Mark Bauer

Many don't know how easy it is to make power for our homes, at our home, even in MI! We will look at the natural resources available here in the mid-west and west Michigan in particular, explore different kinds of systems, look at examples working in MI, what do they typically cost and what energy can they make. A brief Q & A period with more photos at the end. Mark Bauer, owner and president of Bauer Power, is devoted and committed to the growth of Renewable Energy and sustainability in America and our world.

B4 - Proximity Matters: Why Eat Local? - Donna McClurkan

The “locavore” experience has led our family to discover many reasons – some unexpected - to eat closer to home. Participants in this interactive session will learn about these benefits and discuss potential synergies with other sustainability initiatives. Donna McClurkan is committed to obtain 80% of her family’s food in Michigan, within 100 miles of Kalamazoo. She is one of 15 people in the country blogging about her experiences on Locavore Nation, a year-long project of National Public Radio’s The Splendid Table.

B5 - Peak Agriculture: Why Oil is Just the Beginning - Mark Ludwig

Join farmer and conservation worker Mark Ludwig for a fast paced look at the radical shifts in agriculture around the globe. Why has fertilizer tripled in price in just 3 years? Is there enough irrigation water? Are CAFO’s viable at $6.00 diesel? Who can really feed the people and how? We’ll have some hard questions and possible answers for your consideration in a lively session.

B6 - Investing for an Uncertain Future - Jason Pliml

Jason Pliml has actively studied investing for 16 years. Jason has
significantly out-performed the S&P 500 during that time, however that success
has been particularly noteworthy over the past 18 months as his portfolio has
grown over 50%. His presentation, Investing for an Uncertain Future shares
insights for protecting financial assets and reallocating capital to create a
sustainable economy & world. Whether you're concerned about your financial
future or looking to use money to create change, you're sure to find this
session not only useful, but interesting and thought-provoking.

B7 - The Great Lakes Water Compact - Sara Gosman

Sara Gosman works on legal aspects of water resources management for the Great Lakes Natural Resource Center of the National Wildlife Federation. Ms. Gosman also teaches seminars on environmental justice and Supreme Court litigation at the University of Michigan Law School. From 2004 to 2007, she was an Assistant Attorney General in the Environment, Natural Resources, and Agriculture Division of the Michigan Department of Attorney General. The session will consider the efforts of the Great Lakes Region to sustainably manage water resources in the Great Lakes Basin through an interstate compact.

B8 - Buy Local First - Rob McCarty

Local First is learning more about how shopping local can impact your community. Robert McCarty is Jack of All for the Image Shoppe Ltd., a marketing services firm that he co-owns in Grand Rapids. While his title may seem to be a stab at wit, it truly is the best way to sum up what Rob does in his professional life. On top of running the sales, accounting, operations and account management for the firm, Rob is a key player on several initiatives in the West Michigan region; most notably: The Turner Gateway Project, Local First West Michigan, The Gateways Group, and Wealthy Street Business Association.

B9 - The Price is Right: Helping Accept Expensive Energy - Erik Silverberg

The price of energy will certainly go much higher. We must help people accept these changes, and avoid a public committed to fighting higher energy prices at all costs. Erik Silverberg worked for several years as a television reporter and anchor after receiving a bachelor’s in journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia. He studied for a master’s in education at the University of Missouri-St. Louis before switching to self-schooling focused on energy and related issues.
 

PLAN D - INDIVIDUAL INITIATIVE

D0 - Quick Fixes for Peak Oil - Randy White

Randy White is the founder of Bright Neighbor, LLC, a communications company that helps communities and local governments thrive via community organizing and Internet-based community building tools. Randy is a peak oil consultant to municipalities, as well as editor of LawnsToGardens.com, a popular blog dedicated to fostering communications regarding peak oil. He was a member of Portland's Peak Oil Task Force, assisting with authoring Portland's plans for mitigating the consequences of oil and natural gas depletion. Randy's presentation, "Quick Fixes For Peak Oil" focuses on easy-to-implement countermeasures to rising food and gas prices.

D1 - Living Better by Driving Less - Katie Alvord

Best known as the author of Divorce Your Car! Ending the Love Affair with the Automobile, Katie Alvord is an award-winning environmental writer whose work has covered energy issues, green living, climate change, and other topics . She will lead the breakout session "Living Better by Driving Less," which will discuss some of the ways individuals and households can cut back on driving to save money, slow climate change, and improve life overall.

D2 - Appropriate Technology for High Efficiency Living - John Barrie

John Barrie is a principal architect with John Barrie Associates Architects in Ann Arbor, MI. and also Executive Director of the Appropriate Technology Collaborative, a Nonprofit company whose purpose is "To design, develop, demonstrate and distribute appropriate technological solutions for meeting the basic human needs of low income people in the developing world"�. In addition to his design work, John Barrie has been an Adjunct Professor of Architecture at the University of Michigan and an Adjunct faculty member at Washtenaw Community College. John will be speaking on Appropriate Technology for High Efficiency Living.

D3 - Passive House: New or Retrofit - Christina Snyder

Christina Snyder is a registered architect, licensed builder, and adjunct professor. She was faculty advisor to Lawrence Tech.University's winning Zero Energy Home designs in 2002 & 2004, as well as to the LTU Solar Decathlon 2007 project. The 2007 was won by a Passive House from Germany. Christina is currently designing Manitou Arbor Ecovillage and studying to become one of the first trained Passive House Consultants in the United States, and teaching grad students at LTU about this voluntary energy standard which maximizes energy savings at minimal upfront capital costs. There are now over 10,000 Passive Houses built worldwide and growing exponentially.

D4 - Permaculture & the Victory Garden - Thaddeus Owen

Thaddeus Owen will cover Sustainable Food Systems by presenting the basics of Permaculture and then show thru pictures what people are doing in urban and rural communities to grow food using permaculture principles. The Audience will better understand what permaculture is, and how they can use permaculture design principles to grow food sustainably no matter where they live. Owen holds a Permaculture Design Certification. He is an engineer working in the field of sustainability and co-founder of Brown Rainbow Permaculture Farms which focuses on rebuilding the elephant savannas of North America by using a combination of trees, grasses and animals

D5 - Subsistence Fishing in the 21st Century - Dan O'Keefe

After working on research projects involving declining fish species and the recovery of river fisheries following Hurricane Katrina, Dr. Dan O’Keefe joined Michigan Sea Grant as an extension educator. In his current role, he provides science-based information to people who rely on the Great Lakes ecosystem. Today, Dan will illustrate how an understanding of local lakes, streams, and fish species can be used to provide a wild and healthy addition to your family’s diet.

D6 - Voluntary Simplicity: Life Beyond Money - speaker needed

How can individuals minimize or eliminate their use of money? What is voluntary simplicity? This seminar delves into these questions to help participants understand how to live more sustainably be reducing their contribution to the global economic engine. A speaker is needed, and if not found, this will be an open discussion session.

D7 - Low-Tech Water Capture and Storage - Bill Wilson

As the interest or necessity of growing more food locally increases, so will our awareness of the value of rain water. It is estimated that up to 80% of the rain that falls on any give suburban lot ends up in the road, alleys and our storm-water drainage systems. In this session we will look at simple and low-cost ways of holding rain water on our property to use throughout the season. Bill Wilson is a communitarian, permaculturist and educator. He is co-founder with his wife Rebecca of Midwest Permaculture; past executive director of Center for Sustainable Community (an educational, non-profit organization) and a 30 year resident of the sustainably oriented community of Stelle, Illinois.

D8 - Creative Community Survival Strategies - Megan Quinn Bachman

This interactive session explores how communities can dramatically reduce their energy vulnerability and create resilient, strong local economies. Share the best practices and most difficult challenges of your community, and brainstorm strategies with other peak oil activists. Megan Quinn Bachman is the Outreach Director of Community Solutions in Yellow Springs, Ohio, a non-profit focused on local and personal peak oil responses. She was a co-writer and co-producer of the film, “The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil” (2006).

D9 - Environmental Activism Online - David Alexander

David Alexander comes from a background of science and technology, particularly computer software development, and has run Opal Computing since 1986. Alexander started the PlanetThoughts.org Web site to increase awareness of and to increase action on critical environmental issues. He will speak about ways to build a community connected to your organization through online methods. Green organizations enjoy popular good will, and they can reach more people by exposing the services they offer and tapping into good will and latent interest using the Internet as a vehicle.

PLAN C - Community Solutions

C0 - Peak Oil - A Non-threatening Approach - Kevin Walsh

Peak oil is often is an unwelcome and unwanted message. Better results can be reached when the message is presented without attack or condemnation. More agents of social change and messengers of hope are needed to educate. Kevin Walsh is a librarian and founding director of Chicago Peak Oil. Walsh taught English and lived for 2 years in Siberia with his Russian wife Larisa. Kevin met Larisa at library school in Boston where, after graduation, he worked as a reference librarian at Tufts University and the Boston Public Library. Currently, Kevin is an ESL instructor at Truman College, one of the Chicago City Colleges.

C1 - Re-Thinking Transportation: Planning & the Smart Jitney - Pat Murphy

This session addresses radical news ways of transporting ourselves post-peak oil. From implementing emergency ridesharing measures like the Community Solution’s “Smart Jitney” plan, to re-structuring our communities, we’ll explore creative transport solutions. Pat Murphy is the Executive Director of Community Solutions in Yellow Springs, Ohio, co-writer and co-producer of the film, “The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil” (2006) and author of the forthcoming book “Plan C: Community Survival Strategies for Peak Oil and Climate Change.”

C2 - Micro-Grids and Distributed Renewable Energy - Tom Stanton

Tom Stanton is Michigan Renewable Energy Program Coordinator for the Michigan Public Service Commission. He has worked for ten years for the state energy office and the past 20 years for the PSC. Tom’s session is about community based energy development (CBED). The presentation centers around: (1) Why neighborhood scale micro-grid and distributed energy systems are best; (2) Barriers preventing them from entering the market; (3) Why these options present a path to Michigan economic development and barrier-breaking steps Michigan can take to become a world leader in the design, manufacturing, and implementation of these critically important energy options.

C3 - Ecovillages, Ecocities and Transition Towns - Albert Bates

Albert Bates is a permaculture and appropriate technology instructor at the Ecovillage Training Center, founder of the Ecovillage Network of the Americas and past president of the Global Ecovillage Network. He is author of eleven books, including Climate in Crisis (1990, foreword by Al Gore), and The Post-Petroleum Survival Guide and Cookbook: Recipes for Changing Times (2006, foreword by Richard Heinberg). Ecovillages on six continents have been exploring the post-petroleum world for the past 75 years. Lately the Transition Towns movement has become an incendiary meme in the United Kingdom and Ireland. What lessons have they learned? Albert Bates takes you on a short tour.

C4 - CSA's and Urban Gardening - Sharon Astyk **

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is a way to buy local, know your farmer, and become a driving force behind the local food revolution. Urban gardening includes how to grow food in settings with limited land area. Sharon Astyk is the author of the forthcoming books "Depletion and Abundance: Or Life on the New Home Front" and "A Nation of Farmers (and Cooks!)".  When not writing she and  her husband farm 27 acres in rural upstate NY, raise their sons and try to keep the sheep out of the garden.

C5 - The Local Organic Opportunity - Chris Bedford

What is the role of standards in the Local Food Revolution? How can local organic food production promote economic development? CHRIS BEDFORD will show his film "The Organic Opportunity" and talk about the future of our economy through the filter of organic food. He has created, organized, and directed some of the most innovative grassroots media campaigns of the last 25 years. He is the former National Campaign Coordinator for Sustainable Agriculture Programs of The Humane Society of the United States. Today he is President of the Sweetwater Local Foods Market and the Center for Economic Security. His presentation will offer concrete community solutions to some of the tough questions about our future.

C6 - Community Currency - Stephanie Mills

A community currency is a legal from of money, created by a city or state or municipality, to help increase local economic activity. Bioregionalist Stephanie Mills shares her experience working to start a community currency, "Bay Bucks", which are used in Traverse City, Michigan.

C7 - Low-Impact Development: Sustainable Site Plan Solutions - Kelly Rice

Developing a sustainable site plan can have many environmental, social, and financial benefits. Balancing a site plan’s needs with available low-impact and sustainable planning techniques is a win-win situation for any project. Learn the concepts behind Low-Impact Development (LID) and how they can be implemented. Kelly Rice, Professional Wetland Scientist (PWS), is currently a Senior Ecological Resource Specialist with JFNew in Grand Haven, Michigan. Ms. Rice is a wildlife and wetland biologist who has worked as an environmental consultant across the country for the past 18 years. She has assisted various government, corporate, public, and private clients with site plan development that emphasizes the integration of sustainable and low-impact methods.

C8 - Relocalization: Making Friends with the New Future - Michael Brownlee *

Our communities must quickly prepare for the impacts of converging global crises by learning to produce our most essential needs locally. This is the heart of the Relocalization movement. Michael Brownlee is co-founder of Boulder County Going Local (www.bouldergoinglocal.com), a non-profit social venture committed to increasing public awareness of the challenges and opportunities of The Long Emergency (converging global crises of peak oil, global warming, and economic chaos). A catalyst for relocalization (developing community self-reliance in food, energy, and economy), the organization is conducting a county-wide campaign to rebuild community and strengthen the local economy, beginning a ten-year transition to a carbon-constrained future.

C9 - Planning a Green Days Event for Fun and Non-Profit - Suzanne Merrill

Take a crash course in planning a Green event in your community. Enjoy the experiences of someone who actually crashed but didn't burn in learning the Good, the Bad and Ugly of enlightening the masses for a Green Event. Sue organized the first every Green Days event in Middleville, Michigan with no money, and (initially) with no help. Learn the in's and out's of how one person, on their own, starting from nothing, can motivate and organize people to Work, Learn, and Play together during a community Green Days celebration.
 

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