OREGON TRANSITION INITIATIVES

STATE OF OREGON

Mr. Ed. Tabor
Oregon Department of Energy

Dear Ed,

Buried somewhere in the Oregon energy plan is some mention of networking (not sure, but it should have been mentioned). Villages, towns, cities and counties in the UK and Ireland have networked on the issue of transition from abundant, cheap oil, to scarce, expensivie oil. A transition primer is found at: http://transitionnetwork.org/Primer/TransitionInitiativesPrimer.pdf.

The State of Oregon should get off it's duff, join this network and officially kick into high gear the creation of a similar network in the Pacific NW, if not the nation. Who says Oregon could/should/would not become the nation's leader in effectively addessing and ACCOMPLISHING the transition, rather than just spend words on a report, then file and forget it?

Best regards,

Jim Miller

In transition to justice, harmony, productivity, and right living:

“It's understandable, isn't it, that workers who come of age in an autocratic, authoritarian, paternalistic environment become reflections of it. It took some time for Camarão to adjust to the innovating, democratic, participative atmosphere at Semco.”

MAVERICK, The Success Story Behind the Worlds Most Unusual Workplace, Richardo Semler, Warner Books, 1993, p. 180; ISBN 0-446-51696-1

=============================\
Oregon Million Solar Roof Coalition Strategies http://209.85.173.104/search?q=cache:me5zppF7R6oJ:www.oregon.gov/ENERGY/RENEW/Solar/docs/ORMSR_Members-Strategies-05.pdf+%22ashland,+Oregon%22+transition+energy&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=3&gl=us
What is it? The Oregon Million Solar Roofs (MSR) Coalition is a broad group of affiliated solar organizations that are working to develop solar energy markets in Oregon. The coalition is based on the theme “Solar Works for Oregon.” Our implementation plan focuses on four key areas – technical issues, information, partners, and incentives. More than 2,500 solar installations have been documented in Oregon to date since the inception of the MSR coalition in 1998

ASHLAND, CITY OF

Discussion of the potential to maximize the City's energy independence by utilizing alternative energy sources. http://www.ashland.or.us/Page.asp?NavID=973




PORTLAND, CITY OF
Electric vehicles Zapping Gas Prices With A Three-Wheeled Electric Vehicle, A Zipcar And A Bike http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/07/zapping-gas-prices-with-a-zapcar-and-a-zipcar.php

My friend Carey is a single Portland, Oregon mom with a mortgage, a short commute to a full-time job and two school-age daughters. That translates to a fairly mainstream transportation need. She's also my choice for TreeHugger of the week because as of about two months ago she finally found a way to mothball her Honda and get off the gas roller coaster ride by buying a Zap three-wheeled electric vehicle. ======================================[
PORTLAND PEAK OIL – blog General discussion page: http://www.portlandpeakoil.org/discussion/
Jim Miller's blogpage: http://www.portlandpeakoil.org/discussion/blog/jimmiller5417

BACKGROUND RESOURCES
Net fractional production of useable plant materials:

Food to 2050

Posted by Stuart Staniford on March 10, 2008 - 8:40am
Topic: Environment/Sustainability http://www.theoildrum.com/node/3702#more
“Another way to try to get at the issue is to look at how current yields compare to the theoretical potential of photosynthesis. This is generally expressed as net primary productivity (NPP) - the amount of carbon that plants can fix, exclusive of that used to power their own respiration. The net primary productivity is the photosynthetic product that is available to be eaten by people and other animals, rot into the soil, etc. Here is a map of the fraction of net primary productivity appropriated by humans published by Haberl et al last year in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, which I take to be a decent representative of the state-of-the-art in this kind of calculation:“ Global distribution of fraction of potential net primary productivity appropriated by humans. Source: Haberl et al: Quantifying and mapping the human appropriation of net primary production in earth’s terrestrial ecosystems
PLAN C
Plan C: Community Survival Strategies for Peak Oil and Climate Change http://www.communitysolution.org/plancbook.html

This year's conference, a cooperative effort between Community Solutions and Upland Hills Ecological Awareness Center, is organized around the recently published book, Plan C: Community Survival Strategies for Peak Oil and Climate Change, by Pat Murphy, Executive Director of Community Solutions. The book, and this conference, "point to the life we must lead, if we are to survive on this planet." http://www.plancconference.org/