How do we as New Yorkers respond to economic crisis, peak oil, and climate change? These have been the central questions of this Meetup since its formation back in 2004. 



T he group held monthly meetings at a now-closed restaurant in Chelsea.  Some of its members organized an epic but poorly attended NYC peak oil conference back in 2006.  After experimenting with format changes, aiming to shift the focus of the Meetup from talk to action, Bill Burke and I decided to end monthly meetings back in February 2009 . 



Since then, we've used the Meetup list mostly for sending out notices of events.   During that time, I have been pursuing several activist projects, looking for ways that New Yorkers can usefully come together.  In 2010 I connected with several groups using the City's white roof painting project as a way of organizing, and we painted the roofs of four buildings, collaborating with www.350.org .  I went to the  ASPO conference, where presenters agreed that world oil production has been on a bumpy plateau, and is due to go into permanent decline before 2015.  There are many initiatives to make NYC more sustainable, as it is often and narrowly described.  Where are the initiatives that address energy and financial constraints, and strive for greater resilience as well?   Perhaps some of you on this list are already part of that discussion. 



Time to expand the sustainability discussion in NYC - to encompass fuel depletion and resilience



Most discussion of making NYC more sustainable focuses on climate change, either lessening our contributions to it, or adapting to its future effects. Government ability to respond to climate change, while urgently needed, was limited before the 2010 midterm elections, and is even more constrained now. Green initiatives and programs to reduce energy use are more likely to engage public and political support when framed as ways to lower costs now, reduce the economic impacts when energy costs increase in the near future, and create local green jobs.



Let’s expand the discussion to making our communities more resilient to disruptions, and preparations for the era of greater volatility in oil price and supply that’s around the corner.   According to a British business task force , the US military , and many other expert observers, serious volatility in oil price and supply is expected before 2015.  With neither NYC government officials nor media addressing the issue, the opportunity to prepare beforehand - making NYC both more sustainable and more resilient - may be lost.  How can we enlist a critical mass of NYC civic and government leaders in this expanded discussion, and promote ways to respond that are both practically effective and politically viable?



"...In many of his communiqués, Subcomandante Marcos uses stories of the old gods, those who were there before the world was the world, to show how the struggle to reinvent society is linked to the moment of creation. One lesson these stories return to time and again is that those who created the world did so by “walking while asking questions...”

http://www.energybulletin.net/stories/2010-08-04/what-zapatistas-can-teach-us-about-climate-crisis



Please join me in an ongoing exploration of this question.  At www.beyondoilnyc.blogspot.com, we'll link NYC current events, sustainability initiatives, peak oil news, the Transition movement, and your input.