Land use resources

[This is for Josh Dolan's Post-Peak Land Use, Part One and Part Two.]

Patterns, Principles, and Organizations

Pattern Language

www.patternlanguage.com

City Repair Project

www.cityrepair.org/wiki.php

Green Development Playbook

www.greenplaybook.org

Portland Department of Sustainability

www.portlandonline.com/osd/

San Francisco Better Streets Guidelines

www.sfgov.org/site/uploadedfiles/planning/Citywide/Better_Streets/index.htm

Community Greens

www.communitygreens.org

Car-Free Cities

www.carfree.com

Ecocity Builders

www.ecocitybuilders.org

The Green Apple Map

www.greenapplemap.org

The Cascade Agenda

www.cascadeagenda.com/strategies

Ideas for Retrofitting Residential

www.bettertimesinfo.org/retrofit.htm

Architecture 2030

www.architecture2030.org

Green Cities Declaration of 2005

wed.2005.org

Lyon Protocol

www.carfree.com/lyon_protocol.htm

Ahwahnee Principles

www.lgc.org/ahwahnee/principles.html

Local Resources

Connect Ithaca

www.connectithaca.org

TCLocal

www.tclocal.org

Tompkins County Comprehensive Plan

www.owasco.co.tompkins.ny.us/planning/compplan/index.html

Chrysalis Concordium

www.chrysalisconcordium.org

Urban Permaculture

Tri-State Food Not Lawns

www.tristatefoodnotlawns.org

Eat the Suburbs

www.eatthesuburbs.org

Path to Freedom

www.pathtofreedom.com

TCLocal:
Planning for Energy Descent

Some time in the next 30 years, life will start to become very different from what it is now. By mid-century we will use much less energy; we will live every aspect of our life much closer to home; and we will be much poorer in material terms, because energy and wealth are basically the same thing in an industrial society.

Energy descent β€” a radical reduction in our use of energy β€” is certain, but it’s not clear yet which of several factors will cause it to begin. Perhaps we will decide to do the right thing about climate change and reduce our CO2 emissions 80 or 90 percent, which would require changes almost that large in our actual consumption of energy. And there are other ways we might experience a radical reduction in our use of energy; for example, economic collapse, or an expanded war in the middle east. But the factor that makes energy descent a sure thing and sets the theme for this century is "peak oil" β€” the leveling off of global oil production and then its eventual and inexorable decline.

The timing of the peak is debatable, with forecasts ranging from 2005 (that is, already here) to 2030. But most credible estimates agree with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which concluded in a recent study that "world oil production is at or near its peak," and with the director of research at OPEC, who said recently that "we are at, or near, the production peak of world oil, if not on the downward slope."

After the peak, the growing gap between falling world oil production and ever-increasing global demand will send prices skyward, with economic results that can only be imagined but will certainly include greatly restricted mobility due to the high cost of fuel and much higher prices for most goods, including food. The result will be less disposable income, a life lived closer to home, and a greater reliance on the goods and services that can be provided locally. Since the supply of oil and other fossil fuels is finite, this outcome is guaranteed. The only question is, Shall we plan for what we can see coming, or just let it happen to us?

A group of area citizens, TCLocal, has begun planning now. TCLocal contributors are committed to researching various aspects of energy descent in Tompkins County and writing up a preliminary plan for each aspect based on purely local challenges and resources. This is one such plan.

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