COUNCIL 10TH SEPTEMBER 2009
Motion on the Transition Movement to be proposed by Councillor Ian Gilchrist on behalf of the Liberal Democrat Group
This Council:
1. Acknowledges the work done by communities in the B&NES area to form Transition Town organisations and that the independence of the Transition movement is key to its grassroots appeal;
2. Endorses the Transition Town movement and subscribes to the principles and ethos of the movement's goals to create more sustainable and resilient communities and, in the light of Peak Oil, reduce dependence on carbon-based fuels;
3. Considers how it can provide practical support and assistance to communities in the B&NES area that wish to join this initiative to help them achieve the goals they set for themselves as local communities;
4. Therefore requests the Scrutiny Panels and Cabinet to consider through the Council's strategic planning ways in which the Council may assist in achieving the goals of the Transition Towns and the resource implications of doing so.
To be moved by Ian Gilchrist on behalf of the Liberal Democrat Group.
Notes on the Motion
Peak Oil
"Global oil production will almost certainly `peak' and go into sustained decline within the next few years. In addition to the challenge of climate change, we will soon have to contend with a rapidly growing deficit in fuel. This will cause big increases in energy prices - including natural gas and electricity - with potentially devastating economic and social impacts. This has severe implications for the provision of services by local government."
"Preparing for Peak Oil: Local Authorities and the Energy Crisis": Report for Oil Depletion analysis Centre (ODAC)
Transition Towns
A Transition Initiative is a community working together to look Peak Oil and Climate Change squarely in the eye and address this BIG question:
"For all those aspects of life that this community needs in order to sustain itself and thrive, how do we significantly increase resilience (to mitigate the effects of Peak Oil) and drastically reduce carbon emissions (to mitigate the effects of Climate Change)?"
After going through a comprehensive and creative process of:
- Awareness raising around peak oil, climate change and the need to undertake a community lead process to rebuild resilience and reduce carbon;
- Connecting with existing groups in the community;
- Building bridges to local government;
- Connecting with other transition initiatives;
- Forming groups to look at all the key areas of life (food, energy, transport, health, heart & soul, economics & livelihoods, etc);
- Kicking off projects aimed at building people's understanding of resilience and carbon issues and community engagement;
- Eventually launching a community defined, community implemented "Energy Descent Action Plan" over a 15 to 20 year timescale;
This results in a coordinated range of projects across all these areas of life that strives to rebuild the resilience we've lost as a result of cheap oil and reduce the community's carbon emissions drastically.
The community also recognises two crucial points:
- that we used immense amounts of creativity, ingenuity and adaptability on the way up the energy `upslope', and that there's no reason for us not to do the same on the `downslope';
- if we collectively plan and act early enough there's every likelihood that we can create a way of living that's significantly more connected, more vibrant and more in touch with our environment than the oil-addicted treadmill that we find ourselves on today.
"Climate change makes this carbon reduction transition essential; Peak Oil makes it inevitable; Transition initiatives make it feasible, viable and attractive."
Quotes from Transition Towns website http://www.transitiontowns.org/