Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Plan C: cooperate, conserve, curtail....

Plan C: Individual and Community Survival Strategies for the Energy Crisis
The Fifth Annual US Conference on Peak Oil and Community Solutions October 31 - November 2, 2008 Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan www.plancconference.org

At this groundbreaking conference participants will explore strategies for reducing energy use in the areas of housing, food and transportation, including both theory and practice. We will examine the long energy decline of the 21st century, the psychological barriers to rapid change, and the challenge of persuading our communities to embrace local, low-energy living.
Attendance at this conference may be of critical importance at this time when the ongoing energy crisis is being compounded by the very real threat of credit and financial collapse.

Our survival is now, more than ever, in question.
And it is more urgent than ever that we gather in Michigan to evaluate survival strategies and disseminate skills for growing food, creating local food security in their communities, retrofitting homes to reduce reliance on fossil fuels, and educating their communities to prepare for the difficult times we are facing.

Skyrocketing oil prices, mounting geopolitical tensions, grave economic realities, and dangerous climate changes are threatening our lives and communities like never before. The age of cheap, abundant fossil fuels is coming to an end, and urgent action is required to transform our overly consumptive society into one that uses far less energy.

By acting now, you can significantly cut your personal household energy use and overall consumption, support more localized economic production, and reduce your dependence on high energy transportation in your daily life. By doing this, you will be helping to create a more resilient and sustainable community adapted to the coming economic and ecological storms.

The conference will also feature in-depth workshops and panels, Connection Café discussion tables with area experts, an eco tour slide show, screenings of award winning films, entertainment, tours of local green buildings, a Green Living Expo, and healthy shared meals.

Schedule of Presentations and Workshops:

* Keynoter John Michael Greer, author of the forthcoming The Long Descent: A User’s Guide to the End of the Industrial Age

* Keynoter Dmitry Orlov, author of Reinventing Collapse: Soviet Example and American Prospects
* Richard Heinberg, Senior Fellow, Post Carbon Institute, author of The Party’s Over and Powerdown (via webcast)
* Katrin Klingenberg, director of the Passive House Institute US
* Peter Bane, editor of Permaculture Activist
* Christopher Bedford, President of the Center for Economic Security and the Sweetwater Local Foods Market

* John Richter, co-founder of the Institute for Sustainable Energy Education

* Pat Murphy, author of Plan C: Community Survival Strategies for Peak Oil and Climate Change

* Megan Quinn Bachman, Outreach Director of Community Solutions; co-producer of The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil

For more information and to register, go to www.plancconference.org, contact Jill Hollowell at Upland Hills Ecological Awareness Center at
248-693-1021, or email info@plancconference.org. Note: Members of an organization or activist network are encouraged to attend as a group and receive substantial discounts for 3+ and 5+ member groups.

2 comments:

  1. As a "Survivalist" and an energy aware Hemp advocate and an Author of a book called "What Money Can't Buy", I feel I am qualified to have an educated opinion on this subject. As Bad as things are looking out there( and they are very bad)I still hold out hope that we can find a plan "A" before we have to go to plan "B" and "C". Part of the problem is we only have individual plans that do not always mesh and governments that are actively not helping the situation worse than not helping , they are hindering. Ok, no more blame. It looks like it is up to us to find a plan that almost everyone can do WITHOUT government help,that is also under the radar. The first thing that comes to mind is to grow as much of your own food as you can. Share any skills you may have about living in a powered-down world to as many people as you can and ride out the storm as long as you can. Governments come and go. Small groups inside larger communities will be the key to surviving this crisis and the others that follow. Good luck, you are going to need it.
    Michael J. Kaer

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  2. Thanks, Michael, for your comments. Your recommendations are right on target IMHO.

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