NOW IS THE TIME! Blog #20
Navigating the Climate Emergency with Hopeful Alarm!
Release August 21, 2023
“We must, be a beacon of hope, because if you tell people there is nothing they can do, they will do worse than nothing” The Year of The Flood, Margaret Atwood.
This summer’s record forest fires, catastrophic floods and heat waves around the globe in the northern hemisphere have brought forward a new level of alarm that changes everything! We can expect a similar pattern of record breaking climate events in the southern hemisphere later this year!
All hope is not gone….however, we must proceed with Hopeful Alarm….we now have no excuse to not be in a hurry to get on with adapting to the climate realities that lie ahead and build Community Resilience everywhere on the planet one community at a time!
Let me first relate the Environmentalist approach to the Climate Emergency versus the Transition Towns model for Community Resilience as presented in Peterborough, Ontario Canada by Transition Town Peterborough Inc., Canada’s First Transition Town.
The Environmentalist approach from the beginning adopted sustainability as its operating system with the singular measure of success being GHG reduction.
Unfortunately for everyone on the planet, sustainability as an operating system has been white washed, green washed, and purposefully manipulated in so many ways by Big Banks, Global Corporations, Federal/State/Municipal Governments and even the United Nations, lulling the general public into thinking that when it comes to the environment, we can do lots of good things including keeping on growing the economy and pretty much have our cake and eat it too!
Meanwhile, GHG emissions continued to rise with the only interruption in that trajectory linked to economic decline resulting from recessions. The linkage between economic growth and increased energy consumption has been known since the start of the First Industrial Revolution and nearly all of that economic growth is the result of the utilization of fossil fuels… ie ancient sunlight! This simple linkage continues to be ignored at the peril of everyone on the planet! The truth is that continued economic growth requires more and more energy mostly from fossil fuels.
And as a note worthy of our attention…. the next great technological breakthrough after Artificial Intelligence, namely Quantum Computing, will be very exciting but equally unsustainable because of the increased amount of energy that it requires. You simply don’t get all that computerized brain power without using more energy! Both computers that think like humans and humans require energy to exist. Will there be enough usable energy in our future for both? That’s the ultimate question that needs to be faced now.
The Transition Towns model has been focused for 15 years on building Community Resilience one community at a time with permaculture its specified operating system and its sole metric of success being Energy Descent or more specifically reduced per capita energy consumption. Fortunately, unlike sustainability as an operating system, permaculture has evolved into a teachable body of knowledge and practices, and near science with universities all over the world offering degrees in Permaculture to the PhD level.
Transition Town Peterborough Inc. has offered permaculture training to the certificate level in the past and has existed for its 15 year history in Peterborough with a Board of Directors including at least one certified permaculturist helping to align all projects with permaculture principles.
It is the permaculture operating system that led to Blog #19 Re Engineering the Peterborough CMA Community for Greater Resilience …Kick Start Proposal Electrifying Ptbo Transit.
I was pleased to meet with the Peterborough City Mayor and one City Councilor leading the Climate Emergency Committee with respect to my NOW IS THE TIME! Blog #19 (I’m not sure if that is the correct name for the Committee and I was unable to find it on the City’s web site). I am attaching the July 24th Discussion Outline that I prepared and left with both of them. It was a cordial meeting. We didn’t get to all of the points but I think that the direction of engaging Citizens up front in the strategic planning process and working on projects that increase community resilience by reducing per capita energy consumption as the way to proceed was successfully accomplished. I am however uncertain of my success in conveying the totality of Hopeful Alarm….unfortunately I didn’t get the sense that there was anywhere near enough Alarm … let alone constructive action going on!
In support of the need for Creative Financing and Marketing I did suggest towards the end of our conversation that we should not discount the idea of the Heritage Loop to put Peterborough on the map as a family vacation destination that can help market and finance a more resilient community future.
The Heritage Loop, starting at a renovated Memorial Centre/local food hub, would build on the iconic Lift Lock, the Peterborough Museum & Archives, the new Canoe Museum, Ecology Park, Beavermead Park as well as historic East City and a vibrant Downtown with multiple cultural restaurants serving local food and multiple entertainment venues including a new Sports and Entertainment Centre with to and from transportation attendance not requiring new parking space for thousands of automobiles but rather by energy-saving electrified light-rail cars.
The Peterborough Heritage Loop as the future face of the Peterborough CMA Community could very well be the best way to bring the community together with Hopeful Alarm!
Blog #19 is posted in full on my web site.
Fred Irwin
Author NOW IS THE TIME!
www.fredirwinauthor.com.
Retired Founding Director
Transition Town Peterborough Inc.
Attachment : NOW IS THE ! Blog #19
Discussion Outline July 24, 2023
General Description: a Discussion Outline for an integrated Marketing/Phased Program Planning/ Engineering/ Financing Kick Start Proposal to build Community Resilience through the electrification of public transportation for the next 100 years as GHG continue to rise and we move more deeply into the Climate Emergency.
Public Engagement: Concept Phase Task Force focusing on Hope for the Future through electrification of public transportation utilizing light rail and smaller battery powered buses ultimately supplied by locally produced renewable energy.
15 Person Task Force Team model including 3 in leadership positions 1 secretary Non Voting, 8 Public, 7 CMA Councilors & staff/9 month duration/ include County members of the CMA.
Shift public dialog from GHG reduction: to reducing per capita energy usage and providing most of that from local renewable sources building Community Resilience. The war against GHG emissions has already been lost. Federal and UN GHG Reduction Targets do not include the effect of forest fires or the global build up of the Military/Industrial Complex. The raging forest fires this year are all the Canadian public needs to know that Climate Change is Real and we are in grave trouble! The general public needs a local pathway to greater Hope in the future of their own community.
Municipal Leadership: is required to shift the narrative of Local CMA Councils from the celebration of a low annual increase in taxes to Creative Financing in a future of Hope to build a better more prosperous community.
The Peterborough Community is highly under invested in itself. Other than owning your own home or your own business, the average Peterborough CMA citizen is invested in the National/International Financial System rather than the Peterborough Area. Indeed most of the local mortgages are held by non-Peterborough Institutions as are the Retirement Funds from most of the local high income earners.
Phased Program Planning: Concept/Feasibility/Design/Implementation.
City Council sign off at each phase with a market driven public engaging PR release. Keep the public informed throughout the marketing process.
Intensification to increase the tax base to support the project:
Likely will only happen with a fixed light rail system that allows developers to assemble properties and build out combination residential/commercial buildings as well as stand alone apartment buildings and individual homes.
Creative Financing and Marketing: The current tax base is insufficient to support this project. We need the funds from the sale of PDI in play, Transit Bonds, a local Bond Trading system. Also need the electronic Kawartha Loon local currency to link public transit with local food and culture venues for much greater economic localization. Also need new private partners in local energy production and should not miss the opportunity to market the Heritage Loop idea not only to become the face of Peterborough to increase tourism, but also to sell the project for Federal/Provincial Funding support.
Fred Irwin
Founding Director Transition Town Peterborough Inc.
Author NOW IS THE TIME !
www.fredirwinauthor.com