Legislative Forum on Peak Oil and Its Consequences
Representative Ellen Story of Amherst is hosting an informational session on Peak Oil and its consequences in Conference Room A-1, at the State House in Boston, on Monday, February 28, 10:30am to noon.
(PRWEB) February 25, 2005 -- Representative Ellen Story of Amherst is hosting
an informational session on Peak Oil and its consequences in Conference Room
A-1, at the State House in Boston, on Monday, February 28, 10:30am to noon.
The purpose of the session is to inform Massachusetts' legislators,
staff, and the public about the implications of the imminent decline in global
petroleum production. The session is titled “Cheap Oil; Gone
Forever”.
The presentation is being given by Alex von Braun of the Karl
Davies Energy Resources Task Force, a group based in the Pioneer Valley that has
been researching and educating the public about Peak Oil since 2003. He is a
member of the Massachusetts Energy Efficiency Partnership and a Master’s
candidate at the University of Massachusetts/Amherst in Mechanical Engineering,
specializing in energy efficiency.
By 2010, many energy resource experts
predict that global oil production will peak and start to decline. As production
begins to decrease, oil prices will soar with dramatic repercussions on local,
national, and global economies.
The issue of Peak Oil has been gaining
national attention. The magazine The Economist proclaimed the End of the Oil Age
in a recent issue. National Geographic had a cover story in June 2004 entitled
“The End of Cheap Oil” and a recent issue of the New Yorker explored the
connections between resource depletion and war – past, present and future. Other
extensive reports have appeared in The New York Times and the Wall Street
Journal.
Energy expert Steven Strong of Solar Design Associates in
Harvard, MA notes "No region of the United States is more dependent on petroleum
than the Northeast. On top of the direct uses for transportation, agriculture
and industry, our region has the highest consumption of oil per capita for
heating and electrical generation of any in the country. It is fair to say that
our regional economy is currently tied in ‘lock-step’ to the availability of oil
and oil-derived energy."
"Every informed analysis of the future of
petroleum leads to the same conclusion", said David Ahlfeld, Professor of Civil
and Environmental Engineering at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst.
"The United States should be dramatically reducing its reliance on
energy-intensive housing, transportation and food supplies and moving rapidly
towards transition to new energy sources."
This event is open to the
public.
Date: February 28, 2005
Location: State House room
A-1
Time: 10:30 AM
Karl Davies Energy Task Force
In late 2003, the
Karl Davies Energy Resources Task Force, originally based in Mt Toby Friends
Meeting, formed to study the issue of Peak Oil. The late Karl Davies was
convener and major inspiration as we wrestled to understand unfamiliar facts and
concepts. Since that time, people from all over western Massachusetts have
joined, bringing a range of perspectives and backgrounds and greatly deepening
our understanding of the issue and helpful responses.
We have sponsored
showings of ‘End of Suburbia’ in several locations, addressed city and town
government, met with state and federal legislators, and endeavored to bring this
urgent topic to the attention of the general public. Several of us have prepared
presentations on the topic and we are actively looking for venues to share this
important news and our thoughts about addressing it.
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Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/2/prweb212133.htm