The Small Town Project

4/12/06 - Note: Since writing the following essay, I’ve read additional credible sources which dismiss “peak oil” as a flawed notion. Some experts believe we will not encounter serious problems with regard to oil supplies before the end of this century or even later. Ironically, that may make oil even more of a problem. As Jeffery Sachs’s pointed out in a recent address to the fourth biennial State of the Planet conference at Columbia University, continued ready availability of oil only gives us more opportunity to damage the earth’s ecological systems through fossil fuel consumption. As Sachs put it, “We’re going to be using lots of fossil fuels and putting an enormous amount of carbon in the atmosphere with all of the consequences of anthropogenic climate change, so we have to find a way to de-carbonize our energy.”

That said, I believe this two part essay still gives an adequately balanced overview of the peak oil discusssion. If I feel otherwise in the future I’ll post revisions or a new essay.

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Image source: dieoff.org/reprinted from Scientific American, March 1998, by Colin J. Campbell and Jean H. Laherrère

“Peak oil” is fast becoming one of the most talked about topics on the Net. Given that oil is a finite resource, the idea is that the amount of oil we can extract worldwide will peak at some point, after which we will see a decline in oil production. This is not just a guess. In 1956 a geophysicist for Shell oil named M. King Hubbert created a model, ran some calculations, and predicted peak oil for U.S production would occur between 1965 and 1970. What happened? It peaked in 1970.
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Ivan has won a seat on the Mt. Vernon City Council, bringing the city one step closer to more sensible, reasoned decision making.

The other seat was won by incumbent Jim Moore. Though I endorsed Carine Klein, I do think Jim is capable of thinking and voting in a way that separates him from the “ol’ boy network’s” push to conform with their agenda. Therefore I’m optimistic.

It remains to be seen how the seat vacated by Paul Tuerler will be filled. Last I heard, there will either be a special election or the council will appoint someone. If it’s an appointment, I’d think the most logical choice would be the candidate who came in third. That would be Carine Klein.

This week’s issue of the Sun features the first recent editorial I’ve seen in which the paper (Jake Krob, I presume?) takes a stance on growth with any attempt to support it. Previous editorials have included a pro-residential-development comment or two, but with not justification other than the often heard but irrelevant comment that other towns are losing population.

I’m glad the Sun is getting into the conversation, but am disappointed the editorial ignores the most obvious and troubling problems residential growth will cause for us. It ignores, as well, the data we’ve provided here to highlight the fiscal problems of residential development. Still, it’s a start, and one from which I hope the Sun will proceed to develop an informed, thoughtful take on this, the most serious issue with which our communities are confronted. Maintaining a pro-residential-growth stance would be to support an unsustainable process which would only damage the community. (more…)

Three stages in the growth of sprawl:

Novak: An early stage of development in a future tract of sprawl.

Stonebrook: A development at a slightly more advanced stage of growth.

Just a bit of exponential growth goes a long way. Typical, well developed sprawl hints at a possible future for our area. Image source: nativeecosystems.org/Jacob Smith and LightHawk

We’ll conclude here our three part series on the myth that “the new developments pay for the old developments.” In Part I we exposed the unwitting admission the growth machine makes in asserting this myth. They can’t spread this notion without admitting that another of their assertions, “Residential development brings in needed revenues,” is untrue. In Part II we demonstrated that the notion, “the new developments pay for the old ones” is indeed a myth, another attempt on the part of the growth industry to bamboozle us so that they might destroy our open spaces and small towns in pursuit of profit. Now we’ll look at what this myth implies about the attitude toward our future held by those who spread the myth.
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