The Oil Drum: Australia/New Zealand

It is doubtful we can adequately inform energy policy without addressing the linkages between equity, the environment, finance, and our end goals. I post this on theoildrum not only because Herman is one of my tribal elders but because his eloquence, courage and foresight on these issues have historically been, and continue to be, ahead of the curve. During his resignation speech from the World Bank, Herman recommended the Bank take "a few antacids and laxatives to cure the combination of managerial flatulence and organizational constipation giving rise to such a high-pressure internal environment." To improve interactions with the external world he prescribed "new eyeglasses and a hearing aid."

Nearly 15 years later, here is Professor Daly's current synopsis of the state of economics and his prescriptions for change.

This is a guest post by Garry Glazebrook, who is an urban transport consultant and urban planning lecturer at the University of Technology, Sydney. The Sustainable Futures Fund is described in the Australian context, but with our population of 21 million and a local currency approaching 1:1 with the US dollar, the figures suggested here could be considered comparable with those required in a moderate size state in the USA.

Readers of TOD are well aware of the oil supply threat and its implications for society. Recent reports such as “Crude Oil – The Supply Outlook” by Energy Watch Group suggest global oil production could fall 50% by 2030, while research by Jeff Rubin at CIBC suggests OECD countries will experience an 8% fall in supply by 2012 due to delays in Megaprojects, declining production from existing fields and strong oil demand growth in OPEC, Russia and China.

Well they sure are hospitable folks down here, they laid on Seattle weather here today for their Dean, who hails from those parts. Unfortunately Bill Mitchell, the first speaker in the session on Sustainable Development Communities was taken ill and could not make the meeting, so that the following two speakers were given extra time to fill in the gap. (I will forego the UCSB PR that was the intro to the day – but will cover a bit at the end, since it paid for my trip).

The responses to the evolving crisis in Energy Supply will have to be addressed in several ways, and the first session of the morning looked at the development of sustainable communities, in particular focusing on Chula Vista and the work of the National Energy Center for Sustainable Communities, itself part of the Global Energy Center and an affiliation of universities in addressing the issues of urban sustainability given

In the United States, for example, 80% of the population lives in cities. Their buildings, transportation and urban infrastructure account for 80% of U.S. energy consumption, and 70% of that amount is determined by how and where Americans design their neighborhoods. Low-density development in the U.S. consumes 85% more energy, 70 times more water, 50 times more lumber and 40 times more land than higher-density development of the same square footage.

This being CA and the times being what they are, it was also stressed that urban areas are responsible for 75% of the GHG emissions. This was one of Doug Newman’s opening comments as he talked about the goals that the Center and the Department of Energy have in setting up this effort to build what hopefully will become an international model of a sustainable community. It is important at the community level when one considers that power outages, which impact communities, cost $119 billion a year, and that energy costs are second only to labor in community expenses.
UPDATE Byron Washom's remarks have been corrected - my apologies for the error.

Many folks in the sustainable development, alternative transportation, environmental and Jane Jacobs Urbanist camps have been arguing for a range of incremental steps to put New York back on the right track after decades of car oriented development plans. And lately, while there has been little fanfare or public recognition of this, little things have been happening around the city, but this might be just a taste of what's to come if an article in the New York Observer is correct that the Administration is thinking of taking a more ambitious long range plan that puts all of these ideas into a complete package of sustainable development policy.

hat tip Streetsblog

Below the fold, I've listed some suggestions that you might find interesting. In keeping with the TOD mission, I've tried to highlight some gifts that are most relevant to energy issues. Also, help us improve our list by leaving some other ideas in the comments. (I'm sorry the list is somewhat US-centric, so we welcome suggestions appropriate to other countries.)