In an earlier post, I discussed the idea of "transition towns"--municipalities, mainly in England at that point, that had committed to re-imagining, re-configuring, and re-building themselves on a model of sustainability and post-carbon living.
Well, the Transition Handbook is now out and available online. Here is an excerpt from the Introduction:
As I stood at the front of that hall, watching the room full of
laughing, twinkling people, waving their Totnes Pounds, I felt very
moved. There is a power here, I thought, which has remained largely
untapped. Surely when we think about peak oil and climate change we
should feel horrified, afraid, overwhelmed? Yet here was a room full of
people who were positively elated, yet were also looking the twin
challenges of peak oil and climate change square in the face.
What might environmental campaigning look like if it strove to
generate this sense of elation, rather than the guilt, anger and horror
that most campaigning invokes? What might it look like if it strove to
inspire, enthuse, and focus on possibilities rather than probabilities?
We don’t yet know for sure, but the Transition movement is an attempt
to design abundant pathways down from the oil peak, to generate new
stories about what might be waiting for us at the end of our descent,
and to put resilience-building back at the heart of any plans we make
for the future.
Transition Initiatives are not the only response to peak oil and
climate change; any coherent national response will also need
Government and business responses at all levels. However, unless we can
create this sense of anticipation, elation and a collective call to
adventure on a wider scale, any government responses will be doomed to
failure, or will need to battle protractedly against the will of the
people. Imagine if there were a way of creating that sense of positive
engagement and new storytelling on a settlement-wide, even a nationwide
scale. This book is an exploration of that potential, an immersion in
the possibilities of applied optimism, and an introduction to a
movement growing so fast that by the time you read this book it will be
larger still.
The time for seeing globalisation as an invincible and unassailable
behemoth, or localisation as some kind of lifestyle choice, is over.
The end of the Age of Cheap Oil is rapidly coming upon us, and life
will radically change, whether we want it to or not. This book
represents a new way of looking at what our future might hold, arguing
that by taking a proactive response rather than a reactive one, we can
still shape and form that future, within the rapidly changing energy
context, in such a way that it ends up preferable to the present.
Rebuilding local agriculture and food production, localising energy
production, rethinking healthcare, rediscovering local building
materials in the context of zero energy building, rethinking how we
manage waste, all build resilience and offer the potential of an
extraordinary renaissance – economic, cultural and spiritual. I am not
afraid of a world with less consumerism, less ‘stuff’ and no economic
growth. Indeed, I am far more frightened of the opposite: that the
process which took fertiliser sacks to the most fertile fields I will
probably ever stand in continues, reducing the ability of communities
to support themselves beyond the brief, transitory historical interlude
when industry was able to turn natural gas into a fertiliser and when
the car was king.
Peak oil, post-carbon age, going green, sustainability--the language that is out there is somewhat complex, somewhat scarey and somewhat daunting. People are afraid, given the latest convulsions on Wall Street, the price of oil and the threat of drastic global climate change. There is this general feeling of dread, doom and gloom---ACH!
But, what I like about Transition Towns is that feisty spirit of creativity, determination and plain old "having fun" that can make the relocalization of our economy a joy, a journey and a discovery, rather than something that is to be feared, to be frowned on, to be run away from.
We have the power in us as human beings to reinvent the way we live. I mean, look at the current physical environment and world system that we have created. It's pretty damn impressive. And I would wager that if we bring the same level of intensity, focus, meaning and intention--and look at our efforts through the prism of building things to last at least seven generations--there is nothing to fear about what we can create in our communities going forward.
In fact, the level of ingenuity and figuring out how to grow food, hold festivals, make merry, build things locally, do everything that needs to be done with an eye toward true human sustainability--well, that will be endlessly engaging and fill our days with meaning and joy more than we could possibly imagine at this point.
We are waiting, patiently, for the first American transition town. And when it happens, you can bet there will be an influx of human capitol that will make Microsoft envious.
