Simply Living "Global Warming, Peak Oil and What It Means for Us" Resources
Note: all books on this list are available through the Columbus Discovery Place Library system -- www.columbuslibrary.org.
| Area | Type | Title | Comments |
| Community | Book | "Urban Sprawl and Public Health: Designing, Planning, and Building for Healthy Communities" by Howard Frumkin, et al, 2004 | Analysis of health issues (such as obesity) related to urban sprawl. Includes extensive history of how we got where we are today. |
| Community | Book | "Reclaiming Our Cities and Towns: Better Living With Less Traffic" by David Engwicht, 1993 | Thought provoking book on issues related to our overly car-centric way of life. See www.lesstraffic.com. |
| Community | Website | Co-intelligence Institute: www.co-intelligence.org | Includes specific information and links on Community Sustainability |
| Community, Peak Oil | Website, Conference | The Community Solution to Peak Oil: based in Yellow Springs, Ohio www.communitysolution.org, includes annual US Conference on Peak Oil and Community Solutions | Resources about both peak oil and small communities as a solution. Includes free e-mail and PDF newsletters. |
| Community: Sustainable | Website | The Sustainable Communities Network www.sustainable.org | For those who want to help make their communities more livable |
| Community: Walkable | Website | Walkable Communities: by Dan Burden www.walkable.org | Provides detailed analysis of what is a walkable community |
| Energy: Alternative | Magazine Issue | "The Promise of the Solar Future" Co-op America Quarterly, No. 66 Summer 2005 www.coopamerica.org | Website includes section on Green Energy |
| Energy: Alternative | Magazine, Website | Home Power magazine, www.homepower.com | Understandable resource for solar and other alternative energies for the home |
| Energy: Alternative | Website | US Department of Energy Solar Energy Technologies Program www.eere.energy.gov/solar | Extensive and authoritative information about solar technologies, conferences, products, etc. |
| Energy: Alternative | Website |
Interstate Renewable Energy Council |
A non-profit organization dedicated to accelerating the sustainable utilization of renewable energy sources and technologies in and through state and local government and community activities. |
| Energy: Alternative | Yahoo! Group | ColumbusBiodiesel http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ColumbusBiodiesel/ | Columbus Biodiesel & Veggie Oil as Fuel: This group has been established for people in the Columbus, Ohio area who are interested in using biodiesel and straight veggie oil as renewable fuel. |
| Energy: Usage | Website | Energy Star: US Government site www.energystar.gov | Resource on energy efficiency including consumer products |
| Energy: Usage | Website | Green Energy Ohio: www.greenenergyohio.org | Nonprofit promoting environmentally and economically sustainable energy in Ohio |
| Energy: Usage | Website | The Environmental Defense Fund's 20 personal ways to reduce global warming by reducing CO2 emissions. www.undoit.org/undoit_steps_1.cfm | A list mixing things that are easy to do right away and those that involve more investment of time or money |
| Food | Article | "Oil and Food: A Rising Security Challenge" by Danielle Murray, May 9 2005 Earth Policy Institute at www.earth-policy.org | Discusses in some detail the modern food system's heavy reliance on cheap oil. |
| Food | Article | "Report on the First Relocalizing Food Circle" March - April, 2005, The Sustainable Small Cities Project, For the Future at www.forthefuture.org | Specific suggestions on Santa Barbara (or other places) becoming more self-sufficient, sustainable and food-secure. |
| Food | Article | "Why Our Food Is So Dependent On Oil" by Norman Church, 07 April, 2005,From The Wilderness at www.countercurrents.org | Discusses in detail unsustainable reliance on oil in the food production system - including organic food production - in the UK (universally applicable) |
| Global Warming | Article | "A Livable Shade of Green" By Nicholas D. Kristof, New York Times, July 3, 2005 at www.nytimes.com | Portland Oregan has reduced greenhouse gas emissions by taking steps that were intrinsically popular and cheap, serving other purposes like reducing traffic congestion or saving on electrical costs. www.sustainableportland.org |
| Global Warming | Article | "Glimmers of Hope on Global Warming: Moves afoot to counter U.S. Big Oil's clout" By Stephen Hesse, The Japan Times Online, Thursday, July 28, 2005 at japantimes.co.jp | A hopeful and interesting story about what is going on in the rest of the world to deal with Global Warming. |
| Global Warming | Article Series | "The Climate of Man" by Elizabeth Kolbert in the New Yorker issues 4/25/05, 5/2/05, 5/9/05 | Mainstream publication that explores the changes in the world due to global warming and concludes that we need to act now |
| Global Warming | TV Series | "Strange Days on Planet Earth" - 4 part PBS series from National Geographic, www.pbs.org/strangedays | Site field work all around the Earth documenting the very complex, interrelated, interdependent aspects of climate change |
| Global Warming | Website | The Union of Concerned Scientists: www.ucsusa.org | Description of global warming. Recommends action steps. |
| Local Government: Contact | Contact | Michael Schwarzwalder, Director of the Office of Environmental Stewardship 645-8828, Announcement April 7 2005 at mayor.columbus.gov | Partnership of Columbus with the Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio (SWACO) to improve environmental stewardship while encouraging the development of green buildings and jobs in Columbus. |
| Local Government: Environment | Article | "U.N. CONFERENCE IN SAN FRANCISCO World's mayors sign agreement aiming to protect the environment" by Justin M. Norton, Associated Press -Nation & World section, page A8, Monday, June 6 2005 Columbus Dispatch, version on CNN site at www.cnn.com, agreement at www.wed2005.org/3.1.php | Mayors from around the world signed "Urban Environmental Accords" calling for increased public transportation and drastic cuts in trash sent to landfills. Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman did not attend due to a prior committment. |
| Local Government: Environment | Website | Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission: www.morpc.org | MORPC is a voluntary association of governments that deals with housing, transportation, water, land use, zoning, environmental and technology issues. The MORPC Green Map is available at public libraries as of June 2005. |
| Peak Oil | Article | "Drilling for Broke? Experts Debate 'Peak Oil'" The Wall Street Journal Online August 3, 2005. Available at wsj.com and at truthout.org | "Declining oil supplies will be a watershed in the economic history of the 21st century." |
| Peak Oil | Article | "Is Oil Shortage Near?" by Matt Crenson, Associated Press. The Columbus Dispatch, Sunday May 29 2005. Available at www.planetsave.com | Mainstream article that discusses peak oil as a real possibility |
| Peak Oil | Book | The Long Emergency, James Howard Kunstler, 2005. | Predicts a hard crash from peak oil |
| Peak Oil | Book | "The Party's Over: Oil, War and the Fate of Industrial Societies" by Richard Heinberg, 2005 | Discusses the context, social implications, and recommendations for personal, community, national, and global action. This book is a wake-up call as the oil era winds down, and a critical tool for understanding and influencing current U.S. foreign policy. |
| Peak Oil | Book | "Power Down: Options and Actions for a Post-Carbon World" by Richard Heinberg, 2004 | This book begins with an overview of the likely impacts of oil and natural gas depletion and then outlines four options for industrial societies during the next decades. |
| Peak Oil | Book | Twilight in the Desert: The Coming Saudi Oil Shock and the World Economy, Matthew R. Simmons, 2005. | Asserts that sudden and sharp oil production declines could happen at any time |
| Peak Oil | Book | Crossing the Rubicon: The Decline of the American Empire at the End of the Age of Oil, Michael C. Ruppert, 2004. | Ties together the issue of peak oil with the events of 9/11. |
| Peak Oil | Magazine Cover Story | National Geographic, August 2005 cover story "After Oil: Powering the Future". Online you can find "The End of Cheap Oil" by Tim Appenzeller at nationalgeographic.com. | Humanity's way of life is on a collision course with geology—with the stark fact that the Earth holds a finite supply of oil. |
| Peak Oil | Report | “Peak Oil in a Nutshell - Here Comes the Nutcracker” by Jan Lundberg, at www.culturechange.org/e-letter-peakoil.html | Overview of peak oil issues |
| Peak Oil | Speech | Speech by U.S. Rep. Roscoe Bartlett to the House of Representatives 3/05: www.globalpublicmedia.org/transcripts/402 | Need to address peak oil/energy usage |
| Peak Oil | Video (DVD) | The End of Suburbia: Oil Depletion and The Collapse of The American Dream, www.endofsuburbia.com, c2004. Available for borrowing from the Simply Living office, www.netflix.com or Fred Yaeger | Wake up call on the issues of suburbia and peak oil |
| Peak Oil | Website | Julian Darley’s Post Carbon Institute: www.postcarbon.org | Educational institution/think tank that explores what cultures, civilization, governance & economies might look like without (non-renewable) hydrocarbons as energy and chemical feedstocks |
| Peak Oil | Website | Matt Savinar's website: www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net | Based on the assumption that there will be a hard "crash" |
| Peak Oil | Website | Energy Bulletin: www.energybulletin.net | Peak energy in the news |
| Peak Oil | Website | www.BlueGreenEarth.com | Global community, ecological, environmental and social reportage, opinion, analysis, and news |
| Peak Oil | Website | Michael Ruppert’s website: www.fromthewilderness.com | Web news and info source on a wide range of topics |
| Peak Oil | Website | http://www.drydipstick.com/ | Described as a “metadirectory” for peak oil issues |
| Peak Oil | Website | Association for the Study of Peak Oil and Gas: www.peakoil.net | International organization for Peak Oil (Community Solutions is a member) |
| Peak Oil | Yahoo Group | RunningOnEmpty2. In the files section: !CONVINCE SHEET v19 SHORTER.doc (in both Word and PDF) | Extensive discussions about the impacts of peak oil. Files section includes concise handout explaining imminent oil crash, the causes, and likely impacts.. |
| Sustainability | Electronic Journal | Sustainability: Science, Practice, & Policy ejournal.nbii.org | A peer-reviewed, open access journal from Cambridge Scientific Abstracts as part of a partnership with the National Biological Information Infrastructure to establish a forum for cross-disciplinary discussion of natural and social sciences, practices, and policies related to sustainability |
| Sustainability | Local Group | Smart Communities at SWACO http://www.swaco.org/SmartCommunities.aspx | Working to advance sustainable development in Central Ohio by acting as a resource for awareness-building, learning and collaboration among business, government, non-profits, and community groups. |
| Transportation | Article | "Carless in Columbus" by Dave Ghose Columbus Monthly June 2005 | After more than a week trying to navigate the city without an auto the author concluded it wasn't easy depending on COTA, a bike, cabs and his own two feet. |
| Transportation | Book | "Divorce your Car!" by Katie Alvord, 2000 | A comprehensive and encouraging look at why we should end our love affair with the automobile as well as practical guide for how to move to a "car-free" or "car-lite" life style. |
| Transportation | Website | Consider Biking http://www.considerbiking.org | Working to create a friendlier environment for bicycling in Central Ohio. Has free email list with great updates on local issues. |
