The DC Petrocollapse Conference
Surviving Peak Oil: Economic Doom or Transformation?
Culture Change and Post-Petroleum
Sustainable Living
Saturday May 6 * 9 am - 7 pm
All Souls Church * 16th & Harvard Streets, NW Washington DC near Adams Morgan (Red) or Columbia Heights (Green) Metro Stations * Directions * Map
Register now to attend! www.petrocollapse.org

A conference on the effects of peak oil and the growing global energy crisis will take place in Washington, DC on May 6th at the All Souls Church, Unitarian from 9 A.M. to 7 P.M. Speakers include peak-oil author Richard Heinberg.

Conference organizer and speaker Jan Lundberg is a former oil industry analyst who ran the market research firm Lundberg Survey. Lundberg, who quit serving the oil industry so he could put his knowledge to use to protect the environment, says "M. King Hubbert, who developed the theory of peak oil, observed that we do not have an energy crisis but rather a culture crisis. This fits with the theme of the Washington DC Petrocollapse Conference that there is no technofix for our energy dilemma. Society will have to reclaim a closer level of community and rediscover how local economics works."

The May 6th conference will feature Richard Heinberg, the most-read peak oil author (The Party's Over, and Powerdown). Films and music will be also offered as part of a varied program to stimulate discussion and action by attendees. Heinberg and Lundberg and others will perform music including oil-satire songs. Films will include premiers of "Our Synthetic Sea" (plastics pollution in oceans) and "The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil."

Lundberg says the Petrocollapse Conference asks, "What we can do in advance of the social upheaval and chaos that may produce a 'national New Orleans,' to prepare or mitigate? What will the future look like during and after a transition to non-petroleum living?"

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The New York Times calls Peak Oil "almost certainly correct." Fortune Magazine says, "An economic tsunami is about to hit the global economy as the world runs out of oil." As oil prices soar and supplies of crude oil and refined petroleum products strain to keep up with demand, as global warming fuels out-of-control hurricanes that wreak havoc on oil production infrastructure as well as upon devastated populations, the critical issue of Peak Oil is finally becoming acknowledged in the mainstream news.

But the complete story is still suppressed, misunderstandings abound, and the public remains in the dark about the vast array of consequences due to hit from this looming "permanent energy crisis." The sudden effects of perpetual oil shortage are likely to strike within the next three years. Are we prepared? Sponsored by Culture Change, the DC PetroCollapse Conference will present the facts behind the hype about Peak Oil, explore the root factors of our present "oil-addicted" condition, and envision the strategies that we need to bypass unhelpful institutional barriers and achieve post-Peak Oil economic sustainability.

The public is also not fully aware of the extent to which oil pervades our lives not simply as fuel for transportation but also in the form of pesticides, fertilizers and plastics. A decline in oil supplies will affect our ability to grow enough food for the current global population of six and a half billion people. Malnutrition and resulting illness can be expected to spread far beyond the 3.7 billion who are currently affected into the developed world.

Our economy also depends on indefinite growth that will not be sustainable once Peak Oil hits. Its arrival is likely to have a paralyzing affect on certain sectors of the economy which will in turn spread both nationally and globally.

Most independent oil experts agree that the peak in global oil extraction is occurring approximately now. The pressures of the market to distribute the fuels and materials made from petroleum are already creating intense competition for energy supplies around the world. As the gap between supply and demand widens and prices skyrocket, supply will tighten as never before due to hoarding. This will cause massive repercussions in daily living and the global economy. Not only will people have to adapt to an energy-poor world by concentrating on sustainably working with their regional ecosystems for all their needs, but will also have to cope with climate change which is rapidly accelerating. This scenario is referred to by oil expert and conference organizer Jan Lundberg as Petrocollapse.

As the conference brochure states, "the world's peak in oil extraction is about now -- although there is uncertainty and debate. The pressures of the Market to smoothly spread around the fuels and materials made from petroleum promise to create intense competition for energy supplies, as seen already today on the world stage. As the gap between supply and demand widens and prices skyrocket, supply will tighten as never before due to hoarding. This will cause massive repercussions in daily living and the global economy. Not only will people have to adapt to an energy-poor world by concentrating on sustainably working with their regional ecosystems for all their needs, climate change is accelerating."

At The Petrocollapse Conference we will ask

* What are we facing now as the economy prepares to hit the wall known as resource limits? Will growth suddenly implode?
* What will be the effects of Peak Oil (a geological phenomenon) and petrocollapse (an economic and social phenomenon) on food supply and other services we depend on?
* What mitigation strategies are possible?
* What is the role of the market in determining how severe the effect of shortage stemming from geological depletion will be ?
* Upon upheaval, deprivation, and a restructuring of social relations in a "new" local economics system, will we choose to create a sustainable culture?

** contact conference coordinator Ethan in DC **
ethan@culturechange.org

Register online via PayPal at http://petrocollapse.org/register.html