Submitted by Bethany Schroeder (nidus@pinax.com), a TCLocal contributor, 6/4/2006

­TCLocal, formerly known as the Tompkins County Relocalization Project, is a research effort developed to create an emergency plan for relocalizing the production and distribution of essential goods and services in Tompkins County. Additional goals include raising community awareness about nonrenewable energy resources and building a database of information to be made available to anyone who wants to use it.

The TCLocal group is comprised of citizens who believe that a worldwide economic crisis due to irreversible increases in the price of oil is likely within the next twenty-five years, certainly by 2030 and possibly as early as 2010 or 2020. At this time, world production of oil and natural gas will reach its maximum and begin to decline. Since our economy is built on the idea of continual growth, and economic growth is directly tied to increasing fossil fuel production, decreasing production will dictate the end of our economy as it has been structured over the last 200 years. Members are concerned that Tompkins County, like other governmental bodies, will not undertake measures to deal with the problems caused by the end of cheap oil until an emergency economic situation exists. TCLocal members have committed their energies to preparing a plan, educating the community, and developing the database in advance of the crisis, hoping that these efforts will address important needs within Tompkins County.

A key source for TCLocal’s research effort is a study commissioned by the U. S. Department of Energy, carried out by Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), a Fortune 500 company specializing in engineering and scientific analyses for the U.S. military and other government agencies. The SAIC study (also known as the Hirsch study after its principal author) was released in February 2005 and now offers solid analysis of the cause and potential outcomes of the end of cheap oil, thereby supporting those parties across the globe that hope to moderate the effects of this monumental challenge.

Motivated by the findings of the Hirsch report among other sources, as well as the looming problem of climate change, TCLocal was launched in December 2005. The group meets monthly and makes its progress available to the community through its website. Contributors anticipate completing research and documentation of the project within the next two years. At the same time, the group is actively seeking other contributors with writing and research experience. The group also welcomes the opportunity to share the scope of the project with groups and individuals in the community by providing presentations about the problem and responses to it.  Some example project areas follow:

Transportation
Healthcare
Education
Water use
Land use
Building community
Local agriculture
Local hunting
Local aquaculture
Local manufacturing
Repair as a local industry
Energy production
Waste disposal
Household preparation
Social and psychological adjustment
Information infrastructure

For the purposes of planning, TCLocal concentrates on the decade following peak oil production—starting possibly as early as 2010. Focusing on the period that can be characterized chiefly in terms of high fuel prices allows contributors to create a short-term plan that considers the immediate future, leaving for later a long-term plan under circumstances about which even experts are reluctant to speculate.

The most important challenges facing Tompkins County when our supply of cheap energy begins to decline will be the maintenance of personal transportation, heating, food production, and food distribution in an environment of rising unemployment, in addition to a rising cost of living driven by the rising costs of oil and natural gas. The key to answering these challenges is the local production of goods and services, including food, and the local production of electricity from renewable sources. The process of developing a region’s ability to provide its own goods, services, and energy is what is meant by relocalization. Developing a plan for the County is undertaken in the belief that the size of counties and the traditional land use, welfare, and emergency management functions of counties puts them at the organizational level most appropriate to the management of emergency relocalization. With respect to Tompkins County, this focus allows TCLocal to make the best use of the area’s unique blend of rural, town, and university resources.

If you’re  interested in contributing to the TCLocal  effort, contact the editor: bosak@ibiblio.org. Those who want to monitor the effort can sign up at http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/tcrp-news

Submitted by Katie Quinn-Jacobs

Preparedness is gaining steam as we wade into the turbulent waters ahead. Residents of Tompkins County, NY now have access to an innovative preparedness website with a local twist. Put together as a volunteer citizens' advocacy effort, the site was formally launched on April 1st, 2006.

PreparedTompkins.org is chock full of useful information, web resources, and unsolicited (but essential) advice. You can even take the Preparedness Aptitude Quiz (PAQ) - if you dare. Bring your sense of humor and can-do spirit with you and explore the relocalized world of PreparedTompkins.org...a site that isn't afraid to turn armageddon scenarios on their head.