The Lifeboat Conference

Doing Something About Peak Oil

Titanic Lifeboat Academy

June 17-19,2005

Astoria, Oregon

The Lifeboat Conference was a working conference, a unique blend of conference and workshop. Speakers presented expert information in formats limited to an hour or less, including questions. The bulk of time was spent making positive individual preparedness plans, brainstorming in small groups, interacting individually with speakers and participating in personal assessments and group activities designed to assist planning. (Take the NEW "Self-Sufficiency Assessment" here. For more materials, contact TLA.)

Participants' charge was to leave with definite personal, practical goals for the next six months, two months and two weeks. Speakers each dealt with a different area of personal and community preparedness, in effect introducing each topic area of participants' personal planning. Everyone shared their planning with both whole and small groups, receiving encouragement, feedback and ideas.

The final morning, Richard Heinberg discussed what he was learning in Ireland and answered questions from the group. In the afternoon, several people shared work that they have done, which sparked further discussion, brainstorming and networking. Bill Kauth and Joanna Gabriel shared their work with Sacred Lifeboats, Luna Crow shared insights from her work with women, and George McClendon shared some of his work with crisis counseling. Kelley Rajala talked about successful community projects as demonstrated through her work with the Livability Project. Todd Ourston shared information on group dynamics. Mark Fallin presented his concept for The Living School. Mark Robinowitz provided a wealth of data related to his Oil Empireand Permatopia websites. Many others contributed as well to the rich mix of ideas and information.

The Lifeboat Conference participants worked with vital concepts and processes for "creating community". As a result, they effectively created a "virtual community" whose members continue to share steps being taken and processes begun. A reunion and second meeting with Kevin Danaher is being planned for the San Francisco Green Festival in November.

Presentations

“Deal With Reality or Reality Will Deal With You” with Matt Savinar

His website - Life After the Oil Crash- has been the #1 "Peak Oil" site on Google since January 2004 (getting over 10,000 visits per day) and has been instrumental is raising the awareness of Peak Oil. He is the author of The Oil Age is Over: What to Expect as the World Runs Out of Cheap Oil, 2005-2050. In May of this year, when U.S. Representative Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD) presented a report on Peak Oil, stressing the gravity and urgency of the coming crisis, he quoted extensively from Matt’s book .

“Preparing Ourselves for a Post Carbon World” with David Room of Post Carbon Institute

Sit

Be still and listen

You are drunk

And you’re sitting on the edge

Of the roof

—Rumi

“How do we climb down from the roof? What ladders do we use?”

David spoke of the task of revitalizing local economiesthrough the process of “relocalization” outlined in his forthcoming book:

Relocalize Now! Getting Ready for Climate Change and the End of Cheap Oil, available from New Society Publishers, Sept 2005

“Opportunities for Positive Social Restructuring” with Kevin Danaher of Global Exchange

Kevin Danaher is co-founder of Global Exchange in San Francisco and is the author and editor of numerous books exposing the human cost of the economics of globalization.

A longtime critic of the so-called "free trade" agenda, Dr. Danaher explained how we can implement a multitude of unique, creative and powerful strategies to “re-democratize” and “green” our economy.

His current project is the Global Citizen Center, a non-profit organization whose mission is to galvanize the emerging green economic movement. The Green Economy is locally rooted, environmentally nurturing, socially equitable, and financially robust. It holds long-term sustainability as its central, governing principle. It places life values above money values.

The Center will achieve its goal by developing, supporting, and operating a large, mixed-use building in downtown San Francisco that will serve as a hub for ecologically and socially responsible enterprise, education, and economic development.

“Growing Where You’re Planted” with Joe & Pam Leitch

Portland Permaculture Institute stewards Joe & Pam Leitch are life partners who believe that permaculture and its related aspects can be part of the solution to current threats to the natural environment.
In their pre-permaculture lives, Pam practiced nursing and then family law and studied globalization, social justice and alternative economic systems. Joe worked for IBM for 25 years as a field engineer and in sales. They saved their money, quit their mainstream jobs and trained as permaculture teachers. Joe has been a student of natural building, solar and urban gardening since the 1970's and is on the board of the Home Orchard Society.

Joe and Pam addressed the questions: What will we need in our local communities so we can survive and perhaps even enjoy the ride down the curve? What do I need past peak oil, not in terms of a list of separate needs, but as an interconnected set of elements? “In the Energy Descent: a graceful and ethical ride down the curve can occur through practicing Permaculture.”

“Community Building” with Bill Kauth & Joanna Gabriel

Billco-founded the New Warrior Training Adventure of the ManKind Project, the Inner King Training and the Warrior Monk. He is the author of A Circle of Men, published by St. Martins Press. Bill has been studying "Who runs the world?" for 10+ years. Joanna Gabriel, Bill's partner in life and Lifeboats co-pilot, serves as the Director of Worldwide Communications for the Conversations with God Foundation in Ashland, Oregon.

Bill and Joanna spoke of their experiences in community building, the difficulties of building genuine community, and ways to invite people to build community as a lifeboat.

“Conversation From Ireland” with Richard Heinberg

Journalist, educator, and musician Richard Heinberg is an award-winning author of six books and has lectured widely, appearing on national radio and television in five countries. His monthly MuseLetter was nominated in 1994 by Utne Reader for an Alternative Press Award and included in Utne's annual list of Best Alternative Newsletters. A member of the Core Faculty of New College of California, he lives in Santa Rosa, California.

Richard telephoned us from Kinsale, Ireland where he was presenting his paper, ”Threats of Peak Oil to the Global Food Supply” at Kinsale Further Education College, "What Will We Eat as the Oil Runs Out?."