Transition movement brings new environmental approach. "For ourselves, we delight in the stupendously grand thoughts and germs of thoughts" [of the utopians].- Fredrick Engels, "Socialism: Utopian And Scientific" A new movement is afloat. The Transition movement blends aspects of the environment movement and broad grassroots organizing.
It combines some 19th century utopian thinking with new technology and daunting data about peak oil and climate change. Portland, Ore., and Oakland, Calif., have officially declared themselves Transition Towns. What's going on here? The Transition movement was quite successful with some early efforts in England. Rob Hopkins, the movement's founder, has written about its basics and these early successes in The Transition Handbook - From oil dependency to local resilience. Peak oil is not about the last drop of oil. Climate change, especially global warming, is well documented. In Alaska, average temperature increases are between 3 to 4 degrees Centigrade. It is, in plain-speak, so much hokum. There's more. Transition towns USA - Sustainable Community Action. Index of /Transition_Relocalisation_Resilience/Transition_Network.
Files.uniteddiversity.com/Transition_Relocalisation_Resilience/Transition_Network/Transition-Handbook.pdf. Hay River Transition Initiative 2011. Transition Culture. Welcome | Transition Network. Transition Towns :: Less carbon, more skills and connection. Less carbon - more skills and connection posted Feb 01, 2008 Rob Hopkins was teaching permaculture in Kinsale, Ireland, when he encountered the concept of peak oil. Hopkins and his students were shocked at the looming prospect of a world without cheap energy, and at the absence of plans to deal with the repercussions.
Rather than wait for someone else to act—government or otherwise—they figured out how to address the problem, one community at a time. Hopkins says, “The idea emerged that the future with less oil could be preferable. But we need to rediscover what was actually good about life before cheap oil.” Their work led to the Transition Towns movement, which claims 26 communities as members in the United Kingdom, with 400 more worldwide expressing interest in becoming transition communities—people taking charge of preparing their communities to make a graceful entry into a low-energy world. The essence of the Transition Town concept is building resilience at the community level.