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Below you will find an archive of Transition Santa Cruz monthly Newsletter(s). Browse through the issues below, or follow the link located at the bottom of this page to subscribe.
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 | March 2013 newsletter (Mar 2013)
Transition Santa Cruz Newsletter March 2013from oil dependence to local resilienceDear ,As our community moves into a discussion of how to become more safe, the Transition Initiative concept has something to offer. The Transition perspective seeks to recreate the best qualities of community connectedness that people had in the past. Our community safety has suffered a great deal from the loss of these.The Transition approach makes it a practice to learn from the past in order to guide our curren |
 | Feb 2013 newsletter (Feb 2013)
Transition Santa Cruz Newsletter February 2013from oil dependence to local resilienceDear ,As another snowstorm hammers New England, it looks like the climate revolution is finally heating up in the U.S. (sorry about the pun). February 17 is a standout date, because of the Forward On Climate Rally at the White House, and others around the country including one you might want to attend in nearby San Francisco.Five of us are making the journey to Washington to participate in the rally (myself, Bat |
 | Jan 2013 newsletter (Jan 2013)
Transition Santa Cruz Newsletter January 2013from oil dependence to local resilienceDear ,Would you like to get involved with building resilience in your community this year? Here are just a few of the places you could jump in:• Join the "Resilient Community Leaders' Support Group," a monthly potluck group that supports its members to build community in their neighborhoods and other places. Contact: Kar Fraser, karfraser@cruzio.com.• Join the Live Oak Grange. You can help support thi |
 | Dec 2012 newsletter (Dec 2012)
Transition Santa Cruz Newsletter December 2012from oil dependence to local resilienceDear ,As often happens in December, we slow down a little bit. I hope you have the chance to do the same!We won't be hosting a Transition Santa Cruz potluck this month. However, you might consider attending the monthly potluck of our friends, the (Sub)urban Homesteading and Sustainable Living Meetup group. That will take place at the Live Oak Grange, on Tuesday the 18th, 6 pm, and will include a holiday crafts/t |
 | Nov 2012 newsletter (Nov 2012)
Transition Santa Cruz Newsletter November 2012from oil dependence to local resilienceDear ,Sometimes democracy takes the form of putting up a roadblock. When citizens don't succeed in influencing government to go down the road they desire, it is sometimes possible--and easier--to prevent government from going down an undesirable road. Ultimately, foreclosing the option of the unsustainable or unhealthy road opens the way for a better strategy.Advocates of renewable energy sources have not succee |
 | Oct 2012 newsletter (Oct 2012)
Transition Santa Cruz Newsletter October 2012from oil dependence to local resilienceDear ,I am freshly back from the Northern California Transition Conference that took place in Richmond over the weekend. Those of us organizing it were blown away by the sold-out attendance of over 100 people, representing over 25 Transition and allied groups including from Monterey, Palo Alto, Silicon Valley, San Francisco, Berkely, Humboldt County, Nevada City, Sebastopol, and more.A highlight was the keynote t |
 | Sept 2012 newsletter (Sep 2012)
Transition Santa Cruz Newsletter
September 2012from oil dependence to local resilience
—Dear ,At a recent gathering of "resilient neighborhood" leaders, the conversation veered into talk of the Republican and Democratic conventions. As it continued, a tone of dismissal, if not outright disdain, of Republicans emerged, until someone thought to say, "Wait, let's check and see if there are any Republicans here at the table." It turned out, there was one. The tone shifted to curiosit |
 | August 2012 newsletter (Aug 2012)
Transition Santa Cruz Newsletter August 2012from oil dependence to local resilienceDear ,If you've been following energy news, you know that huge deposits of shale oil and gas in the U.S. are being touted as the solution to our energy woes. In reality, these deposits are just the latest in a long string of (non-)solutions big industry has pushed to try to prolong business as usual (corn ethanol, anyone?).The current and accelerating disaster of climate change should be enough to take this "solut |
 | July 2012 newsletter (Jul 2012)
Transition Santa Cruz Newsletter July 2012from oil dependence to local resilienceDear ,"Esta es mi tierra." This is my land. So said a Watsonville woman with pride just after carefully selecting a garden bed for her family in a Mesa Verde Gardens community garden recently. This was not a large piece of land, nor one the woman expected to claim for a lifetime, nor one in the most idyllic location. None of this mattered; what was key was to have a bit of land to call her own and grow food in for h |
 | June 2012 newsletter (Jun 2012)
Transition Santa Cruz Newsletter June 2012from oil dependence to local resilienceDear ,I recently spoke to a class on Sustainable Living at UCSC about the Transition movement and on remaining hopeful. I often stress the importance of remaining hopeful in my talks because I deeply believe that it is something we can and must choose to do. I shared with the students this quotation from oft-jailed former Czech dissident Vaclav Havel:Hope is not prognostication. It is an orientation of the spir |
 | May 2012 newsletter (May 2012)
Transition Santa Cruz Newsletter May 2012from oil dependence to local resilienceDear ,Those of us who care about the transition of our societies to a less destructive state often feel that we have too many things to talk about. Where do we start? War, foreclosures, climate change, resource limits, racism?Fortunately, there is a topic that everyone cares about, that provides natural lead-ins to all these topics. It's the economy, smarty! Everyone wants a working economy because it is the system t |
 | April 2012 newsletter (Apr 2012)
Transition Santa Cruz Newsletter April 2012from oil dependence to local resilienceDear ,Have you given up hope about the climate? I must admit that sometimes I doubt whether we, as a species, will pull out of our collision course with the atmosphere's limits.But earlier this week, as I was wasting another perfectly good hour watching The Daily Show, I "met" a person who humbled me with his resolute decision to live with hope.His name is Mohamed Nasheed, democratically elected president (until Ja |
 | March 2012 newsletter (Mar 2012)
Transition Santa Cruz Newsletter March 2012from oil dependence to local resilienceDear ,Did you watch any of the Republican primary debates? I did--for about five minutes. That was enough to see, once again, that what passes for debate on the national political scene is more a matter of jockeying for position and doesn't really further the democratic process.In many ways, things are better on the local scene here in Santa Cruz. And yet, as I watch the debate on desalination heat up, I see echoes |
 | February 2012 newsletter (Feb 2012)
Transition Santa Cruz Newsletter February 2012from oil dependence to local resilienceDear ,For the past several months I have had the privilege of meeting monthly with a group of motivated neighborhood community-builders, who have dedicated themselves to resilience in their neighborhoods.This group began with a "Neighborhood Leaders' Workshop" we put on in October. (Next one is next month; see below.) With initially tentative steps, members have begun the fascinating, rewarding, and sometimes ch |
 | January 2012 newsletter (Jan 2012)
Transition Santa Cruz Newsletter January 2012from oil dependence to local resilienceDear ,Have you heard? The "final draft" of the City of Santa Cruz Climate Action Plan (CAP) is out.But it's not quite final. This important document, prepared by City staff with significant input from members of the public, does not yet have the mark of the City Council on it. As our elected representatives, they will have the job of weighing in on it now. If they show some serious leadership, it will help signal |
 | December 2011 newsletter (Dec 2011)
Transition Santa Cruz Newsletter December 2011from oil dependence to local resilienceDear ,When Transition Santa Cruz first got going in the Fall of 2008, the core group was motivated, in large part, by two concerns, both related to fossil fuels: peak oil and climate change. By brute force, you might say, the collapsing economy forced its way onto the agenda. But this is really a sign of the maturation of the Transition movement. Many of us have come to realize that none of these global problems |
 | November 2011 newsletter (Nov 2011)
Transition Santa Cruz Newsletter November 2011from oil dependence to local resilienceDear Subscriber,I'm all for anything that might get us peaceably from oil dependence to local resilience. That's why I spent part of my evening tonight at the "General Assembly" meeting of the Occupy Santa Cruz group on the courthouse steps. In what was one of the best-facilitated meetings I've seen in some time, the group, huddled in the cold and facing the traffic of Water Street, debated the tough issue of wh |
 | October 2011 newsletter (Oct 2011)
Transition Santa Cruz Newsletter October 2011from oil dependence to local resilience Dear Subscriber,"Corporations do not seek consent to extract wealth from the people and the Earth; and no true democracy is attainable when the process is determined by economic power."So declares the brand-new Declaration of the Occupation of Wall Street, an update of the Declaration of Independence for our corporatist era. It is thrilling to see the widespread support for this movement, n |
 | September 2011 newsletter (Sep 2011)
Transition Santa Cruz Newsletter September 2011from oil dependence to local resilience Dear Subscriber,What do you consider to be realistic planning for the City of Santa Cruz? Fortunately for us, City planners are having the foresight to look seriously at what climate science is telling us about our future--one in which a multiplicity of expensive infrastructure projects would seem essential to protect our way of life. (See first article below.)But what if the peak oil the |
 | August 2011 newsletter (Aug 2011)
Transition Santa Cruz Newsletter August 2011from oil dependence to local resilience Dear Subscriber,With Andrew Harvey's visit to Santa Cruz (and our potluck, see below), I have been thinking a lot about the speed of our work towards a resilient local community. Are we going too slow?Answer: Of course we are going too slow. With serious economic trouble already reaching us and serious climate trouble likely not far away (having hit elsewhere already), we should be moving mu |
 | July 2011 newsletter (Jul 2011)
Transition Santa Cruz Newsletter July 2011from oil dependence to local resilience Dear Subscriber,According to Buddhist activist Joanna Macy, there are three aspects to the "Great Turning" from our industrial growth economy to a sustainable one. The first is "Holding Actions," all the environmental and social battles being fought to keep people, other forms of life, and our precious ecosystems from being destroyed while the current society still holds sway.The second is "Cr |
 | June 2011 newsletter (Jun 2011)
Transition Santa Cruz Newsletter June 2011from oil dependence to local resilience Dear Subscriber,I am often asked whether gardening in town is really a practical solution to the food crises that are likely to come with peak oil and climate change. The question gives me pause, because it is true that most of our potential local food supply will be the excellent ag land on the North Coast, in the Pajaro Valley, and elsewhere in the County and nearby, and not our small patche |
 | May 2011 newsletter (May 2011)
Transition Santa Cruz Newsletter May 2011from oil dependence to local resilience Dear Subscriber,Hope is a renewable option: If you run out of it at the end of the day, you get to start over in the morning. —Barbara Kingsolver What renews your hope? Learning practical skills to build a resilient future and life for yourself? Listening to hopeful and visionary speakers? Helping save the climate by expressing yourself online? Or dancing your dreams for an healthy and e |
 | April Newsletter (Apr 2011)
Transition Santa Cruz Newsletter April 2011 Dear Subscriber, One of my favorite things about being part of Transition Santa Cruz is getting wind of a really hopeful number of efforts going on locally that are working for the transition to a post-cheap energy society.These are too many to mention here, but here is a list of some of the current or recent things most connected to TSC:♦ Our 16-point "Climate Action Community Response" to ensure that the City Climate Action Plan is as |
 | March Newsletter (Mar 2011)
Transition Santa Cruz Newsletter March 2011 Dear Subscriber, What do singing, dancing, storytelling, and poetry have to do with saving the Earth? Everything, it turns out. I was reminded of this recently while previewing The Economics of Happiness, a brilliant new movie TSC is co-sponsoring this month (see below). The movie features the people of Ladakh, in the Himalayas, whose rich, sustainable culture was a stranger to unemployment, pollution, and homelessness until the pressures of globali |
 | February Newsletter (Feb 2011)
Transition Santa Cruz Newsletter February 2010 Dear Subscriber, “By unleashing the collective genius of those around us…we can build ways of living that are more connected, more enriching and that recognize the biological limits of our planet.” —Rob Hopkins, founder, Transition Initiatives Since Transition Santa Cruz published its Towards a Sustainable Water Plan for Santa Cruz last August, the collective genius of the community has begun to generate sustainable water |
 | January Newsletter (Jan 2011)
Transition Santa Cruz Newsletter January 2010Dear Subscriber,Happy New Year! As we get underway with 2011, those of us in the Transition SC steering group are looking forward to finding ever more effective ways for getting the ideas of Transition out into the community. We hope to see local resilience increase beyond anything we've allowed ourselves to dream so far.At the same time, it is honest to say that we have discovered by trial and error that building a Transition Initiative here is diffe |
 | December Newsletter (Dec 2010)
Transition Santa Cruz Newsletter December 2010Dear Subscriber,As I sat in my car in the maddening traffic at Hwy. 1 and Hwy. 9 the other day, I wondered, what is essential in a local climate action plan (CAP)? Transportation accounts for perhaps half of the greenhouse gas emissions in our county. So should the highway bridge over the river be widened? What steps do we need to take now to meet our city CAP's goal of 30% reduction in emissions by 2020?Transition Santa Cruz is taking the lead, alon |
 | November Newsletter (Nov 2010)
Transition Santa Cruz Newsletter November 2010Dear Subscriber,Many of us a breathed a big sigh of relief when Prop. 23, which would have set California's global warming action back by many years, went down. And Santa Cruz now has a draft Climate Action Plan, with an excellent goal of reducing emissions 30% in the next 10 years. However, the Plan faces an uphill battle to get the "teeth" in it that it needs in order to achieve its goal. Here, as elsewhere, business as usual does not yield e |
 | October Newsletter (Oct 2010)
Transition Santa Cruz Newsletter October 2010Dear Subscriber,Happy Birthday, Santa Cruz!October is the month Santa Cruz' birthday is traditionally celebrated, because Mission Santa Cruz was founded around this time of year in 1791. TSC took the occasion this year to celebrate not just the 219 years since then, but the entire 10,000 year history of humans (that we know of) living in this place.Last Saturday, about 130 people gathered at Louden Nelson Auditorium to celebrate with a multi-musician |
 | September Newsletter (Sep 2010)
Transition Santa Cruz Newsletter September 2010Dear Subscriber,After three years of hard work by climate action coordinator Ross Clark and many other City staff, the City of Santa Cruz has released its draft Climate Action Plan. Now it's time for the rest of us to step up and do what only a community can do: make a good plan great. For my thoughts on why our efforts are crucial, click here. The draft Plan includes recommendations on how the City will reach its goal of 30% reduction in greenhouse |
 | August Newsletter (Aug 2010)
Transition Santa Cruz Newsletter August 2010Dear Subscriber,Transition Initiatives have garnered the attention and participation of many thousands of people around the world in a few short years, and much of the reason is their great hopefulness. We seem to represent an alternative to doom, gloom, and also to the adversarial politics many of us have become discouraged about. Like other Transition Initiatives, TSC attemps to unite the local population around positive visions for what we can creat |
 | July Newsletter (Jul 2010)
Transition Santa Cruz Newsletter July 2010Dear Subscriber,Those of us interested in the Transition movement are acutely aware of the multiple crises that lend urgency to the work of relocalization. We have a tendency to face things--such as the peaking of all kinds of resources--that most people would rather forget about. It is very, very important that we continue living awarely. It's also important to acknowledge that this is not easy to do. We need community in order to even think about the w |
 | June Newsletter (Jun 2010)
Transition Santa Cruz Newsletter June 2010Dear Subscriber,As the oil continues to gush in the Gulf, transitioning off fossil fuels is a topic that may make sense to more people than ever before. I count myself as lucky to be part of a worldwide movement to respond to the urgent needs of the time with positive community initiative.Transition is both heady and heart-y. Yesterday I made a presentation to the City Council, explaining what TSC is. I had tailored my presentation to what I thought of a |
 | 2/10 Newsletter (Feb 2010)
Transition Santa Cruz Newsletter February 2010Dear Subscriber,A couple of us had the pleasure of attending a meeting recently of Citizens for a Sustainable Monterey County. This group has done impressive work in spawning separate sustainability initiatives in Salinas, Monterey, Pacific Grove, Seaside, Big Sur, and Carmel Valley. All these groups draw strength through being part of CSMC.I shared with them the sense of hope and significance many of us here derive from being part of the internation |
 | May Newsletter (May 2010)
Transition Santa Cruz Newsletter May 2010Dear Subscriber,Transition Santa Cruz aspires to be a community of communities. The plan is for working groups in various issue areas to be linked by their vision of building community resilience. This plan is coming to fruition, as there are now several working groups. If you'd like to explore getting involved in a working group, email:Food Working Group, Michael WeaverHousing & Land Use, Rick LonginottiSustainable Water, Julie BoudreauHeart & So |
 | 4/10 Newsletter (Apr 2010)
Transition Santa Cruz Newsletter April 2010Dear Subscriber,April brings a good harvest of Transition events. The Food Group is expanding (see to the right), and a Water Group is forming (see below).The Heart and Soul group has begun a really lovely series based on Joanna Macy's work, Anna Lappe is speaking on Climate Change and Agriculture, and TSC is co-sponsoring an intriguing new event, Design Renaissance 2010. But wait, there's more... Best,Michael Levy Sustainable Water Group FormingA Trans |
 | 3/10 Newsletter (Mar 2010)
Transition Santa Cruz Newsletter March 2010Dear Subscriber,Looking at the events in this newsletter, a newcomer to Transition may ask, "How can this all be one project? Are these people lacking focus?" The range of events is indeed broad, from a support group mentioning "inner journeys" to a forum on desalination.However, this is not a problem with lack of focus. Rather, it reflects the large—and sometimes daunting—size of the task that lies in front of us. The Transition project is |
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