Dear 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, along with Ecology Action, People Power, and other local groups, in drafting a 15-point "must have" list for inclusion in the CAP. It will be signed (we hope) by many local environmental groups. Although we have not reached the point of community consensus around a true "Energy Descent" plan, the CAP is a great opportunity for us to rally as a community and move in the direction of agreement.
City staff has valuable perspectives on what can and should be done--represented in the current draft of the CAP. These will certainly not be identical to the perspectives of the groups working on the 15-point list, nor of everyone in the community.
This will be local democracy in action--especially with your involvement. In the past, City staff views have tended to prevail, but we can't let them decide this one alone. Public comment period on the CAP ends January 6. Let me know what you think.
—Michael Levy
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Tapping our group wisdom
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Monday, January 10, 2011 - Monday, January 31, 2011
6:30 pm - 9:00 pm
Unitarian Church, 6401 Freedom Blvd., Aptos
RSVP here
Please join us for four Monday evenings of vital conversations. Each week we will explore some of the underlying assumptions that may be preventing us from taking action or influencing our effectiveness in the birthing of a world that works for all. We'll explore topics such as:
Money...Social Justice...Climate Change...
Militarism...Religion/ Spirituality...
Bring an open mind, a willingness to share honestly, and your skepticism.
This is a free series but, for consistency and group cohesion, we are asking people not to drop in, but to please come to the first session or make arrangements with the facilitator.
More information available here.
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Transition Training in the Bay Area
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Friday-Sunday, January 28-30
Sonoma, CA
Whether you want to increase your leadership in Transition Santa
Cruz, or start a new Transition initiative elsewhere (wink, wink, nudge,
nudge mid-county and south county folks!), this course will leave you
well-equipped.
Led by experienced Transition trainers Kat Steele and Scott McKeown, the course describes how to catalyze, build and facilitate a successful
Transition Initiative. It is packed with imaginative and inspiring ways
to engage your community, and delves into the theory and practice
of Transition that has worked so well in hundreds of communities around the world.
More information here.
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Wear your true colors!
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TSC T-shirts are now available!
These make good presents! And what a great conversation starter!
Screenprinted by BU Productions (Barrios Unidos) in 5 colors on organic cotton, "natural" color shirts, they feel great to wear.
They're $15 each. Get one by emailing or calling us at 427-9916, and tell us your size.
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Contact Details
831-427-9916
http://transitionsc.org
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Living with
a Purpose
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A while ago, we asked for stories of how Transition ideas have impacted your life. Here's one man's response.
Once the full magnitude of what it really means to live without oil hit me, along with the possible rocky ride of this transition, I was absolutely stunned and frightened. I realized quickly that being a "survivalist" was not going to insure my survival and I needed to belong to a group of those who understood and were preparing for this transition. We all are going to depend on each other--we can’t do this by ourselves. Little did I know that Transition Santa Cruz existed.
It was wonderful to find TSC and that there were hundreds of Transition Towns around the world working on the same issues of Peak Oil and Climate Change. My despair was turning into hopefulness. I attended a Transition event called "Economics As If People Mattered" just at the time of our economic meltdown and was quickly inspired to take action at home and in the community.
Learning to garden, conserving water in creative ways, re-skilling to learn how to live happily without things made from oil, and buying locally to support a resilient local economy were just the beginning. I learned a lot of skills to help me through the transition.
But a much, much greater benefit, way beyond the new skills I learned, was the vital importance of creating a real community. A community that was going to help each other through all this--one in which I belonged.
--Robert Johnston
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