One of the first reactions I had when I heard about the implications of Peak Oil was that I needed to become a survivalist. I wondered how I would grow and preserve my own food, provide the energy needed to power a modest household, and then protect it all from the hungry mob that might come to steal it from me. I envisioned those few who were prepared being attacked and raided by those who were unprepared. This could happen, of course. Though, perhaps I’d watched too many Twilight Zone episodes and zombie movies in my childhood. I’m particularly reminded of the episode called The Shelter (which you can watch in its entirety online).

After learning more about the issues and pondering exactly what steps to take to prepare, I’ve grown more and more interested in how people can work together within their communities to ensure not just survival, but a happy life. Mobs of hungry marauders don’t need to occur if everyone participates in ensuring their own survival and that of others. The message from Pat Murphy, author of Plan C: Community Survival Strategies for Peak Oil and Climate Change and co-producer of
The Power Of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil, was that if we build community and provide people with solutions to the issues we face and will face, we will not only survive, but we will be happier than we all are now in the process.

The crux of Mr. Murphy’s message is that we have several choices we can make in dealing with the issue of Peak Oil and Climate Change (which are not necessarily indepedent concepts).

Plan A is to pretend that there really isn’t a problem. We see a lot of people doing this already, though the more expensive oil becomes, the more likely it is that people will pay attention.

Plan B is to believe that technology will provide all of the solutions we need so that we don’t actually have to make changes at all. Our current level of consumption is simply not sustainable, and if alternative energy is to have any success, we will need to reduce consumption and conserve.

Plan C, the title of Mr. Murphy’s book, is about Curtailing consumption, Conserving everything, and building Community. Currently, few of us even know our neighbors, much less work with them to make life better. Educating each other with the knowledge we need in order to transition to a post-oil world is going to have to start with meeting others in our community and getting to know them.

Plan D is extinction. I think we are an amazingly resilient species, as fragile as we seem sometimes. We survived before oil and have made it through several warming/cooling periods. Though, I suppose that had we lived during the days of the dinosaur, we might well have believed that they would go on forever. Ironically, it’s their demise that has given us such a cheap source of energy for so long.

Mr. Murphy is actively working on Plan C, and I think we should be too.

Mr. Murphy is the Executive Director of Community Solutions and lectures on the issues of energy and Peak Oil, geopolitics and lifestyle solutions. As well as designing and building active-solar homes, he has been instrumental in the formation of a sustainable community in Yellow Springs, Ohio.

While Mr. Murphy was not the first speaker at the conference, I want to start with him for two reasons: I think his message of working together within your community is an extremely important one, and the video of his speech is available now.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

I urge you to watch his presentation, in four parts, generously provided by Local Future. Maybe if we start off with the mindset of working together, the times ahead won’t be so tumultuous. Though, we might still want to prepare for the zombies, just in case.