Peak Moment is a television series emphasizing positive responses to energy decline and climate change through local community action. How can we thrive, build stronger communities, and help one another in this time of transition?
Peak Moment: Community Responses For a Changing Energy Future are weekly 28-minute programs featuring host Janaia Donaldson’s conversations and on-site tours with guests. It highlights practical solutions and responses towards a lower-energy, more connected, sustainable life.
How can we thrive, build stronger communities, and help one another in this time of transition?
The show is cablecast on several community-access TV stations including Nevada City, Auburn, Shasta area, and Sacramento area. Peak Moment is produced by Janaia Donaldson and directed by Robyn Mallgren of Yuba Gals Independent Media, and is a project of the Alliance for a Post Petroleum Local Economy (APPLE), a local Post Carbon Group in Nevada County, California.
More of Peak Moment and other local media from the Relocalization Network will be available soon with the launch of LocalPublicMedia.org–stay tuned.
[List of online video episodes that are available via Global Public Media.]
Episode 5: “Personal Responses to Peak Oil” with Mary Nelson.
Episode 6: “Self-sufficient Small Farms” with Janet Brisson and Renee Wade.
Episode 7: “Grass-fed Cattle Ranching” with David & Barbara Gallino.
Episode 9: “Growing Grower’s Markets” Organic farmers John Drew and Mary Walker explores the power of growers markets where local growers sell to local consumers–less fuel, fresher goods. Don’t miss Mary’s original song live in the studio!
Episode 10: “Waking Up to Peak Oil” After sisters Loretta and Karen O’Brien learned of Peak Oil, their lives became transformed as they worked to gather their family, learn permaculture, move towards more self-sufficiency, and deal with emotional challenges.
Episode 11: “Womens Response to Peak Oil” Loretta and Karen O’Brien explore womens’ emotional responses; concerns for children, family and health; nurturing activities like food-growing and building social networks in community.
Episode 12: “Sustaining Food, Sustainable Food” Shan Kendall discusses nutrition-dense foods that nourished traditional peoples. Usually high in quality animal fats, with fermented foods to aid digestion, these foods fostered low levels of chronic disease.
Episode 13: “Peak Oil: Challenge and Opportunity” Rick Hartmann covers the data about global oil production and consumption, while Michael Thompson envisions a healthier, better world on the other side of the peak.
Episode 14: “Post Carbon Institute” Celine Rich and Julian Darley, co-directors of Post Carbon Institute, discuss their rapidly-growing Relocalization network supporting small groups worldwide to reduce consumption and produce locally: Reduce 90%, Produce 10%.
Episode 15: “Climate Change and the State of the World” Worldwatch Institute Director of Research Gary Gardner discusses challenges and opportunities as climate change accelerates, and hopeful responses from the grass roots level.
Episode 16: “Climate Change in the Sierra Nevada” US Forest Service specialist Carol Kennedy’s graphs show already-reduced snow pack, longer summers, drier forests. She emphasizes the need to plan for and adapt to changing conditions.
Episode 17: “The Joy of Biking” Members of Nevada County’s Alliance for People-Powered Transportation discuss biking as a viable alternative to cars; safety, time-saving perspectives, strategies for getting started, and being equipped.
Episode 18: “Assessing Municipal Energy Vulnerability” Students in New College of California‘s Powerdown Project are preparing templates usable by cities to assess how their core services will be affected by rising fossil-fuel prices and shortages.
Episode 19: “Sebastopol: A Town Addresses Energy Decline” City councilman Larry Robinson discusses how rising energy prices and availability might affect services like fire, water, wastewater, law enforcement–and the citizen’s advisory group starting to address these issues.
Episode 20: “Citizens Advisory Group on Energy” Matt Stevens chairs the group formed to assess Sebastopol’s electricity use and its ability to respond to price increases and supply disruptions, and to make recommendations to reduce the city’s vulnerability.
Episode 21: “Living within the Natural Economy” Brian Weller of Willits Economic LocaLization (WELL) discusses their community’s process of building a secure, sustainable future based on RISC: Responsibility, Ingenuity, Security and Community. “When we depend on where we live for our livelihood, then we take care of it.”
Episode 22: “America’s First Rural ‘Green’ Hospital” Margie Handley illuminates innovative plans for the new Willits hospital, including LEED certification for resource-saving energy and materials, an organic garden to grow food for the hospital, a wellness center, and telemedicine.
Episode 23: “Forging Common Ground on Energy” Vice-Mayor Ron Orenstein worked with citizens to inventory Willits energy usage, including reduction strategies. Their work led to a unanimous council vote to install photovoltaics on city hall.
Episode 24: “A Rural County at the Crossroads” Mendocino supervisor Hal Wagenet scans from this rural county’s timber-extraction past to the challenges of a larger retired population’s high service needs. Amongst critical “Land Use” issues he adds an idea for mixed-used-building in a walkable Willits.
Episode 25: “MagneGas: From Sewage to Fuel Tank” Watch Ron Cole demonstrate converting any liquid to a gas similar to natural gas–and then drive off in the compressed-gas vehicle so fueled! He envisions its use in sewage treatment and neighborhood ‘gas production’ units that could plug into the natural gas grid.
Episode 26: “101 Solutions to Global Climate Change” Author Guy Dauncey’s lively, optimistic solutions for Peak Oil and climate crisis are do-able here and now. Conservation, efficiency, proven technologies, and emerging innovations will take us through this critical planetary energy transition.
Episode 27: “Learning from Cuba’s Response to Peak Oil” Megan Quinn of Community Solution discusses her visit to Cuba, a model for powerdown. This young woman sees Peak Oil as an opportunity to create the communities we want, but notes that we must reduce our consumption despite environmentalists’ assurances that biofuels will save us.
Episode 28: “Exploring the Terrain of Peak Oil” Michael Ruppert, publisher of From the Wilderness.com, has made connections between money, Peak Oil, and geopolitics for years. He discusses his move to Ashland and offers specific to-do’s around money and investment “in light of the imminent collapse of the U.S. economy”: invest locally.
