Spring FSELC Calendar

2008-09 Amateur Naturalist Series: Geology of the Columbia River Gorge

Thursday, April 16th, 7:00 p.m. (Optional field trip Sunday, April 19th)
Straub Environmental Learning Center, 1320 A Street, Salem
$5 per person; RSVP required (Call 503-391-4145 or email lisa@fselc.org)

2009 Sustainability Workshops: Green Investment

Tuesday, April 14th, 7:00 p.m.
Straub Environmental Learning Center, 1320 A Street, Salem
Coordinated and co-hosted by Willamette University. Free and open to the public.

10th Annual Earth Day Celebration at Oregon Garden

Saturday, April 18th, 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
The Oregon Garden Earth Day has become a focal point for the Mid-Willamette Valley . Families can enjoy kid's activities, plant and garden sales and educational demonstrations. Local Oregon musicians will be featured throughout the day along with 35 indoor exhibitors and food. Earth Day will continue to be a free event to encourage people to learn about stewardship of the Earth. For more information

Nature Kids: Youth Naturalist Classes

Tree Time! The Importance of Trees
Grades 4 and 5 – Wednesday, April 22nd, 4 – 5:30 p.m.
Straub Environmental Learning Center, 1320 A Street, Salem
Class is free, RSVP REQUIRED. Call or email Lisa at 503-391-4145 or lisa@fselc.org for more information.

2009 Sustainability Workshops
Green Landscape: Tuesday, April 21st, 7:00 p.m.
Green Cuisine: Tuesday, April 28th, 7:00 p.m.

Straub Environmental Learning Center, 1320 A Street, Salem
Coordinated and co-hosted by Willamette University. Free and open to the public.

2008-09 Amateur Naturalist Series: Wildflower Identification

Tuesday and Wednesday, April 21st and 22nd (Optional field trip April 25th)
Straub Environmental Learning Center, 1320 A Street, Salem
$5 per person; RSVP required (Call 503-391-4145 or email lisa@fselc.org)
**Please note: this is a two-night class. Payment is $5 for both sessions and payment is due on the first night.

JUNKride 2009: Spotlighting Environmental and Human Health Impact of Plastic Marine Debris

Wednesday, April 22nd, 7:00 p.m.
Kaneko Auditorium, Willamette University, 1300 Mill St. SE

Dr. Marcus Eriksen and Anna Cummins, who have brought world attention to the “plastic soup” fouling our oceans, are embarking on a 2,000-mile bicycle ride/speaking tour from Vancouver to Tijuana in a quest to end the age of disposable plastics. Join us for their stop in Salem! Sponsored by FSELC and Willamette University Center for Sustainability. Free and open to the public. Note: Parking is located west of Sparks Field on the North side of Bellvue Street – no permit needed at 7:00 p.m. There is a pedestrian sky bridge over 12th Street to reach Tokyo International University of America, where Kaneko Auditorium is located.

2008-09 FSELC Lecture Series: Martin LeBlanc
Working Together to “Leave No Child Inside”

Thursday, April 23rd, 7:00 p.m.
Loucks Auditorium, Salem Public Library, 585 Liberty Street SE, Salem
Free and open to the public

Lisa Olivares
Environmental Education Coordinator
Friends of Straub Environmental Learning Center
Mailing Address: 765 14th Street NE, Salem, OR 97301
Physical Address: 1320 A Street NE, Salem, OR 97301
Phone: (503) 391-4145
www.fselc.org

The future of freight in Salem

This OPB story reminds me of a great line someone came up with:

I have seen the future and it has pedals

The stages of grief

A comment on the prior post about the CBC video introduction to peak oil went:

"We read a story in Wired a while back about Peak Oil. My husband was so down that he didn't read another newspaper or newsmag for months!"

A lot of people go through the stages of grief (Kubler-Ross) when they first realize that the life that abundant cheap oil has given the rich countries cannot survive when oil is no longer cheap: denial, bargaining, anger, depression, acceptance.

On the other hand, peak oil doesn't mean we're running out of oil -- the exact opposite in fact. Peak Oil is the moment of maximum global oil availability. So if there's ever a moment when we ought to be able to afford to prepare for the transition, it's at the peak.

And we better do it, because we will have to invest lots of energy now in the things we will want to rely on later, when oil (and thus all forms of energy) is much less abundant. Even a 2% per year decline in oil flows means that it only takes 36 years to put the world on half-rations for oil. And 2% decline rate is about the lowest that anyone suggests we'll see -- Cantarell in Mexico, the world's second largest field, is plunging at 15% a year or more. Sometimes all the glorious technology people think will save us is only making things worse, faster.

If you or your husband are ready to think about preparing for the coming transition to a post-oil world, you can check out the Salem Transition Initiative for Relocalization (STIR), a group that is just starting to organize around building the social resiliency we'll need to meet the challenge of a future that is likely to look so different from the immediate past.