Speaking of learning vital skills for the future: Transition Town Salem organizing!

Some of you may recall the Salem Transition Initiative for Relocalization (STIR), which attracted some interest for a while three or four years ago, but never really jelled.

Thankfully, Oregon PeaceWorks is helping to promote a new crack at this vital idea under the name Transition Town Salem.  They're planning an organizing meeting for February 13 at the PeaceWorks office, second floor.  Contact PeaceWorks for details.

Transition Towns are communities working to build resilience in response to peak oil, climate change, and economic instability. OPW seeks to work with environmentalists, economists, city planners, government representatives and members of the public to develop both a plan and hands-on projects that will demonstrate the elements of resilience and sustainability to the Salem, OR community. We are looking for like-minded individuals, especially those with relevant expertise, in developing this program. We also seek to network with as many existing sustainability projects in the Mid-Willamette Valley as possible.

Our Mission: 

To educate and activate people to work for peace, justice and environmental sustainability.

104 Commercial St. NE Salem, Oregon 97301

Phone: 503-585-2767           Fax: 503-588-0088.

OPW Staff

#	Name	Position	Phone	Mobile Phone Number	Fax
1	Kerry Fox	Executive Director	503-585-2767
2	Peter Bergel	Program Director	503-371-8002
3	Carrie Adams	Office Manager & Event Coordinator	503-585-2767
4	Jeanette Hardison	Development Officer	503-585-2767
5	Office Staff	Office Staff	503-585-2767

TTS ( boy, I still prefer STIR ... just call it Salem Transition Initiative for Resiliency if you want to include that important theme ... But hey, a rose by any other name ....) will be holding an organizing meeting at PeaceWorks on February 13

Jump on this! Free Home Energy Audit for You, $50 to an Important Cause, Your cost: $0.00

Loft insulation (Photo credit: Southend-on-Sea in Transition)

Autumn has finally arrived - it's a great time to think about your home's energy efficiency.

In partnership with Neil Kelly Company and Clean Energy Works Oregon, I'm excited to share an exclusive offer for [Oregon League of Conservation Voters] supporters that will save you money and support OLCV's work. Read on!

Thank you,

Doug Moore
Executive Director, OLCV

The Neil Kelly Company is excited to support OLCV in this important election year. (Voter registration deadline is today [October 16] - please check that you are registered to vote, and if you are new to Oregon or have moved since the last election, don’t forget to re-register!)

As a pioneer in design-build remodeling, sustainable materials, and residential energy efficiency, Neil Kelly Company is a strong supporter of OLCV’s efforts to protect our natural legacy.

Improving your home’s energy efficiency this fall is one of the easiest ways to reduce energy use, while offering you greater comfort and utility bill savings. Last year, we completed 211 retrofits for an average savings of 2.8 tons of carbon per home per year and an average energy savings of 30 percent.

Together with Clean Energy Works Oregon, we’d like to offer you a unique opportunity to save energy while helping OLCV.

Just visit Clean Energy Works Oregon’s website and apply with the special Instant Rebate Code CNNLK222, and Neil Kelly Company will perform an energy audit of your home for free (valued at $500), and give $50 to OLCV.

Clean Energy Works Oregon’s unique program enables you to undertake energy improvements with no out-of-pocket costs, and offers a range of financial incentives upon project completion in many areas of the state. Currently, homeowners in greater Portland qualify for rebates of up to $2,000, while homeowners in other counties (Polk, Marion, Yamhill, Lane, Deschutes) are eligible for rebates of up to $2,000 or $3,000, depending on the county.

We strongly encourage you to act soon, as rebate levels in some counties will change November 30! Just apply at Clean Energy Works Oregon’s website with the Instant Rebate Code CNNLK222. You'll receive a free home energy audit, and we'll give OLCV $50! (Don't forget the code!)

We look forward to seeing you at OLCV's 16th Annual Celebration for the Environment next year, and thank you for your commitment to furthering the work of OLCV.

Sincerely,

Tom Kelly, President
Neil Kelly Company

Related articles

• Conducting a Home Energy Audit - Insulation
• October is the Perfect Time to Lay Groundwork for Energy Savings
• How Energy Efficient Is Your Home? Worth an Audit to See Results

WORD: Occupy Parenting — Getting big corporations out of our families

     The great thing about Thanksgiving itself is that it's the ultimate non-commercial holiday.  How do you sell people stuff when you're dealing with a holiday that's all about giving thanks for what you have?  
   You can't!  That's why the media and businesses work so hard to have you ignore the holiday, trying to prime you to go right for the "Black Friday" aspect of things, hoping you'll be all set for a four-week bacchanalia of debt-fueled spending.

  Nice to see some sanity creeping in.

OregonHelps.Org!

Marion-Polk Food Share sent out a services flier and a notice about the upcoming Letter Carrier Food Drive (last big drive between now and November --- May 8!). The website below caught my eye. Given how many people in Salem are struggling, this should be much more widely known. If you know someone who has had some economic struggles or reversals, this is a worthwhile site to check out:

Oregon Helps is a free, fast and easy to use web-based tool that asks visitors a few simple questions about their income and expenses and then estimates their potential eligibility for 33 federal, state and local services. Any information provided is completely confidential and anonymous. It is available in English, Spanish, Russian and Vietnamese.

Important: Help Salem create an energy strategy

Image via Wikipedia

Long overdue but all the more welcome as a result.

Help Shape a Community Energy Strategy for Salem!

Tuesday, December 1, 2009, 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. at the Salem Conference Center

9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Participate in Sessions on: Solar - Wind - Electric Vehicles
Financial incentives and tools to reduce energy, save costs, and generate jobs

1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. provide input on draft goals and actions for Salem’s Energy Strategy

Free and Open to the Public.
Lunch attendance requires an RSVP.
RSVP by contacting Annie Gorski at 503.588.6178 or agorski@cityofsalem.net.

Amen, amen, amen: Cities must focus on resiliency

Can't add anything to this:

Cities Must Become More Resilient to Survive

by Sarah Goodyear on July 14, 2009

The idea that cities are greener than suburbs has gotten a lot of attention lately. But a recently published book argues that in a future of diminishing resources, cities themselves are going to have to become much more efficient and inventive if they are to be sustainable -- indeed, if they are to survive at all.

The book is "Resilient Cities," by Peter Newman -- the man who coined the term "automobile dependence" -- Timothy Beatley and Heather Boyer. As Streetsblog Network member The Dirt (the blog of the American Society of Landscape Architects) writes, Newman and his colleagues say that some radical changes will be necessary if the world's cities are to avoid the worst-case scenarios of division or collapse:

Solar Settlement, in Freiburg, Germany. Photo via Young Germany.

"Resilient Cities"... presents a range of options to help adapt cities to lessen a dependence on petroleum, and create more resilient urban areas. The authors argue that the urban centers that may best survive a climate and energy crisis are those that engage in long-term planning and design for resiliency, and create sustainable, inter-connected modes of transportation; invest in renewable energy technology and smart grids; support walkable, high-density living; and provide for self-sufficient food production and protection of urban biodiversity... "It is clear that the changes needed for a resilient city are not just technology substitutions, they are in the business paradigms, the culture of the utilities, and the organization that can enable new ways of managing our cities; every household needs to be a part of it."

According to Newman and his co-authors, "cities throughout history have competed by examining innovations in other cities and building upon them. This [...] is the basis of wealth creation. We see the the response to climate change and peak oil as the impetus for the next burst of innovation." “Resilient Cities” also outlines a set of specific recommendations for making existing cities more adaptable to changes in climate and energy usage.

The authors write about many concrete models of cities such as Freiburg, Germany, that are implementing the types of initiatives they deem necessary. But will the world's cities be able to act decisively in time to save themselves? In the US, at least, they face some formidable obstacles. Let us know what you think in the comments.. . .