Proposed Letter to the Editor

Dear Editor or Whom it May Concern,

Just as we are beginning to feel the effects of global warming with more severe, frequent and unpredictable weather in our area, we are also feeling the effects of another phenomena which has up to this point received less publicity. It is called peak oil.
Briefly, the world's oil production has been increasing for several decades, and the peak oil theory says that this increase will slow, come to a halt, and we will find ourselves dependent on a diminishing, increasingly expensive oil supply. Oil will not disappear all of a sudden. It will merely become harder to find and more expensive to extract. So if we think our gas prices are high now, we have peak oil to look forward to.
There are many groups and individuals in our community who are already working to reduce our dependence on oil by reducing our energy use to save money and find alternative energy solutions for our area. The Manchester Challenge to replace regular incandescent lightbulbs with more efficient CFL's is a successful example of our community's potential for action on the issue of peak oil.
The goal of the Shires Environmental Alliance (SEA) is to bring greater awareness of peak oil to the Shires area, and to bring together individuals and existing action groups to see what we can do together to help our community not only to survive global climate change and peak oil, but to live up to the challenges of our times and to thrive locally with a variety of creative solutions.
When we think of our community ten, twenty, or one hundred years down the road, what do we envision? What if we could have an open community forum where members of the community can share and find support for their own ideas and visions (of which the following are just a few suggestions)? What if our area could supply its own sustainable energy, by converting dams to hydroelectric and by installing windmills? What if every home and business received an energy audit, streamlining our electrical grid and conserving energy with a more effiecient system? What if we could feed our area with local food, fresh and in season, without worrying about fuel surcharges on our produce and other groceries? The possibilities are endless, if our community is the source of these initiatives.
I am an undergraduate student at Vassar College, majoring in Environmental Studies, but I've always felt that my home community is the Shires region. Like many other people I am concerned about the future of my community, and I know that by communicating with others my concerns, hopes and visions, and by becoming a part of the dialogue, I will help my community to strengthen and grow to meet the challenges of the future.

Danielle Laberge