Guiding our communities from oil dependency to local resilience
 
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RESOURCES

The Transition movement takes a look at the sweeping problems we face, and then consciously designs a plan to grow local resilience -- our ability to flex and adapt.  

The following resources will assist you in understanding the problems, as well as taking positive action which prepares your family, friends, and community.

peak oil ... climate change

biocapacity  ... economic contraction

the Transition concept ... What We Can Do ... español

 
Peak Oil
  • Peak Oil Visually Explained (VIDEO 3 minute, English)
  • Peak Oil Primer, Energy Bulletin
  • Peak Oil for Dummies, Lionel Badal (ASPO peer reviewed)
  • Future Scenarios, by David Holmgren (shorter online version) or Future Scenarios: How Communities Can Adapt to Peak Oil and Climate Change, by David Holmgren (expanded book version) (TLA)
  • PowerDown, by Richard Heinberg
  • "Can renewable energy make a dent in fossil fuels?" CNET review of book by Ripudaman Malhotra about the Cubic Mile of Oil
  • Quotes:
    • "One thing is clear: the era of easy oil is over" -- David J. O'Reilly, Chairman & CEO, Chevron Oil, July 2005 (source, additional source)
    • "Shell estimates that after 2015 supplies of easy-to-access oil and gas will no longer keep up with demand." -- Jeroen van der Veer, the chief executive of Royal Dutch Shell (source)
    • “One day we will run out of oil. We have to leave oil before oil leaves us, we have to prepare ourselves for that day. The earlier we start, the better, because all of our economic and social system is based on oil, so to change from that will take a lot of time and a lot of money and we should take this issue very seriously.”  -- Dr Fatih Birol, the chief economist at the respected International Energy Agency (IEA) in Paris, which is charged with the task of assessing future energy supplies by OECD countries. (source)
 
Climate Change
 
Biocapacity (a.k.a. Global Footprint)
 
Economic Contraction
 
The Transition Movement
  • The Transition Primer (free online), by the Transition Network explains the underlying concepts of the Transition approach, including the action steps that Transition initiatives are implementing
  • Transition Culture, the insightful and entertaining blog of Transition concept founder Rob Hopkins
  • The Transition Handbook, by Rob Hopkins, the handbook to growing Transition action in your local community.  A free online version without images
  • Transition United States offers trainings and resources.
  • the international Transition Network

The Transition movement is founded on Permaculture principles.

Transition in Los Angeles:

 

Energy Descent Action Plans : 
The Energy Descent Action Plan (EDAP) is what uniquely distinguishes the Transition process from all other "greening" efforts.  Early efforts of Transition initatives (awareness-raising, reskilling events, networking) are designed to get a community ready to envision a powered-down, lower carbon future.  Next, the Transition initiative forms the working groups which will create the EDAP.  These teams analyse what resources we currently have to work with, create a vision of where we want to be and use backcasting techniques to determine the pathway toward that brilliant future.  After the EDAP is published, efforts are directed toward getting the EDAP ideas incorporated into other area planning tools (city planning, etc.).  Eventually, the Transition initative will focus on implementation of the EDAP:  gearing up skills, installing physical projects, building relationships, and accumulating the tools necessary to make the EDAP vision come alive.

 
What We Can Do

many articles and local resources are accessible via these webpages:

 
 
 
Español
 
 
 

 

THE TRANSITION LOS ANGELES LIBRARY
Books, movies, and other materials marked (TLA) are avaliable for borrowing from the Transition Los Angeles library.  It is located at the TLA office, 6700 W. 83rd, Westchester (Los Angeles 90045).  The office is open most Thursday afternoons (phone first: 310 670 4777).  Movies are public showing license and are available to TLA pods free of charge. 

Sorry, we can not ship.

Resources marked (LAPL) are available through the Los Angeles Public Library system.  Online you can place holds and request that materials be transferred to your local branch (a free service).

 
     
 

DIAGRAMS

These diagrams are referred to frequently in our Transition talks and courses.

 
 

explanation:  Future Scenarios, by David Holmgren

 
     
   
  explanation: An animated journey through the Earth's climate history (BBC)