Transition Towns
| Published: 10th March 2008 22:36 |
Rossendale Climate Change Group's monthly series of lectures and events throughout 2008 round the theme of what we can actually do about the changing climate kicked off to a brilliant start with a talk by Ben Hughes about Transition Towns and how to regenerate the local economy.
The idea is that, according to geologists, we are going to hit peak oil some time between 2008 and 2014. After that oil will become more difficult to extract and more expensive. Add huge growing demand from India and China and the price of oil is going to rise steeply. The knock-on effect will be land turned over from growing food to growing bio-fuels. Add the effects of climate change and the price of food is also going to soar. It's started already in fact - we're at the beginning of the great price rises of the twenty first century and will soon find ourselves in a very different economic landscape. Supermarkets, with their immense transport and energy costs, will be priced out. Small businesses will again flourish and local communities will be forced to grow as much of their own food as they can.
Totnes, the first Transition Town, is already close to being carbon-neutral, as self-sufficient in energy as possible, grows most of its own food, and even has its own relatively inflation-proof currency. And all that in little more than 18 months. The beneficial side effects of Transition Towns in terms of community spirit and improved health are also immense.
There is a great opportunity for Rossendale here. If we can only get most of the population thinking in terms of buying local, much of what we need can be produced at prices that undercut the global giants under a Rossendale brand.
At last, something really exciting and optimistic coming out of the climate issue.
For more information on Transition Towns, please visit www.transitiontowns.org.
Rossendale Climate Change Group is hoping that as many as possible of the public will come to hear the next two talks at Alder Grange Community and Technology School, Calder Road, off Burnley Road, Rawtenstall, that will be closely interlinked with this one:
‘Food Prices, Nutrition and Health' on 18th March with Dr Melanie Newbould and Thomas Jackson
and ‘How I Grow My Vegetables' on 22nd April, both starting at 7.30pm
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