Resilience and Resistance: Building Sustainable Communities for a Post Oil Age

May 23, 2016

Based upon his experiences with Post Oil Solutions, the 10 year old, 501c3 organization that he helped found, Tim Stevenson’s Resilience and Resistance: Building Sustainable Communities for a Post Oil Age, is a collection of original, as well as previously-published essays that center around the author’s perspective on what communities need to do in order to both survive the climate crisis, as well as thrive in a post petroleum world.

The collection emphasizes the importance of re-localization, where communities increasingly learn to be self-sufficient around their basic needs. Central to this idea is the conviction that social justice must be at the heart of all efforts. This is emphasized in the essays that focus on food security and especially detail the initiatives that Post Oil has taken to make local food both accessible and affordable to our low-income neighbors.
 
In other essays, Stevenson argues for the importance of preparedness. For example, he calls for,“intentional communities,” where people purposely come together now, while there is still time, to prepare for severe weather events, share work and materials, and develop strategies where they can learn to be collaborative. He also calls for town select boards to organize Citizen Climate Committees that would help their citizens to become better prepared for the possible multiple effects of the growing crisis. Most of all, perhaps, he encourages people to just talk about climate change with their families, neighbors, work mates, and fellow students, as if it was a part of their daily reality
 
While emphasizing the importance of resilience and preparedness, Stevenson also believes that we have to resist Big Oil and its continuing efforts to drill for fossil fuels. From campaigns that encourage individuals and institutions to divest from petroleum companies to direct action and civil disobedience in the face of efforts to expand fossil fuel infrastructure, he believes that we have to build a large, popular movement to create the political will to keep the oil in the soil, the gas in the grass. and the coal in the hole.
 
60% of all the book sales go to support the work of Post Oil Solutions.

Tags: big oil, community resilience., relocalization

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