Tina Clarke, a climate change speaker and Transition Town leader, visited Jamaica Plain from Western Massachusetts on Friday, Nov. 5 to speak to the community about how to become a Transition Town.

The presentation, "Transition Towns: From Oil Dependency to Local Resilience," is part of the JP Forum's New Economy Transition Series, which hopes to address how JP is going to be productive in the future.  Approximately 90 people attended, hoping to learn and possibly even start the Transition Town Movement in JP.

The night began with an introduction by Andrée Collier Zaleska, the founder of the JP Green House.  Zaleska and others bought an abandoned, 100-year-old building to create a zero carbon space and an urban model for sustainability.  Zaleska noted Clarke's success in achieving a similar space, stating "Tina lives in a below-zero energy, passive solar heated, Platinum LEED, low-toxic 'Power House,' which she helped design and build." 

Clarke told the audience she was always involved in environmental work.  Yet, after she learned about the Transition Town Movement in the UK, she decided to quit her job, work to achieving a Transition Town, and give free talks.

The movement, which started in Britain with one town, is now in thousands of towns.  The book, The Transition Handbook, was on the top of the list of books read by their Parliament.

"People in the UK like to know what their Parliament reads," she said. "Here, we'd like to know if they read!"

This idea is dependent on what is called 'Collective Genius.'  Clarke explained that scientific research reveals that human beings are smarter when they set aside their ego and work together.  More is accomplished when we explore things together.

She said here are three main reasons for us to be Transition Towns: Peak oil, global warming and economic instability.

"We use these issues because it's easiest to find common ground," she said, "and we can get the largest number of people together and then go from there."

Peak oil

Peak oil is the knowledge of governments and the oil industry that eventually we will hit a peak production of oil, and then, production will start to slope downwards, leaving us with less oil and higher prices.  Some think that we hit the max in 2005, others have predicted 2010 for years.  The industry has discussed shortages and their inevitability, and Lloyd's of London predicts that the cost of oil will be $200 per barrel by 2020.

Based on this fact alone, she said, "We need to transition down, off oil, or it could be catastrophic...  We need to decentralize energy production and produce at a local level."

Global warming and economic instability

She then spoke briefly on global warming, indicating the most of the audience already had knowledge on it, and she tied climate change to economic instability also.  She noted that small changes in temperatures can lead to food instability, and also related to the audience on a more personal level, stating, "Insurance companies, as you may know, are not providing flood insurance on the coast anymore because it's too expensive and prevalent."

But, there are multiple solutions- from Techno Fantasy to Mad Max.  We can invent ourselves out of it (Techno Fantasy) and keep consuming above and beyond our resources.  She explained there's been a lot of support for Green Tech Stability lately, which are things like using clothe bags and driving a Prius.  Then, there's the extreme, a total cutoff from oil and other energies (Mad Max).  Or, there's Earth Stewardship, which is a creative descent off energy with a community, not individual, focus.  It's Transition Towns!

Fred Brown of the Pittsburgh Larimer Experiment Station then took the podium to explain the movement he was leading.  Larimer, a two-square mile section of Pittsburgh, was a dying section of town, with its population dropping from 30,000 to 2,200 in a matter of 20 years.  Furthermore, the majority of residents are on state assistance and there is a large population of single mothers and elderly.  So, they decided to transition.  They collected the community, planted seeds, and then together came up with solutions to empower the community.  They focus on going green, increasing ownership (of businesses and of community), building a local economy and creating local food sources.

Currently, they have three projects in the works, and they have worked with city officials to acquire vacant lots to implement these projects.  They are in the process of creating a community market, where people can barter their goods and talents.  An urban farm is also in the works, and they've partnered with local grocery stores to sell their organic goods.  Finally, they will create a co-working space, where members of the community can rent the space for a low monthly fee ($150) and be able to use the facility and exchange information with other business owners.  They also are creating a Web-based interface to exchange ideas and to reveal environmental facts.  One example he gave was around the power of trees, and their effect on health.

Clarke then came back top emphasize the power of collective genius and noting human's desire to belong to place, community and ancestry.

"We can't do it on our own," she said. "You'd go crazy or be depressed.  Or, at least, you'd eat too much chocolate!"

She then went through the process of creating a Transition Town, but the most important concept is that "you organize community so that each person may give their gift.  It's not about sitting around debating in board rooms.  We've all been there, right?  It's about action.  Action now."

Clarke then went through the 12 steps to undergo this process, from organizing the first meeting to envisioning the community 20 years from now.  Throughout this process, she emphasized again and again the importance of doing things as groups and also the importance of not involving government until late in the process.

"The biggest mistake is to involve the government in the first step," she said. "We cannot rely on them, as they do not have the capacity to fund or provide.  They are not 'community.'"

The group then went through a demonstration of what the first 'Great Unleashing' is like.  Everyone got slips of papers, wrote down there ideas, and pasted them on boards for everyone to see.  The ideas were then going to be typed up and sent out to the group via e-mail, in hopes of connecting people and connecting current local projects.

There are two sites in which people can share information or learn more about transition towns, the US Transition site and the global Transition site.

The JP Forum asked for a $5 donation to help heat the Church in the winter or citizens can bring some sort of nonperishable food for the Church's food pantry. 

The next event is Buttoning Up for Winter: A Weatherization Workshop on Friday, Nov. 12.