Living Earth's Powerdown Circle: Civic and Democratic Institutions

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Living Earth's four-week discussion group in autumn 2005 on Richard Heinberg's "Powerdown" has evolved into an ongoing Powerdown Circle to support our own shifting responses to the prospect of "peak oil" and to encourage the wider community to join in the discussion. We are particularly interested in engaging people in positions to influence civic and private sector decisions that have community-wide impact and potential.

The implications of the end of cheap fuel for American culture and for global stability are immense. The changes on the horizon run so deep - economic, environmental, geopolitical - it is tempting to put our heads under the covers and hope for a magical rescue, or else to "bunker down" in a dangerous state of escalating fear and isolation. Both reactions - stubborn denial or societal panic - waste the narrow window of time available to think creatively, constructively, and cooperatively to prepare ourselves, our neighborhoods and communities, our city, and our society for an American future radically different than the culture we have developed over the past two and a half centuries.

The Community Powerdown Circles will meet weekly beginning February 2006 for five weeks, and continue bi-weekly through May. The discussions will focus on a range of issues relative to the end of cheap fuel, and consider how we can best find our way to a future that is cooperative, just, sustainable, and at peace.

Tonight's program: Civic and Democratic Institutions

What are the possible impacts on civic stability and cooperation, and how do we ensure that power is held by the people to maintain our Constitutional rights and liberties?