to: Mayor and Town Council
from: Jim Ward, Mayor Pro Tem and Sustainability, Energy and Environment (SEE) Committee Chair
Council Member Bill Strom
Council Member Laurin Easthom
Council Member Ed Harrison
subject: Resolution for Peak Oil Awareness and Preparedness in Chapel Hill
date: October 27, 2008
The purpose of this report is to provide information about Peak Oil and to ask that the Council consider adopting the attached resolution which acknowledges Peak Oil and the need for advancing awareness and preparedness of this issue in Chapel Hill.
Peak Oil is generally defined as the point in time when half of the world’s oil reserves have been used, therefore leading to increased scarcity of this commodity and corresponding price hikes.
At the April 2, 2008 SEE Committee meeting, representatives from NC Powerdown made a presentation about the potential impacts and consequences of Peak Oil. Additionally, NC Powerdown offered to assist the Committee in developing a resolution for the Town Council’s consideration on the topic of Peak Oil awareness and planning.
At the April 14, 2008 Council Business Meeting, the SEE Committee asked the Council to refer the Peak Oil resolution request to the newly formed Sustainability Committee and Town staff (see link below). At the August 12, 2008 Sustainability Committee meeting, the Committee unanimously agreed to issue a statement of support as an information item at the September 8, 2008 Council Business Meeting (see link below). At the September 8, 2008 Council Business Meeting, the Council received the aforementioned information item from the Sustainability Committee and passed a motion to refer the item to the SEE Committee for the development of a Peak Oil resolution.
At its September 19, 2008 meeting, the SEE Committee reviewed a sample resolution from NC Powerdown and requested that the Chair work with the staff to develop a modified form of the resolution based on the Committee’s input. The SEE Committee also asked that this modified version be provided to the Sustainability Committee for additional review and feedback at its next regularly scheduled meeting on October 14, 2008. The SEE Committee agreed to revisit the modified version of the resolution, with comments from the Sustainability Committee, at its next regularly scheduled meeting on October 17, 2008.
At its October 14, 2008 meeting, the Sustainability Committee reviewed the version of the resolution modified by the SEE Committee Chair and staff liaison. The Committee suggested some changes to the document in order to provide greater clarity. None of the suggested edits were considered substantial, and the Committee voted unanimously to support the revised version of the resolution and to send it back to the SEE Committee for further evaluation.
At its October 17, 2008 meeting, the SEE Committee reviewed the revised version of the Peak Oil resolution and unanimously agreed to propose that the Council consider adopting the revised version of the resolution (attached) at the October 27, 2008 Council business meeting.
The memos referenced above can be found at the following
links:
http://townhall.townofchapelhill.org/agendas/2008/04/14/4k/
(April 14, 2008)
http://townhall.townofchapelhill.org/agendas/2008/09/08/5e/
(September 8, 2008)
The SEE Committee is concerned with the issue of Peak Oil and believes that it is important for the Town to explore opportunities to better safeguard Chapel Hill against the challenges of a Peak Oil economy. It will be important for the Town and the community as a whole to begin preparing for and developing mitigation strategies in response to an economy of higher fuel costs with corresponding price hikes in fuel-dependent commodities. To this end, the Committee supports the Sustainability Committee in its ongoing efforts to incorporate peak oil awareness and planning in its sustainability work plan.
That the Council adopt the attached resolution to acknowledge Peak Oil and the need for advancing awareness and preparedness of this issue in Chapel Hill.