Press Release, 10 December 2005

At its monthly meeting on December 6th, the Franklin Town Board unanimously approved a resolution establishing a Citizens' Commission to assess the needs and resources of the Town of Franklin in the face of Peak Oil. To date, participants in the Franklin Citizens’ Commission include (in alphabetical order): Thomas W. Butts, Elliot Cohen, Brandon Dennis, Rodney Hebbard, Carole Marner, Eugene Marner, Robert Miller, and Dawn Ritz.

The idea for the Commission grew out of the talk by Richard Heinberg at Hartwick College’s Slade Theatre on October 27th which was called “Peak Oil: The Challenge and Opportunity of Petroleum’s Waning Days.” During his presentation, Professor Heinberg noted that his students at New College of California in Santa Rosa are working with the small California city of Sebastopol to develop a plan for reducing energy use and dependency. Heinberg noted that their work was based upon a similar project undertaken in Kinsale, Ireland. Since then, the Franklin citizens’ group have learned that a group of Tompkins County private citizens are working on what they call the Tompkins County Relocalization Project. These efforts by Tompkins County and Kinsale are likely to serve as a starting point and guide for the Franklin project, the goal of which is rebuilding the local economy and nurturing community solidarity. Interested citizens who would like to participate are invited to contact Gene Marner at 607.829.8451.

The text of the Franklin Town Board resolution follows:

Whereas oil production in the lower 48 states peaked in 1970, making the United States ever more dependent upon imported oil, and

Whereas a growing body of professional opinion in the energy industries believes that the world has already arrived or will soon arrive at the peak of global oil production, and

Whereas North American production of natural gas has already peaked, and

Whereas no alternatives are in place or ready to substitute for oil and natural gas and are decades away from being ready, and

Whereas the economic, political, and social implications of declining energy resources are not generally understood, and are likely to have dramatic effects upon every aspect of our lives, and

Whereas, in conditions of energy decline and reduced mobility, communities will be forced to rely ever more upon local resources, therefore,

Be it resolved that the Franklin Town Board authorizes the creation of a Citizens' Commission to examine the issues raised by declining energy supplies and rising energy costs, to explore the needs and resources of the Town of Franklin affected by energy costs and supplies, and to report back to the Board and to the citizens of Franklin the results of its discussions and deliberations.