[url=http://thetyee.ca/Blogs/TheHook/Environment/2010/11/02/peak-oil-task-force-recommends/]Peak oil task force recommends steps to reduce oil dependency[/url]
The first Canadian task force to tackle “peak oil” is recommending that the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District work to reduce oil imports and exports by 2.6 per cent annually.
The “boldest recommendation” from the Energy Resilience Task Force is for the SLRD to adopt a peak oil resolution and the Oil Depletion Protocol an international agreement that asks signatories to reduce oil imports and exports. The peak oil resolution would call for peak oil to be considered a serious issue; call for funding for assessments of oil use; and have the SLRD board endorse the Oil Depletion Protocol. The task force’s draft report was delivered to the SLRD board this week. It expects to hold public meetings the last week of November.
The task force was struck in March 2010 as part of the SLRD’s Climate and Energy Planning Process. Among other things the aim of the task force is to review “current and credible” data with respect to peak oil energy production and “related societal implications.”
An executive summary states that Peak Oil is defined as the point at which global oil production reaches a maximum output peaks and then begins to decline. The Task Force did not give itself a mandate to debate whether Peak Oil will happen. Instead it relied on “generally held” expert opinions that Peak Oil is inevitable and “may have already occurred.”
The report provides various recommendations on how to respond to Peak Oil and build resilience with respect to energy particularly oil and gas.
Other recommendations are divided into categories such as Land Use Community Energy Systems Infrastructure and Social Health and Emergency Services.