RESOLUTION No. 36407
Establish a Peak Oil Task Force to assess Portland’s exposure to diminishing supplies of oil and natural gas and make recommendations to address vulnerabilities (Resolution)
ediate future; and
WHEREAS, U.S. oil and natural gas production have peaked and are now in decline, ensuring our nation’s continued and growing dependence on oil and natural gas imported from politically unstable regions; and WHEREAS, a growing body of energy industry experts believe that the world has already arrived at, or will soon arrive at, the peak of global oil production, which will be followed by an inevitable decline in available supply thereafter; and
WHEREAS, global demand for oil and natural gas continue to increase; and
WHEREAS, following the global peaks of oil and natural gas production, the interaction of decreasing supply and increased demand will cause the price of oil and natural gas to become more volatile; and
WHEREAS, the United States Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory has stated that, “The problems associated with world oil production peaking will not be temporary, and past ‘energy crisis’ experience will provide relatively little guidance. The challenge of oil peaking deserves immediate, serious attention, if risks are to be fully understood and mitigation begun on a timely basis”; and
WHEREAS, the City of Portland and its citizens and businesses depend on oil and natural gas for their economic welfare and their most critical activities, including transportation and food supply; and
WHEREAS, a large majority of money spent on fossil fuels leaves Oregon and provides no local economic benefit, while many of the solutions to lessening dependence on fossil fuels result in local jobs and substantial economic benefits;
WHEREAS, Portland residents and businesses are not currently aware of the full implications of an impending decline and will greatly benefit from an objective source of information on this topic; and
WHEREAS, the City of Portland has adopted the Local Action Plan On Global Warming, the success of which depends upo