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BOOKS

The following books are recommended by group members. This is by no means a comprehensive list of all books pertaining to peak oil, self-sufficiency, permaculture/gardening, or energy. For further reading suggestions, try this list of must-read peak oil books or the Portland Permaculture book list.

	Powerdown: Options and Actions for a Post-Carbon World by Richard Heinberg (2004) This stark look at prospects for a truly sustainable culture speaks frankly about how it is time to "Powerdown," or to reduce per-capita resource usage in wealthy countries, develop alternative energy sources, and much more.
	The Party's Over: Oil, War and the Fate of Industrial Societies by Richard Heinberg (2003) The world is about to run out of cheap oil, and this updated bestseller predicts the implications of this era, with recommendations for personal, community, national, and global actions. Also, check out "Oil Depletion and the State of the World", an eight page synopsis of The Party's Over
	High Noon for Natural Gas: The New Energy Crisis by Julian Darley (2004) Blackouts, rising gas prices, changes to the Clean Air Act, proposals to drill in the wilderness . . . should we be concerned? Darley explores our dangerous dependence on natural gas, its declining supply, increasing costs, environmental disruption, and explosive potential.
	Relocalize Now!: Getting Ready for Climate Change and the End of Cheap Oil by Post Carbon Institute (2005) Roughly a quarter of Relocalize Now! is devoted to brief but deep and powerful analyses of the main problems; in the next quarter we outline a transition strategy called Global Relocalization and sketch the lineaments of the large measures such as the Parallel Public Infrastructure; the final half of the book consists of specific projects for local communities to begin acting on.
	The Empty Tank: Oil, Gas, Hot Air, and the Coming Global Financial Catastrophe by Jeremy Leggett (2005) In The Empty Tank, Jeremy Leggett, an internationally renowned geologist and energy entrepreneur who spent the 1980s working for Big Oil, sounds the alarm about an unprecedented crisis. Leggett shows how major energy producers have been exposed providing false information about climate change and underground reserves. The Empty Tank explains how we became addicted to oil and why that addiction is leading us toward disaster. Yet Leggett also points the way forward.
	Petrodollar Warfare: Oil, Iraq and the Future of the Dollar by William R. Clark (2005) Far from being a response to 9/11 terrorism or Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction, Petrodollar Warfare argues that the invasion was precipitated by two converging phenomena: the imminent peak in global oil production and the ascendance of the euro currency. Clark examines US dollar hegemony and the unsustainable macroeconomics of petrodollar recycling, pointing out that the issues underlying the Iraq war also apply to geostrategic tensions between the United States and other countries, including the member states of the European Union, Iran, Venezuela and Russia.
	The Oil Age is Over: What to Expect as the World Runs Out of Cheap Oil, 2005-2050 by Matt Savinar (2005) Author of the eye-opening website, www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net, Matt Savinar provides you with an brutally-honest and unabashed analysis of what to expect as the world enters an era of permanent oil scarcity.
	The End of Oil: On the Edge of a Perilous New World by Paul Roberts (2005) In this frank and balanced investigation, Roberts delves deep into the economics and politics of oil, and considers the promises and pitfalls of alternatives such as wind power, hybrid cars, and hydrogen. A new Afterword brings the book up to the minute.
	Overshoot: The Ecological Basis of Revolutionary Change by William Catton (1982) Excerpts here, here and here
	Twilight in the Desert: The Coming Saudi Oil Shock and the World Economy by Matthew R. Simmons (2005) Matt Simmons has created a compelling case that Saudi Arabia production will soon reach an apex, after which its production will decline and the world will be confronted with an immense and potentially catastrophic oil shortage.
	The Long Emergency: Surviving the Converging Catastrophes of the Twenty-First Century by James Howard Kunstler (2005) As a result of artificially cheap fossil-fuel energy, we have developed global models of industry, commerce, food production, and finance over the last 200 years. But the oil age, which peaked in 1970, is at an end. This book tells us just what to expect after the honeymoon of affordable energy is over, preparing us for economic, political, and social changes of an unimaginable scale.
	Hubbert's Peak: The Impending World Oil Shortage by Kenneth S. Deffeyes (2003) Based on the premise that an energy crisis is due to happen by the year 2006, the author of this text argues that, though the near-term scenario is ugly, there is something we can do to thrive as countries and individuals after "Hubbert's Peak" (the predicted oil shortage) has passed.
	When Technology Fails: A Manual for Self Reliance & Planetary Survival by Matthew Stein (2000) This book provides information that will help the average person prepare for the uncontrollable forces and events that will affect everyone on the planet within the next 20 years. A user-friendly "bible" in the tradition of the Whole Earth Catalog, this book is the first to offer, under one cover, basic instructions and recommended resources for the wide range of skills and technologies necessary for self-reliant living and coping with all kinds of emergency conditions.
	The Big Book of Self-Reliant Living: Advice and Information on Just about Everything You Need to Know to Live on Planet Earth by Walter Szykitka (2002) Rural homesteaders and urban apartment dwellers alike will find a mother lode of practical information in this book. This selective compendium of public-domain documents, many of them no longer available today, provides in one single volume a wealth of knowledge and useful instruction on just about every aspect of self-sufficiency, from building a living structure and growing food to staying healthy and using tools of all kinds.
	Creating a Life Together: Practical Tools to Grow an Intentional Community by Diana Leafe Christian (2003) Creating a Life Together is the only resource available that provides step-by-step practical information distilled from numerous firsthand sources on how to establish an intentional community. It deals in depth with structural, interpersonal and leadership issues, decision-making methods, vision statements, and the development of a legal structure, as well as profiling well-established model communities.
	The Cohousing Handbook: Building a Place for Community by Chris Hanson (2004) A source of comfort and inspiration for those who want to create their ideal community, The Cohousing Handbook is a groundbreaking and practical guide to building a better society one neighborhood at a time-a must-have for the growing number of people who want to create a cohousing community.

MAGAZINES

The following magazine subscriptions are recommended by group members. Click on the link to find out more about each magazine and how to subscribe.

Back Home Magazine: useful do-it-yourself information on sustainable, self-reliant living

Permaculture Activist: North America's leading permaculture periodical promoting the design of sustainable human communities

Permaculture Magazine: practical, thought-provoking articles on organic gardening, sustainable agriculture, eco-villages, and more

Mother Earth News: conscientious, self-sufficient living, including green home building, renewable energy, and organic gardening

High Country News: a bi-weekly newspaper that reports on the West's natural resources, public lands, and changing communities

Herbs for Health: bringing sound information to the general public on the whole range of benefits of herbs

Conservation in Practice: practical magazine for people who are serious about conservation

Whole Earth: while subscriptions are no longer available, read back issues here

Communities Magazine: the primary resource for information, issues, and ideas about intentional communities in North America

FILMS

The following films are recommended by group members. Keep in mind, our group shows a film the fourth Wednesdays of each month. Check our event calendar for more details.

	The End of Suburbia: Oil Depletion and the Collapse of the American Dream (2004) What does Oil Peak mean for North America? As energy prices skyrocket in the coming years, how will the populations of suburbia react to the collapse of their dream? Are today's suburbs destined to become the slums of tomorrow? And what can be done NOW, individually and collectively, to avoid The End of Suburbia?
	The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil (2006) This documentary was inspired when Faith Morgan and Pat Murphy took a trip to Cuba through Global Exchange in August, 2003. When they learned that Cuba underwent the loss of over half of its oil imports and survived, after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1990, the couple wanted to see for themselves how Cuba had done this. The goals of this film are to give hope to the developed world as it wakes up to the consequences of being hooked on oil, and to lift American's prejudice of Cuba by showing the Cuban people as they are. It's a story of their dedication to independence and triumph over adversity, and a story of cooperation and hope. A genuine crowd-pleaser.
	Oil on Ice (2004) Oil on Ice is a one-hour television documentary/WebDVD that examines the the battle over oil development within the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. This is a classic struggle in a stunning place, featuring the dramatic wildlife that adapted to this environment and the cultures of the Gwich’in Athabascan Indians and Inupiat Eskimos that rely on this wildlife for their subsistence. The film exposes the risks of oil extraction in this extreme environment.
	Peak Oil: Imposed by Nature (2005) In the film Dr. Colin Campbell takes us to Stavanger in Norway where he worked the last 10 years of his professional career. He explains the aspects of discovery and subsequent production, the increase and the decline, and the fact that this will happen to the world as a whole very soon. Dr. Campbell is also our "guide" throughout the film.
	OilCrash (2006) "OilCrash", produced and directed by award-winning European journalists and filmmakers Basil Gelpke and Ray McCormack, tells the story of how our civilization's addiction to oil puts it on a collision course with geology. Compelling, intelligent, and highly entertaining, the film visits with the world's top experts and comes to a startling, but logical conclusion - our industrial society, built on cheap and readily available oil, must be completely re-imagined and overhauled.
	Fuelling the Future (2005) A double DVD video of the June 2005 "Fuelling the Future" conference has been produced by Fergal Mohan. This has all 8 of the main speakers captured in glorious technicolor for your enjoyment and includes the inspiring and entertaining "closing session".
	The Oil Factor: Behind the War on Terror (2005) At a time when oil restrictions are looming over the horizon and when tensions between China and the U.S. over U.S. military positioning in Central Asia are surfacing, "The Oil Factor" looks at today dwindling oil reserves and sky-rocketing consumption. It then questions the "coincidence" of focusing the so-called U.S. "War-on-terror" in the Middle-East and Central Asia where almost 3/4 of the world oil and natural gas left is located.
	The Deal (2005) Written by a former vice president of Goldman, Sachs & Co.; The Deal is a wake-up call for America. Against the backdrop of a Middle East oil war against radical fundamentalists, The Deal tells the story of a proposed merger between an American and a Russian oil company, and the lengths and depths to which our country will find itself forced to descend in pursuit of the next “black crack fix” unless we dramatically change our ways.
	Syriana (2005) From writer/director Stephen Gaghan, winner of the Best Screenplay Academy Award for Traffic, comes "Syriana", a political thriller that unfolds against the intrigue of the global oil industry. From the players brokering back-room deals in Washington to the men toiling in the oil fields of the Persian Gulf, the film's multiple storylines weave together to illuminate the human consequences of the fierce pursuit of wealth and power. George Clooney won the 2005 Best Supporting Actor Academy Award for this movie and it was nominated for Best Original Screenplay.