PowerSwitch

Hi all,

In short... it's on, so start organsing!

The idea behind the Peak Energy tour is to raise awareness about
how the peak in global energy supply has wide implications: for example
energy policy, for climate change, food security and intensive agriculture,
energy poverty -- quite apart from the larger issue of economics and global
equity. We hope that by channelling the efforts of the various people
involved with these issues we can break-through into the national media, and
the pubic debate, to get a realistic discussion of how we will manage a
declining energy supply whilst at the same time addressing the environmental
imperatives of reducing carbon emissions and adapting to the effects of
climate change.

After conflabbing with various people I've put together a general outline for
how I view things working. It's all pretty open so that all the various
groups I've floated the idea to are able to slot themselves into the programme
somehow. I've posted it online at http://www.fraw.org.uk/tour/

Things are still a little sketchy at the moment but I'm hoping other speakers/organisations will come on board in the next few weeks to add a little diversity to the project. Further details will be published on the web site as they arise.


PLEASE NOTE: If you'd like me to take part in an event in your area it would
be really helpful if you could work around the timetable I'm trying to
organise (so that I don't spend too much time travelling). I'm dividing the
UK into "weeks" with gaps in between so that I can have a break and/or fit in
some requests that absolutely can't be programmed into the required week.
Ideally, if you would like me to attend an event it needs to fit into that
week (although it might be possible to do another date, but it won't be
possible to confirm that until mid-March, leaving little time to organise a
venue).


If you're interested in hosting an event in your area during April or May (the
outline on the web gives further details on this) please get in touch with
me. If you are already undertaking an event then that would fit well with the
themes of the tour, please get in touch as we could add your event to the
national program that we're putting together to publicise the tour.

If you want to keep up to date with progress you can check out the organsing page at http://www.fraw.org.uk/tour/



Thanks,

P.

On Saturday I helped out with a Peak Oil stall in Brighton. It's something I've wanted to do for a long long time.

I've never worked in a shop and I can begin to imagine how it must feel when watching people just passing by.

I noticed a lot of people "gawking", looking at the posters briefly, then moving on.

About 50 people talked with us, several of whom belonged to other organisations who took the issue very seriously, and one requested a lecture from Brighton Peak Oil.

Breaking the ice with the line, "Are you concerned about energy prices" seemed to work very well. From that I'd point out that the UK is now a net importer of oil and gas, and unfortunately, most other countries in the world are in the same boat. People got it when I explained oil extraction as being like drinking orange juice with ice through a straw, when reaching the ice it's difficult to get at the rest of the orange juice.

Having a plastic sheet to keep the rain off was a good idea, as well as a series of leaflets to give away. A piece of tape held down with drawing pins prevented them from being blown away by the wind. Having 4 or 5 people on the stand allowed everyone to take a break at some stage.

I think the following could have been done better:

1) A fluourescent green canvas with the message "Worried about Energy Prices? Talk to us". There was another stand with fluourescent orange which stood out very well; very eye-catching.

2) Simplified diagrams. A diagram showing the number of wells drilled vs production in SA was very useful. The "Peak Oil Poster" was also referred to, but it's a very "busy" diagram.

A few comments from the organizer of the stall:

- It helps to have somebody who has some idea of how to do this things. In our case, we were all quite new to the activity, but one of us had a friend who had done it before, and his advice was invaluable for practical things such as how to stop leaflets from flying away in the wind.

- We didn't try shouting or anything like that to catch attention. Somebody from a different stall did, and they did get quite a lot of attention. But I know I always run away from stalls that do that, so I wonder what quality of people you get with that method?

- Some people seem eager to sign for anything. We had a pledge prepared for people to sign, but I noticed some people went straight to sign, without even asking what it was all about. Of course, we tried to inform them in the process. But I wonder why some people do that?

Any comments from more experienced people are welcome.