Biosphere destruction due to human activities threatens life on the planet, human and otherwise. The problem is systemic: business as usual presages catastrophic climate change, extreme species extinction, fishery depletion, untenable body burdens of toxics, not to mention largely unhealthy disconnected lives along the way. Human civilization is egregiously far from a steady state and is (literally) driving in the wrong direction. There are no easy solutions.

The Problem of Peak Oil and Natural Gas

The imminent peaking of global oil production and the fact that natural gas production has already peaked in North America could be the catalyst for positive transformation of industrial society. It could also be a recipe for disaster. Essential systems that form the foundation of industrial civilization depend on unfettered access to cheap oil and natural gas. As supply begins to drop and is no longer able to meet demand, less work will be done — which means less materialist economic activity. Alternative energies, conservation, and new energy carriers such as hydrogen will undoubtedly play a role in future energy systems, yet collectively they will not be enough to preserve industrial society as we know it. The possibility for largely positives outcomes demands significant preparation, action, and enduring behavior change.

Without unprecedented preparation and cooperation, however, oil and natural gas depletion will precipitate massive disruptions to essential systems such as food, energy, transportation, security and health care, and almost certainly, a major decrease in the earth's carrying capacity. If mainstream awareness of energy peak occurs during a crisis, we will find ourselves well along the amoral path of endless war for control of dwindling resources, black hydrogen fueled by coal and a reemerging nuclear industry, further restrictions on citizen and human rights, and increasing concentration of wealth through globalization and the money system. During a period of draconian governance in the midst of a permanent energy crisis, all of the gains garnered by environmental and social justice groups in the past 50 years are subject to roll back at best. At worst, recent history is full of examples of what happens when humans with powerful weapons get desperate — they reach for demagogues, fascism and war.

The Challenge of Global Warming

Moreover, as the use of fossil fuels for energy has escalated, so too have the effects of global warming, from rising and warming waters to more frequent and intense hurricanes, tornadoes, and other storm systems. The local and regional impacts of global warming could be far-reaching: increasing heat waves could endanger the elderly and the very young (a July 2006 heat wave claimed the lives of 75 Californians); shifts in habitat could cause massive rates of extinction in California's megadiverse coastal bioregion; the state could face severe economic losses from flooding due to rising sea levels and strained levees; a more erratic water supply could result from diminished snowpack in the Sierra Nevada; warmer waters could eliminate cold-water fish from many of our streams; increased wildfires could wipe out our region's signature oak trees; and higher temperatures could make the Central Valley's agricultural lands even more dependent on water diversions from the Bay-Delta.

Though no panacea exists for dealing with the peaking of energy and the consequences of global warming, clearly global localization is one vital building block toward a saner, more sustainable, and socially just future. Other important parts of the foundation are people's movements for change like those seen at the World Social Forum (see left), massive conservation, reconfigured cities, green industry, peace and conflict resolution, restoration of ecological systems, and economic democracy.

Naomi Klein, well-known activist and author, described the vision that was shared at a recent 100,000-strong World Social Forum gathering in Mumbai, India: "Politics had to be less about trusting well-meaning leaders, and more about empowering people to make their own decisions; democracy had to be less representative and more participatory. The ideas flying around included neighborhood councils, participatory budgets, stronger city governments, land reform and co-operative farming — a vision of politicized communities that could be networked internationally..."

In other words, if you want to be a good global citizen, we must all start by being good local ones. We can begin by producing and distributing more of what we need locally, creating plenty of meaningful vocations and interconnected business opportunities that increase community self-reliance. In time, this re-weaving of locally-centered lifeways will also allow us to retrench from imperial scheming for control of the world's resources and veer us off our dangerous collision course with economic upheaval and ecological overshoot.

The eventual rewards to be gained from localizing our economies in ways that bring us all closer to one another and with all life on this planet are as yet unfathomable. Indeed, they may be the most exciting, spiritually fulfilling days thus far in human experience.