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| Matthew B.
Ackerman, LEED AIA |
| Jeffrey L.
Zucker, LEED AIA |
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Crisis
& American
Ingenuity
Oil just passed
$120 a barrel this morning, another record high. Some
folks are surprised by the headline-making price rises, but are hopeful
fuel costs will settle back down as soon as the summer driving season
is over, or the nuclear standoff with Iran ends, or… the weather stops
acting weird.
In the 2004 documentary film "The End of Suburbia," a
sobering look at the un-sustainable
way so many of our nation's towns and cities have
developed, the
cost of fuel is presented as a simple matter of supply and
demand. Despite optimistic media attention about new oil
resources in the tar sands of Canada, or in the deep waters off the
coast of Brazil, the fact remains that global oil production already
has, or will very soon "peak,"
meaning that regardless of the amount of
money or energy that is invested in getting oil out of the ground, the
net yield will simply be less oil– driving the cost of recovering that
oil higher.
 Unfortunately, it doesn't
take much of a gap between the declining amounts of available world
oil, against the backdrop of steadily increasing energy demands
from China, India and other developing countries, to result in the
historic rise
in fuel prices that we're now seeing.
A fact that so many of us
seem to be unaware of, however, is just how deeply dependent our
American
way of life is on the ready supply of this finite energy source–
far beyond
the optional weekend boating trip to Lake Powell, or another tank of
gas
in the 16-mpg SUV that we use mainly just to tool around town in.
Everything from toothbrushes at Wal-Mart, to that package of
blueberries from
New Frontiers depends upon the availability of cheap oil, not to
mention our winter heating
fuel needs, or the ever expanding demand of our country's electrical
power grid.
Beyond
the obvious pain at the gas pump, there are dozens of other less
obvious production and distribution relationships, which also
depend heavily on the
availability of cheap fossil fuels.
As crude oil prices reach towards
the $150 to $175, to $200 a barrel mark, many of these
interrelationships may simply stop working– such as the ability to
maintain our highway infrastucture and interstate trucking systems.
There is a very real
chance of a breakdown of some of our most taken-for-granted societal
and economic structures once this happens. And while this might
sound unbelievable in our country– concerns over finding
basic food supplies on grocery store shelves could become a very real
issue here– as they already have in many parts of the world.
So,
what does all this mean? Is there hope? I believe there
is. If anything, it is the
automobile dependent way our towns and cities have been physically laid
out
that is very much at the heart of the problem. While Prescott has
within its downtown square and older neighborhoods, the remnants of a
more sustainable development pattern which encouraged walking
down to the grocery or hardware store, or being able to ride your bike
to work, or to school, or just for fun.
This
was a pedestrian oriented
development model of higher densities,
mixed-uses, and functioning communities. Today, it is known as "New Urbanism" or "Smart Growth". And, as
much as everyone
loves these older parts of our city though, it is actually illegal to
build
this way in many communities today, requiring one zoning variance after
another, just to
try and recreate some of its most fundamental aspects.
What
can be done? Well, first of all, current planning and zoning
codes which actually discourage more sustainable development patterns
need to be addressed. Alternative personal and mass-transit modes
must
be dusted
off and reconsidered. Critically important are re-localized food
production, as well as
aggressive water and energy conservation strategies that must become
part of
our basic planning and development choices. It can seem
overwhelming.
I
was sharing a drink with a friend of mine, Martin, last week, and took
the opportunity to
describe the laundry list of concerns I have about our
country's future. Martin just listened patiently as I talked,
a sly
smile on his face. After I finished, he said "Matt… I don't
think the picture's quite as bleak as it seems. This is the land
of Home Depots. We're a
do-it-yourself, I-can-figure-this-out nation, with
amazing resources for ingenuity and inventiveness that we've only just
begun to tap.
Yeah, things might get a little scary for a while, but if any country
can figure
out how to solve problems like these– we Americans can."
You
know what, I'll bet he's right.
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CATALYST
ARCHITECTURE
is an award winning, full-service architectural design
firm located in Prescott, Arizona. We specialize in educational,
commercial, master planning and custom residential work, with an
emphasis on high- performance design, and caring client relationships.
At CATALYST, our
mission is to creatively transform the space and budget needs of our
clients, with the opportunities and ecology of the site, into
functional and sustainable solutions that move the spirit.
 Comments
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