Abstract:
The Transition Towns model for resilience against climate change and peak oil prioritises small steps and non-politicised action. This ‘no-conflict’ policy overrides all circumstances even when local communities are faced with the devastating behaviour of multinationals and their cohorts stealing their territory and polluting their environments. Undoubtedly the movement is presenting as one of the biggest community based initiatives we have seen for a long time, but while Transition Towns members focus on ‘small steps’, the mining companies, with government endorsement, are enjoying an industry boom on the back of climate change and peak oil. However, according to Gil Freeman (‘Arena Magazine’ no.103), Transition groups are not letting the big polluters ‘off the hook’ because ‘to engage with neighbours in the community … is to challenge everyone to take a very large step of reconsidering every aspect of our reliance on cheap oil’.
Details / PDF:
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