By addicts I am talking about you.

Last night at the City Council meeting the big deal was all about the Mayors task force on the environment. I am not sure that the Council or administration understands how big the scope of this task actually is.

If this task force is going to have any real lasting affect on our great City they are going to have to honestly identify the root of the problem(s) first. Second, the task force will have to devise a plan that will convince, at least the majority of us, to come out of denial and admit that we actually do have a problem and personally take some responsibility for it in a meaningful way.

The Mayor and the task force must convince us that we are all addicts! We are all addicted to OIL. Well at least cheap oil.

In Alberta for sure, our whole society and economy has driven by cheap Oil. Our communities and highways have been developed the way they are because of cheap oil. Our transportations systems and food distribution systems have evolved over the past 60 years on the supposition that we will be awash with cheap oil for ever. Indeed, even the root cause of this evolution, our global economic system, lives and dies by the supply of cheap oil/energy.

Many Albertans will argue, so what? We have a never ending supply of that. The fact is, while it may be true that we will never really run out of oil, we are indeed, running out of cheap oil. I find it very disturbing that our governments are not speaking to this issue at all. When thought thru, this has the potential to affect everyone on the planet more drastically than global warming.

If you need proof that we are indeed running out of cheap oil consider this. Just the fact that the Alberta Oils Sands projects exist at all should expose the fact that the major oil companies know we are running out of cheap oil. Also, oil companies are not building new refineries. They know the supply of oil is diminishing and are not willing to invest in refineries that will go unused.

The facts are this. The world’s addiction and demand for oil is on the increase, especially in China and India. The world’s ability to produce oil is diminishing. Classic supply and demand economics demand that the price of oil will go up. Since the global economy is so closely tied with energy and cheap oil, the diminishing of oil supplies will directly affect the world’s economy.

Historically, as energy consumption increases as the economy expands. It’s also true that when an economy contracts energy consumption diminishes. The recent economic crisis is a perfect example. In the summer of 2008 the price of oil was almost $150.00 per barrel before the onset of the crisis. After, the price of oil drop to around $30.00 per barrel. What does this mean for us? Well as the supply of oil diminishes our economies will contract. Imported products will become ever more expensive as the price of oil increases. Since Albertans import just about everything this could quickly grow into a serious problem. Way faster than any of our politicians will admit to.

Face it folks we have a problem, a problem that most of us aren’t even aware of yet. So the first task of the Mayor’s Task Force is to convince us we are addicted to oil. Considering that for the past 60 years Albertans have enjoyed the status of “oil kings”, this will be no small task.

The second step could be even more daunting. For those of you who have ever been affected by an addiction your self or an addict’s behaviour, you are well aware that it’s one thing to admit you are an addict but an entirely another thing to do something about it. The Task Force will have to act in many ways, like an addiction councillor with enough skill to make us accept some responsibility for our addiction and snap us into positive action.

Then after you get past those hurdles they will have to come up with workable strategies that will help wean us off our addiction as it applies to our city planning, our economy, our transportation, our food supplies, our building codes our energy and water consumption, our handling of waste, etc

I support the Mayor and the Task force on this endeavour whole heartedly. I sincerely hope that their efforts will result in positive long term outcomes for the future of Spruce Grove. I do have some concerns, however.

First this is just not our local government’s problem; it’s the community as a whole. By allowing the City Government to take ownership of these problems creates the potential for the residents/addicts not to accept any responsibility. This will make it very easy for the addicts to take the attitude that the city will take care of me. Considering the scope of the overall problem this type of thinking will have the task force fall flat. The community must take responsibility for this initiative to work.

Since we are talking about our local government, Einstein’s quote seems relevant. “Problems cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them.” I am concerned that our local government will continue with business as usual and deliver to little to late. A recent example of this would be the location of the new Post Office. Again this is an example where we cannot leave this just up to our government. We as residents must become engaged.

Now for one last thought. Our Mayor and Council are politicians. They love to get elected. Who wouldn’t? So, if they are really serious and committed to addressing the root of our environmental problems and plan to add it to their election platforms, I would have to say that they are some of the most courageous politicians in the land. It is only the most secure of politicians who will tell their constituents that in the future you will be have to drive and travel less, walk more, grow you own carrots, give up your acreage or house to live in a city or apartment, not own a car, take the bus or in other words do more with less. The brave and courageous politicians will tell us that. But what we really need are politicians that will not only tell us these truths but make us actually embrace these truths as well.

Good Luck Mayor Houston!