The Squamish-Lillooet Regional District (SLRD) has created an Energy Resilience Task Force to ensure day-to-day living expenses aren't crushed beneath the weight of spiking petroleum prices.
"When energy prices rise, it affects everyone," said Kimberly Needham, strategy planner with the SLRD. "For example, without access to public transport, the working poor can become dependent on private vehicles to get to work, health care centres and other services."
The region's task force hopes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, support a sustainable and successful business sector against economic contraction and establish local energy strategies that will lessen the communal dependency on the electricity grid.
"In the long run, the strategies recommended by the task force will aim to create a region that is more resilient to energy price shocks and any potential liquid fuel shortages," said Needham. "Also, it will create sufficient transport and food security."
A loss of resources can hold negative connotations for the elderly, impoverished and low-income working families who depend on access to public services. To exemplify the need to establish stability in our fuel dependency, Needham said look no further than last summer's forest fires.
"These fires were fought, in part, using helicopters. Helicopters burn up a lot of fuel on an hourly basis. Petrochemicals are also used in manufacturing fire retardants, and there was a lot of fire retardant used in these fire operations," she said.
"The cost to both the province and its taxpayers was enormous as fuel prices continue to fluctuate, everyone will incur costs that go beyond budgets, and this impacts on the ability to deliver other services."
The first of its kind in Canada, the task force is comprised of 20 individuals from throughout the region, representing a wide range of public sectors such as health care, transportation and agriculture.
The task force is provided with an array of online and written resources, as well as reports from pre-existing task forces in the state of California.
"The SLRD is seeking input from those key players who represent the sectors that operate in this region," said Needham. "The idea is not to reinvent the wheel, but to come up with actionable solutions in a timely fashion."
The task force's mandate is heavily rooted in geoscientist Marion King Hubbert's Peak Oil Theory. In 1956, Hubbert predicted that America's domestic oil production would plateau sometime between 1965 and 1970.
His theory proved accurate; in 1970, U.S. petroleum production peaked, leading the nation to become more dependent on imported oil. This turn in trade caused the American people to suffer a vulnerability to socio-political upheavals, affecting the efficiency and availability of many public services.
Hubbert's theory remains highly relevant in how society continues to function. When energy prices fluctuate as they did in July 2008, often times, the most vulnerable factions of society feel the impact most.
