Hey, did you notice that $4 gas?

Looking for a solution? Try the two-wheeled wonder! Enjoy your commute, get in shape, save a LOAD of money ($32 a month for a 25MPG car at 10 miles per work day), lower your emissions, see more - get out there and ride!

Need a lesson? Want to learn the quickest routes? Looking to learn how to behave on the road to improve your own safety? Get in touch with the Alliance for People Powered Transportation at www.bicyclenevadacounty.com right now!

APPLE Welcomes Richard Heinberg back to Nevada County

"Kiss Your Gas Goodbye! Living Well in the New Economy"

 — Saturday, June 7, 2008 at 7:30pm

 — Don Baggett Theater at Nevada Union High School

 — tickets available now at BriarPatch, Yabobo, The Book Seller, and California Organics ($15)

With gasoline prices climbing steadily and oil prices in record territory, APPLE is bringing back to Grass Valley energy expert Richard Heinberg. (Click Here to read about Richard's visit in November 2005 at the Center for the Arts)

He will present updated information on global resource depletion, including Peak Oil, and its huge impact on our economy. He will also focus on actions we can take locally to develop a more resilient community, and how we can deal with this 'long emergency' on a personal, psychological level.

APPLE will also report on local projects already happening (and planned for the upcoming year) to help us prepare for these challenges.

According to Heinberg, "...the healthiest response to dire knowledge is to do something practical and constructive in response, preferably in collaboration with others, both because the worst can probably still be avoided and because engaged action makes us feel better."

Richard Heinberg is the author of several books on global energy depletion issues, including The Party's Over: Oil, War and the Fate of Industrial Societies; Powerdown: Options and Actions for a Post-Carbon World; and the newly released Peak Everything. His call for a thoughtful response to global resource depletion is increasingly getting the attention of mainstream media and being addressed by government officials in towns, states, and countries around the world. He balances his presentation of this somewhat alarming information with the calmness of an educator who sees light at the end of the tunnel, provided we take the appropriate steps before it is too late.

Nevada County Community Gardens Network

The Community Gardens Network project is 'growing' again, and now has its own web page. Click Here to see the latest news and a list of community gardens - and to find out how you can get involved!

APPLE Delivers Custom Presentations

— Free / by-donation on-site presentations and discussions with your group!

— Call or email now to request a visit!

Have you ever heard of Peak Oil?

Have you ever wanted to know more about it, why it's important right now in 2008, and how it might affect you?

Are you concerned that we may start to feel its effects and possibly dramatic lifestyle changes within the next few years?

The newsfeeds (scrolling above, with more on the News Feeds page) and Links on this web page, and more news and links from global organizations like Post Carbon Institute, the Relocalization Network, EnergyBulletin, and dozens of others will help keep you informed about the global energy scene. But how will Peak Oil affect you, here in Nevada County, California? How will it affect your group of friends, or your classroom, or your nonprofit organization, or your family?

That's where APPLE wants to help even more. We'll sit down with you beforehand, listen to your concerns, and tailor a presentation to your group's needs, level of curiosity, available time, concerns, and questions. Afterwards, we'll leave plenty of time for conversation and Q&A.

APPLE does not currently have any paid staff, professional researchers, or erengy analysts by trade. We are an army of newshounds - currently 14 board members, 25 'Core' members, 650 email subscribers, and growing all the time - and most importantly we are your neighbors. We are all in this together as a community! We all need to be educated on what the near future may hold for all of our lifestyles. Here is our pledge to you: If we don't have an answer for your question on the spot, we will find it and get back to you. If we can't find it, we will help you search. If the answer is debatable, we will say so, and why.

So, call 470-8642 or email info@apple-nc.org right now to get the ball rolling. Let us know that your group would like to know more about Peak Oil and what it means to you, here, in Nevada County. Any venue, from a living room to a classroom to an auditorium; any group size, from 5 to 500; any group type, from neighbors or friends, to classrooms, companies, nonprofits, or government groups.

A recent national news headline claims that only 3% of Americans are familiar with the term "Peak Oil". Knowledge is Power, and Time is Short. Let's make it 100% in Nevada County!

Post Carbon Cities arrives on APPLE's doorstep

— APPLE reviews new guidebook for local government responses

Are we entering a new phase? Peak Oil has been our topic of choice for the last few years - and several recent scientific opinions indicate we may have already passed the global production peak and may now be on the early edge of the heavy effects - yes, now, in 2008. Will we be seeing more and heavier effects in the rest of this year?

(to learn more about possible effects of Peak Oil, don't take our word for it - find dozens of references on our Links page)

Whether or not we are currently feeling the peak, APPLE is currently gearing up its plans to help relay the message to a more focused audience, including local government: We just recieved a fresh new copy, hot off the press, of Post Carbon Institute's new guidebook titled "Post Carbon Cities: Planning for Energy and Climate Uncertainty".

From the book's web site, www.postcarboncities.net:

Post Carbon Cities: Planning for Energy and Climate Uncertainty is the first major guidebook on peak oil and global warming for people who work with and for local governments in the United States and Canada. It provides a sober look at how these phenomena are quickly creating new uncertainties and vulnerabilities for cities of all sizes, reviews how "early-actor" cities are already responding to peak oil, and recommends what steps local decision-makers can take to begin addressing these unprecedented challenges.

Post Carbon Cities fills an important gap in the resources currently available to local government decision-makers on planning for the changing global energy and climate context of the 21st century.

Visit www.postcarboncities.net to view the Executive Summary and Table of Contents, and to download a free abridged preview.

"Post Carbon Cities is an exceptionally clear and comprehensive call-to-action to those who actually work in the trenches of city governance. We don't have any more time to waste getting ready for an energy-scarcer future, and for those who remain dazed and confused, this book is an excellent place to start." --James Howard Kunstler, author of The Long Emergency and The Geography of Nowhere

APPLE News Feed Reader goes live!

— Auto-updated news now available from APPLE

Tired of stale content on the APPLE page? (Must be a volunteer webmaster...)

Here are some new web features that we think you'll like: scrolling headlines at the top of the home page, and an entire new page full of news feeds from Peak Oil and Renewable Energy news sources (click the Orange in the top left, or select News Feeds from the Info menu).

Both of these update themselves frequently, and you can see the article summary just by holding your mouse over the headline. Not getting this functionality? Try updating your web browser (we've tested this on browsers from five or more years ago), or contact the webmaster at webmaster@apple-nc.org. Let us know what you think!

Stop Junk Mail, Save the World!

— Junk Mail Prevention service partners with APPLE

If you want to support APPLE while you stop your junk mail and don't have a lot of time, you can check out 41 Pounds today!

An average of 41 pounds of junk mail is sent to every adult citizen each year. Approximately 44% of this mail goes into a landfill unopened.

For $41 ($18 of which you can have donated to APPLE) they will contact over 30 direct marketing organizations and catalog companies and instruct them to remove your name from their distribution lists. This includes almost all credit card applications, coupon mailers, sweepstakes entries, magazine offers, insurance promotions, as well as any catalogs you specify. Their service lasts five years. They have been able to stop between 80% - 95% of this type of mail. You can sign up online or by phone - when you do, just be sure to select APPLE as your designated non-profit group from their list.

If you have more time than money, you can do much of this yourself: click here for details.

Latest APPLE Headlines

• NEW on August 9 2007: APPLE releases public info sheet on "Energy Consumption of Proposed Emgold Mining Operations" (Click Here)
• June 24 2007: Scrolling headlines and a whole page of News Feeds, updated every half hour.
• April 3 2007: 'Volunteer Badge' added near the top left of the web page. We'll post volunteer openings here as they come up! This is your chance to get in on the ground floor!
• February 22 2007: APPLE's site passes 5000 visits and 500 email subscribers in its first year!
• Peak Moment Television launches its new website - buy videos of local sustainability events online!
• TRANSPORTATION: look at the Critical Mass listing and visit APPT's new website!
• APPLE Seeds introductory pamphlets, including our Peak Oil Introduction 'Are you prepared for $8.00/gallon gas?' are all viewable in enhanced format here or from the Info banner menu on this web page. The Introductory pamphlet is also viewable there as a web page.
• COMMUNITY PLANS: Power-down plans and assesments are listed for several communities, including: Kinsale, Ireland; Tompkins County, New York; Willits, California