A  press release below went to Gloucestershire press but wasn't covered as a news item so the following letter has also just been sent. Also see The Ecologist articles looking at the basics around Peak Oil here

Letter to press:

I write with deep concerns that we are not preparing ourselves for the coming increases in energy prices. You report that petrol has reached £1.00 a litre in the County (31/10/07 Citizen), but this price rise is only one aspect.

Earlier this year over 500 people heard energy expert Professor Heinberg talk in Stroud about peak oil - the point when oil extraction reaches its highest point and then starts to decline. A new global oil supply report last week says peak oil was reached last year and that production will now start to decline at a rate of several percent per year.

This is not merely a question of oil prices, but one of food security. Since over 90 per cent of all our food products require oil, the imminent fall in production and consequent hike in prices will have a profound impact on food availability in the developed and the developing world.

The report warns that anticipated supply shortages could easily lead to 'disturbing scenes of mass unrest.' Gloucestershire must wake up to this reality. We urgently need to support a huge increase in local food production, invest in serious energy efficiency measures and massively invest in the fledgling renewables industry. Businesses, Councils and individuals must all take bold actions now if we are to avoid very difficult times ahead.

We live in an oil addicted society, but continual dependency on petroleum is the road to catastrophe. Unless we start creating an energy efficient, ecological economy, our reliance on oil will lead to economic recession, ecological catastrophe and more oil wars.  We can change tack to a better future for all, but where is the vision and clear political leadership to achieve this?

Councillor Martin Whiteside
Hillside, Claypits Lane, Thrupp, Stroud
Stroud Green Party Parliamentary Candidate

News release:

A newly published global oil supply report by the Energy Watch Group release yesterday at the Foreign Press Association in London says that peak oil - the point when oil extraction reaches its highest point and then starts to decline - was reached last year and that production will now start to decline at a rate of several percent per year.

Cllr Martin Whiteside, the Green party Parliamentary spokesperson for Stroud said: "The peaking of global oil production, which according to the report took place in 2006, is not merely a question of oil prices, but one of food security. Since over 90 per cent of all our food products require oil, the imminent fall in production and consequent hike in prices will have a profound impact on food availability in the developed and the developing world."

Martin Whiteside said: "The report warns that anticipated supply shortages could easily lead to 'disturbing scenes of mass unrest.' Gloucestershire must wake up to this reality. We urgently need to act to ensure a massive increase in local food production, invest in serious energy efficiency measures and massively invest in the fledgling renewables industry. Businesses, Councils and individuals must all take bold actions now if we are to avoid very difficult times ahead."

Green Party Principal Speaker Caroline Lucas, author of the ground-breaking report 'Fuelling a Food Crisis' which examines the dependence of the EU's food supplies on oil, said in response: “The UK government and the EU have ultimately failed to take the matter seriously, despite the fact that I raised the issue the European Commission on several occasions. They must now act quickly, both with legislation and significant investment, to promote truly renewable sources of energy if our dependence on oil is to be reduced.”

Green Party Principal Speaker Derek Wall added: "We live in an oil addicted society, continual dependency on petroleum is the road to catastrophe. Unless we start creating an energy effecient, ecological economy, our reliance on oil will lead to economic recession, ecological catastrophe and more imperialist wars for the black stuff. Already oil prices have increased from below 10 dollars a barrel in the 1990s to around 90 dollars, yet only the Green Party has been calling for real action for us to move to a post oil economy."

Derek Wall, who visited Stroud earlier this year said: "We urgently need to radically alter the way in which we source our energy - and how much of it we consume. Cutting edge renewable energy technologies such as wind, wave and
solar power, are the key to our future. But they are woefully underrated, and consequently underfunded. The UK is better placed than anyone else in Europe to utilise these cheap, clean and modern sources of energy. Maximising our use of renewable power would not only reduce our carbon emissions, it could also save us from yet more oil wars."