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I recently learned that a few N.C. cities will join hundreds across the globe in turning off the lights for Earth Hour on March 28: Winston-Salem, Charlotte, Lincolnton and Asheville, as well as Triad Air Awareness. Now, I'm trying to find out what buildings in those cities will go dark at that 8:30 p.m. hour.

Earth Hour is an annual symbolic event in which communities demonstrate their commitment to finding solutions for climate change.

Update: Winston-Salem facilities manager Randy Rogers responded that city employees will turn off all non-essential lighting at City Hall and the municipal building. His department has also distributed information to other city departments encouraging them to do the same.

Maggie Ullman with the city of Asheville's sustainability office said she is recommending that the city shut off outdoor spotlighting on City Hall and the Council will make a decision next week.

Don't expect too much change on climate change in 2009. That's the gist of news reports coming out of the United Nations conference taking place in Poland.

(Photo courtesy of Greenpeace International)

Following are recent field reports forwarded to me from Greenpeace campaigner Eva Erbskorn attending the conference. From today:

"Today, countries met again to discuss their long-term vision for a climate solution. Unfortunately, the Bush Administration once again revealed their deep ties to industry with a proposal to dump money into nuclear energy and coal technology. While it was disappointing to hear, it was not surprising that an administration known for its close ties to the oil industry was now trying to pass off dirty, expensive coal and nuclear as a global solution to climate change.

Thankfully, the American people have made it clear - we are ready for
change. We know that investments in truly clean energy like wind and
solar will cut global warming pollution and create good, high paying jobs.

Americans and people the world over are looking forward to the start of
the Obama administration. It's exciting to think that our leaders will
finally help us break our addiction to fossil fuels and bring forward a
clean energy economy."

Speaking "United Nations" and "Poland" in the same sentence is likely to draw yawns from North Carolinians far removed from the deliberations of international law, security, economic development, and social equity that occur at various conferences and events throughout the world.

But some people are closely following the UN climate talks occurring this week in Poland as momentum builds on the grassroots level around concerns about global warming. I received this dispatch today from two Greenpeace USA campaigners, who are attending the conference and providing updates to the media:

Update: The Oil Drum will be providing a series of analyses and commentary on the World Energy Outlook. The Oil Drum is a superb collaborative energy analysis site so I encourage you to check it out.

The International Energy Agency released its much-anticipated, exhaustive (and leaked) 2008 World Energy Outlook today. The major concern? Constrained investment in a global recession will prevent companies from providing oil when we really need it.

Find the executive summary here and an easily digestible fact sheet here.

From the Financial Times:

"The organisation found that even with investment, the fields were declining at 6.7 per cent and that this rate was accelerating. That means that 45m barrels a day would have to be found and produced in the coming 22 years even if world demand remained completely unchanged. As it stands however, the IEA expects demand to rise from 85m bpd in 2007 to 106m b/d in 2030, making the challenge that much greater....

Many of the most sharply declining fields lie in developed countries, including in areas such as the North Sea and Alaska. This means the west will become less and less of a player in terms of production, while Persian Gulf countries become more important.

The west’s declining importance applies to its role not just as a supplier of oil but a customer. "We think OECD oil demand has peaked,” Mr Birol said, adding: “The OECD countries’ role in the energy world is becoming less and less important.”

Obviously, oil supplies are not our biggest problem right now, what with demand tanking and prices at roughly $60 per barrel. But what happens when demand picks back up?

Oh, and if you still have time after reading the IEA report, check out what the U.S. Government Accountability Office has to say about when we will see widespread carbon capture: No time soon.

Good summaries of carbon sequestration here and here.

The Financial Times ran a story yesterday saying that it obtained a draft version of the much anticipated World Energy Report by the International Energy Agency. In summary: "Without extra investment to raise production, the natural annual rate of output decline is 9.1 per cent."

The story says, "The findings suggest the world will struggle to produce enough oil to make up for steep declines in existing fields, such as those in the North Sea, Russia and Alaska, and meet long-term de­mand. The effort will become even more acute as prices fall and investment decisions are delayed."

The IEA is not happy about the leak.

I found a  video of a fascinating weekly event called Ciclovia in Bogota, Colombia, where the city shuts down 70 miles of streets so that residents can ride bicycles, walk and exercise. This happens every Sunday and holiday. Every Sunday? All I can say is wow.

Shell just released a report summing up the dialogue that occurred between company executives and the consumers, community groups and politicians in 50 cities over the past two years. The purpose of the tour was to better educate the public about the challenges the country will face in diversifying its energy portfolio and to find out what was on the minds of the average Sally and Steve.

So what did Shell learn? A few notable points:

Further along the coast, in the Southeast, we found a focus on education. Residents want the public to be more aware of the current energy situation -- and they also emphasized the need to educate elected officials. We found considerable support for increased access to domestic resources and greater refinery output, again balanced by a concern for safety and environmental protection. Clean coal and carbon sequestration were in the mix. We also heard a call for greater fuel efficiency through automotive technology improvements and Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards, commonly referred to as CAFE standards. Throughout the state of Florida, residents told us that they did not want, and would fight, new exploration and production off the Florida coast."

Shell stated in its report that while it does not buy the "peak oil" argument (instead believing in a plateau and then general decline of oil supplies), the company is concerned about unrealistic expectations of energy independence from the public:

"What was most frightening? The overwhelming disconnect between the perceptions of many consumers and the hard realities of the energy picture. This is the crux of our dilemma as a country in determining an energy path forward – the belief that there are easy answers that are readily available, when in reality the choices we have to make will not come easily or swiftly."

Obviously there is a disconnect in the political sphere when our Congressmen and women are busy talking about profits from greedy oil companies rather than engaging in a comprehensive public discussion about the changing energy environment we find ourselves in. We need to move from scapegoating to honestly assessing our predicament and devising appropriate strategies for adaptation.

I started reading this weekend "The Great Turning", by Michael Korten, a challenge to global citizens fed up with Empire's 5,000 year run to help usher in modern societies' conversion to earth community. Korten, who has worked for many years trying to rebuild third world communities, is co-founder of the Positive Futures Network and People-Centered Development Forum.

I didn't wait to stop reading the book before I started wondering to those Web sites and discovered WiserEarth, a Web portal that connects activists all over the world. I poked around some more and found a Google map that displays the locations of local groups such as Food Not Bombs Greensboro, Triad Sustainability Cafe and Earth Culture. Amazing.

Have any of you read "The Great Turning"? What do you think of it?

This week, Shell Chief Executive Jeroen van der Veer acknowledges that the world is running out of cheap oil. His prediction of peak production is 2015, less than a decade away.