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FOR anyone unfortunate enough to have been in the grip of alcoholism, the first of the customary 12 steps to freedom comes by admitting that it's an addiction which is making their lives unmanageable.
Now there's a new program sweeping the world with its own 12-step program, but this time the substance is not booze, but oil, and the binge drinkers are the countries of the developed world.
Read Graham Readfearn's Green Blog
"We are looking at the challenges and tackling them – head on," says mother-of-three Emma-Kate Rose.
Ms Rose is one of the founders of the world's 114th Transition Town initiative – a global movement that's trying to protect towns and cities from the impacts of oil shortages and climate change.
"This is one of the first movements that's focussed on a positive vision and positive scenarios of the future," says Rose, 38, who is part of the Transition Kurilpa group, based around Brisbane's West End suburb.
The spread of the Transition Town movement has been spontaneous and rapid. What started with one small group in the Devonshire town of Totnes in England in mid-2006 has now reached 15 countries and more than 200 communities. Australia has 18 groups. Groups have recently been established in Chile, Japan, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Canada and Finland. The US has 38.
The first Transition Town recognised outside the UK was Queensland's Sunshine Coast group established in August 2007. Since then, Queensland groups have emerged at Eudlo, Caloundra, Maleny, Cooram, Boreen Point, Hervey Bay, Bundaberg and Cairns.
All the groups focus on "relocalising" their economies.
"When you ask how we can cut our greenhouse gas emissions – how we can prepare and adapt to peak oil – then most roads lead to decentralised systems," says Sonya Wallace, co-ordinator for the pioneering Transition Sunshine Coast group.
This could mean promoting local food and energy production, putting aside land for agriculture, promoting sustainable jobs or working with local governments.
Across Queensland, recent events have included food gardening courses, backyard bee-keeping, movie screenings, seminars and a drive to install solar hot water systems. Weblogs, forums and networks are being used to spread their word and organise events. But why has the movement caught on so quickly?
"We were all suffering from climate change fatigue," Rose says. "A lot of us were activists or just normal residents who felt really powerless about the situation.
"We talk about living a positive sustainable life. Most of the groups are focused on local food campaigns and establishing community gardens and doing permaculture blitzes in each other's back yards. We are creating an alternative vision."
Rolf Kuelsen, 48, of Cannon Hill, helped establish Brisbane's newest group called Transition East, which joins groups in the suburbs of St John's Wood, Annerley, Kurilpa, The Gap and Kenmore.
He says: "It offers us hope and that's what it's all about – dealing with peak oil and climate change on a community level.
"A lot of people want a village atmosphere. People are sick of being caught in congestion and peak-hour traffic."
One unexpected feature of Transition Town has been the willingness of local governments to take the messages on board. On the Sunshine Coast, the regional council now has a group dedicated to lowering the region's energy dependence.
Last month, the peak local government body in Victoria issued a bulletin to all councils asking them to appoint councillors and officers to work with transition groups "to engage in community planning to build and manage the transition to a reduced-carbon, sustainable future".
Sonya Wallace adds: "Community engagement isn't something that governments do well so they see Transition Towns as a great way to let the community's creative genius come to the fore to come up with some solutions." Stuart McCarthy, the Brisbane co-ordinator for the Australian Association for the Study of Peak Oil and Gas, says Transition Towns have stepped in where the governments and, to a lesser degree mainstream media, have failed to acknowledge the issues.
"There's still a perception that peak oil is a technical problem," he says. "But it has become clear that very soon it will be a socio-economic problem. It's going to need responses from governments, businesses and – importantly – communities, and that's where Transition Towns come in."
Peak oil describes the point when the amount of oil being produced is unable to keep up with global demand, leading to higher fuel costs.
"The International Energy Agency says the (global oil) production rate is declining at 5 per cent per annum," McCarthy says.
"A good way to understand this is that for world production to remain as it is now you need to bring in to production a new Saudi Arabia every second year.
"As the oil price goes up, you'll get price rises, then a shock, then recession and demand will drop. People might be lulled into a false sense of security as the economy recovers, but then you hit that depletion curve again.
"Transition Towns looks at this issue holistically. Each locality is unique but the communities that can be pro-active and work together to reduce the dependence on oil will be able to withstand those shocks much better."
