More than one hundred opponents of Proposition 23 gathered at the Valero gas station on Mission Street near downtown last Sunday to protest the California initiative funded by major Texas oil companies Valero and Tesoro. The initiative would repeal AB32 of 2006: the California Global Warming Solutions Act.

Homegrown harvests and bread baked by the family down the street. Medical care subsidized by local taxes and available to all residents of a municipality. Mixed-use housing, water catchment systems galore, walkable neighborhoods and thriving community connections.
Transition Santa Cruz, a citizen coalition that educates and acts on the principles of personal and community resilience in a future devoid of cheap oil, believes all of these and much more are possible in a post -petroleum world.