On Monday July 21, 2014 at 1:00 PM in the Quinta Loreto Hotel, tv room, Loreto 15, Centro, Occupy San Miguel presents The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil. Peak oil theory states: that any finite resource, (including oil), will have a beginning, middle, and an end of production, and at some point it will reach a level of maximum output – at which point the Earth’s oil supply will start to dwindle. It’s difficult for most of us to imagine the cascading effects that such an event will have on transportation and agriculture alone- two vital elements in our daily lives.
To understand, we look to Cuba. When they lost access to Soviet oil in the early 1990s, the country faced an immediate crisis – feeding the population – and an ongoing challenge: how to create a new low-energy society. With imports of oil cut by more than half – and food by 80 percent – people were desperate. This film tells of the hardships and struggles as well as the community and creativity of the Cuban people during this difficult time: which they call “The Special Period.”Cubans share in their own words how they transitioned from a large highly mechanized, industrial agricultural system to less energy intensive organic methods of farming and local, urban gardens. They moved from an industrialized society to one that is more sustainable.
The Power of Community is an unusual look into the Cuban culture during that economic crisis.
Has the world approached Peak Oil? Cuba, the only country that has faced such a crisis – the massive reduction of fossil fuels – is an example of options and hope to all.
