I have been aware of the idea of Human-induced Climate Change since 1969. I was also introduced to the idea of Peak Oil at that time by my father who had worked at an oil refinery. I really did not know what to do about it for the longest time other than try to improve the efficiency of our use of limited resources. After getting acquainted with the idea of Jevons Paradox ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jevons_paradox ) in 2005, I decided to make radical changes to my personal goals. The two approaches I have found that have the best chance of dealing with the predicaments of both Peak Oil and Climate Change are Village Towns ( http://www.villageforum.com ), and Permaculture. Since I do not have the resources to start a Village Town, Permaculture became my path.

I and my family have been fortunate enough to obtain 20 acres of prime agricultural land near Eugene Oregon. Together we are planting about 10 acres of Edible Forest Garden. This is a long term project which will take many years of effort, but I can think of nothing more rewarding than restoring overused grazing land to an self renewing ecosystem which may eventually allow us and our descendants to live a comfortable and sustainable life, (assuming the planet retains some habitability). My personal research suggests that the economic effects of Peak Oil will prevent the worst case scenarios of Climate Change, but that these same effects of limited resources will make for painful cultural changes for most people. The more people that adopt Permaculture, the better things will be.

While I have no formal training in Permaculture, my son has a design certificate and is my farm manager. I am also a strong self study and have read many books on the subject, including Dave Jacke's two volumes on Edible Forest Gardens. Naturally, we will learn as we go and will likely make many mistakes. One of our challenges is that we have found few resources for plant guilds in our Northwestern climate, so we are pretty much developing these ourselves.