Attachment 3

How Cuba Survived Peak Oil


Tuesday, June 20^{th
7:00 P.M.}

Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History
165 Forest Avenue

Sponsored By: Sustainable Pacific Grove and Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History

The just released film, The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil, documents Cuba’s emergency transition to local organic agriculture, renewable energy, and large-scale mass transit. The transition occurred following the Soviet collapse in 1990, when their massive subsidies of imported oil and food to Cuba were halted.

In this documentary, ordinary Cubans talk about the immediate hardships they faced. Their GDP dropped by more than one third, transportation nearly stopped and food became scarce - the average Cuban lost 20 pounds during the first years of this economic crisis.

The film visits urban gardens and organic farms, explains the relationship between food and fossil fuels, and shows how a society can change from an industrialized, global focus to a local, community-based one. It is a rare view into this island culture, using firsthand reporting that focuses on what Cubans learned about adapting to living with less.

Cuba’s experience provides a living model for how the rest of the world can respond to the coming world oil production peak and irreversible decline some oil experts say will occur this decade. “Everyone who is concerned about Peak Oil needs to see this film,” said Richard Heinberg, author of The Party's Over and Powerdown. “It is a story not just of individual achievement, but of the collective mobilization of an entire society to meet an enormous challenge.”