We know that tracking our personal energy use and carbon emissions is critical to reducing needs for imported energy, our impacts on the climate, and on the environment. As Lord Kelvin so famously said, "That which cannot be measured, cannot be improved."

As of today, we have to figure out our own ways to measure our energy and carbon footprints. Some parts are fairly easy--for example, our utility bills can tell us a lot about our energy use. But what about food? What's the embodied energy and carbon emissions of our diet? Did you know a meat-eater could reduce their CO2 as much by going vegetarian as by switching to a Prius?

And how does your carbon footprint compare with others in the US and aceross the world? Where do you stand? What yardsticks can we use to make comparisons?

Join with Mike O'Brien, Green Building Specialist from the City's Office of Sustainable Development, who will walk us through some ideas and useful tools for tracking our progress as we make choices and changes in our lives. This should be interesting and, at the very least, offer some insights into the impacts of our lifestyles.

We'll start with a reading of your utility bills, so bring your last year's electric and gas bills (October 2007 to October 2008). Here's where to call for copies:

* PGE 503-228-6322 or 800-542-8818
* Pacific Power 1-888-221-7070,
* Northwest Natural 503-226-4211 or 800-422-4012.

Renowned oilman T. Boone Pickens is talking openly about $300/barrel oil. Oil industry insiders are saying we face a peak in global oil production as early as 2012. What's the future of oil global oil supplies, and what does it mean for government policymakers?

Post Carbon Institute's 'Peak Oil for Policymakers' DVD includes timely presentations by four leading experts on peak oil (the all-time high point of global oil production) and what it means for local, state and national governments:

Peak Oil for Policymakers - is an executive summary of the peak oil problem and its implications for the global and national economies. By world-renowned peak oil author and lecturer Richard Heinberg and Post Carbon Institute founder Julian Darley.

Post Carbon Cities - explores what peak oil means for leaders at the local level and how some cities in the U.S. and elsewhere are already responding. By Daniel Lerch, author of Post Carbon Cities: Planning for Energy and Climate Uncertainty, the first major guidebook on peak oil for local government officials and staff.

Scenarios Planning for Government - gives an elected official's perspective on peak oil, with the story of one state legislature's recent decision to establish a task force on energy scarcity. By Connecticut State Representative Terry Backer.