Transition Mill Valley Eyes Uncertain Future

If Wednesday night was any indication, Kaylan Massie said she has a good vibe about her new hometown of Mill Valley.

"I loved the ideas we heard discussed tonight," said Massie, 27. "It just gives a warm feeling about living here."

Massie, who moved to the city six months ago, was among a gathering of about 100 people at 142 Throckmorton Theatre for a movie screening and open discussion of the brave new world of declining oil supplies, climate change and economic instability boiled down to the local level. 

The evening was hosted by Transition Mill Valley, a fledgling chapter of the national and international nonprofit movement sprouting up across the globe. The collective of local organizations was started in the UK by permaculture designer and author Rob Hopkins. The group hopes to foster community-based initiatives to tackle the dual challenges of climate change and peak oil.

The evening began with a film compiled from footage of Transition projects based mainly in England, Ireland and New Zealand. Topics ranged from the prospect of peak oil - when extraction of the fossil fuel reaches a maximum and begins to decline - to shared farmland, local food festivals and regional currency.

The audience, predominantly an elderly and middle age crowd, heard about the success of the 150-member Transition West Marin group before splitting up into smaller discussion groups. Though most in the crowd didn't appear to fall into the "non-believer" category, a sizable chunk dispersed shortly after the film.

"Transition is kind of a slow roll process of engaging the community and getting awareness that there are these things on the horizon," including climate change and dwindling oil supply, said Bruce Richard, of Mill Valley, one of the organizers.

Polla Pratt, a member of the West Marin chapter, told the audience that a string of events, monthly meetings and home get-togethers demonstrated "we really are all seeing the same thing."

"We are seeing what our daily life can be like without fossil fuels," said Pratt, of Bolinas. "Transition is happening everywhere. It's a deep process. Some of us are really scared and disturbed about what's happening. Some of us are ready to take it on, but everybody is at a different place."

Richard said his group hoped to work with other local initiatives including Sustainable Mill Valley to engage more of the community. 

Landscaper Kirk Seidel, of Mill Valley, said such a local effort was long overdue.

"It seems pretty simple," said Seidel, 49. "The idea is to take action locally. I hope Mill Valley embraces it."

Transition U.S. is based in Sebastopol. Its president, Raven Gray, is a Lagunitas resident. For information, visit the Transition Mill Valley or Transition U.S. Web sites.