---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: John Robb (Resilient Communities) <[email protected]> Date: Sun, Jun 16, 2013 at 1:33 AM Subject: A Fix for a Major Catastrophe To: [email protected] Having problems viewing this email? View this post on our website<https://cs962.infusionsoft.com/app/linkClick/5811/489c0db804d67f69/2503298/9648acd34d3c1c1a> . [image: printlogo-1329425488189.jpeg] Wildfire. 2 Dead. 473 Homes Destroyed. It didn't have to happen. By John Robb The most destructive fire in Colorado’s history is still burning. It has already killed *two people* and burned down more than 473 homes<https://cs962.infusionsoft.com/app/linkClick/9906/5b22572cab3c508e/2503298/9648acd34d3c1c1a>, mostly in the suburban town of Black Forest, Colorado. That’s a shame. This fire *should* be a national embarrassment. There’s absolutely no reason that this event should have been this bad, with two people dead and nearly 500 expensive homes burnt to the ground. This wasn’t a poor community. The homeowners and the community had the resources to prevent this without outside financial support. [image: Black Forest]<https://cs962.infusionsoft.com/app/linkClick/9908/b5ad29523eaf93df/2503298/9648acd34d3c1c1a> This is simply a disaster due an inability to think resiliently, at every level. - Pernicious government regulations that outlaw basic rainwater harvesting and promote unsafe home and landscape design. - Corporations that spend billions marketing dysfunctional, but profitable, homes that turn us into dependent victims. - Individual homeowners, who were unwilling to take responsibility to make their property resilient to disaster (and thereby threatening the lives and property of everyone else in the community). As bad as this is, *it gets worse*. *************************Advertisement************************* Absolutely everything you need to know to grow fresh, healthy and organic food. Without all the problems and takes only 8 hours of effort per year. This method repels pests and controls weeds. Start your garden anywhere in the world<https://cs962.infusionsoft.com/app/linkClick/9910/e9bb2f781b550d95/2503298/9648acd34d3c1c1a> ***************************************************************** Even the people that *did* take responsibility and *took* action didn’t do the right thing. They simply didn’t know how. Take Nigel Thompson for example. He and his family live in the Black Forest community. After last year’s massive fire, Nigel decided to take action to protect his home. To prepare, Nigel cut down 20 trees near his home to create a firebreak. He also spent a small fortune on a new roof of fire retardant tiles. Unfortunately, but not unexpectedly, this didn’t work. His home burned to the ground. A simple resilient approach to preventing this type of disaster starts with the effective management of water. Colorado gets more than enough rainwater, even now, to support the development of a vibrant, living forest environment. The problem is that*97% of the rain that falls onto the ground in Colorado evaporates before it makes it to a major waterway*. The opportunity to use it is simply wasted. That error can be corrected. Simple measures (for details, see my report on Water Abundance<https://cs962.infusionsoft.com/app/linkClick/9912/364b9972e841eaa6/2503298/9648acd34d3c1c1a>), at both the home and community level can turn homes and their associated landscapes into powerful allies in the fight against wildfires. For example, changes to home and neighborhood landscapes (from swales to hugelkultur<https://cs962.infusionsoft.com/app/linkClick/9914/0a8c1dd41d701acc/2503298/9648acd34d3c1c1a>) as well as proper cover crops could easily be added at scales that would have created community wide conditions (higher humidity, lower temperatures, and green plants) that are much less likely to support the spread of a wildfire. Active rainwater harvesting from the rooftop, if it was allowed, would have enabled even more positive changes to the system. There’s lots more. Unfortunately, none of this happened, antiquated thinking prevailed, and disaster ensued. Sincerely, JOHN ROBB [image: JR]<https://cs962.infusionsoft.com/app/linkClick/9916/d42484db72cb8e9c/2503298/9648acd34d3c1c1a> ------------------------------ *Weekly Resilience Roundtables* ** Each Wednesday, *Resilience Strategies* members are able to ask questions to the top experts who are on the cutting edge of the resilience movement. Just in the past 4 weeks, John has shared the following with members: * How permaculture can transform your home with simple changes * How a single machine can generate personal electricity for your home from any biomass * A popular electric tractor that can be used for practically any purpose * The big changes in solar energy that now make investment a reasonable alternative Along with Resilience Roundtables, you'll also get a simple roadmap to resiliency with the People, Ideas & Tools sections of each monthly publication. Resiliency isn't done alone, it's about utilizing the technological advances to reduce your reliance to today's fragile systems. *Get these experts insights today*<https://cs962.infusionsoft.com/app/linkClick/9918/4bee1c088c2c3278/2503298/9648acd34d3c1c1a> ------------------------------ For your convenience, John Robb will deliver his articles straight to your inbox each time a post is made! I look forward to the ongoing conversation and you're always welcome to post your comments at www.resilientcommunities.com<https://cs962.infusionsoft.com/app/linkClick/5813/031e0b62f30ad32c/2503298/9648acd34d3c1c1a>. If you no longer wish to receive our emails, click the link below: Unsubscribe<https://cs962.infusionsoft.com/app/optOut/8/50f35d64da011d70/2503298/9648acd34d3c1c1a> Resilient Community, LLC 14405 W Colfax Ave #309 Lakewood, Colorado 80401 United States <https://crm.infusionsoft.com/go/infs/jschneider/html> -- P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net <http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation>Updates: http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens #82 on the (En)Rich list: http://enrichlist.org/the-complete-list/