This year we are focusing on Emergency Preparedness. We intend to introduce each other to the resources that local institutions such as the City of Portland, Multnomah County, The Red Cross, and others have available, and work toward concrete actions that would increase our chances of responding well to earthquakes, floods, fires, etc.
Assembling an emergency kit and conducting drills are just two of the actions we will be focusing on in the coming months. We also intend to bridge the gap between preparing for short term disasters and longer term emergencies we anticipate arising with climate change and the ongoing arrival of Peak Oil. Some of the challenges in the two kinds of emergencies are expected to be similar (know your neighbors, be prepared/plan for things to be different) while others are probably not (source food locally, learn to get around without heavy reliance on a car, heat house without fossil fuels, etc.).