10 April 2008 - The Green MEP for the South East will be visiting Cirencester tomorrow (Friday 11 April) to open the annual conference of one of the UK’s most revolutionary environmental movements.

Green Party ‘eco hero’ to warn of global food insecurity resulting from peak oil crisis on visit to Cirencester and Stroud

She will say: “I truly believe that the Transition Town network is the most exciting, most hopeful, and most inspirational movement in Britain today. It is exciting because it’s such a fast-growing, grassroots, direct response to an oil crisis which will affect us all.

“The Transition Town project proposes meaningful solutions to the two greatest challenges we face today - peak oil and climate change. It doesn’t wait for government, politicians or corporations to act; it’s about people in their communities taking action now, and joining together to create an alternative vision of how society could be.”

In the current system of globalised trade, food production is dangerously dependent upon oil – 95% of all the goods in shops involve the use of oil. Dr Lucas will warn that only by consuming more locally sourced food and services, and improving support for domestic producers, can we decrease our reliance upon unsustainable fossil fuels.

Dr Lucas will highlight the positive message of the Transition Town network, which works to wean communities off oil, at a time when oil production may have already peaked and regularly surpasses the $100-a-barrel mark.

She says: “The Greens have been trying to get the subject of Peak Oil onto the political agenda for several years. But now, there’s a new and growing awareness of the dramatic consequences of it becoming more costly and more scarce.

“Transition Town demonstrates that the changes we urgently need to make in order to address peak oil and climate change are positive changes in themselves.  By making these changes, we can not only tackle the environmental crisis, we can also lead more fulfilling lives - through stronger local communities for example, better insulated homes, more vibrant local economies, more local production and consumption.

Following Caroline’s speech at the Transition Towns conference, there will be a press conference for local print and broadcast media at 5.30pm in the Star Anise Arts Cafe in Stroud.

Finally, Caroline will end the day by speaking at a public meeting at the Subscription Rooms in Stroud, entitled ‘The Future of Food’. The event at 7.30pm will provide a genuine opportunity for local people to hear Caroline’s views on the current EU food policy framework, and to find out what needs to be done at the European, national and local levels to safeguard our food sources for future generations.

ENDS

Notes to Editors

The Transition Towns Annual Conference is taking place at the Royal Agricultural College near Cirencester from 11-13 April 2008.

Please click here for the conference agenda and visitor information.

For more information on the work of Dr Lucas MEP, please contact Melissa Freeman on 0207 407 9935 / 07950 382149 or carolinepress@greenmeps.org.uk