While cheap fossil fuels have brought many benefits to modern society, they have also enabled a global economy that has destroyed the historic local wealth of America’s rural areas. Staunton and Augusta County are no exception.
Transitioning off of fossil fuels won’t be easy, but it will offer a historic opportunity to revitalize our local economy:
- We can restore our historic downtowns and stop unsightly suburban sprawl
- We can take back our food from industrial agriculture and empower local family farmers, farmers markets and small food stores, and local-food restaurants
- We can re-open shuttered factories and create new opportunities for local, clean manufacturing with thousands of good jobs
- We can re-skill ourselves to regain home economic, handicraft, and repair skills common in our grandparents’ generation.
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.
– Margaret Mead
