Last night, I cohosted Think City's Debate '08 at the Vancouver Public Library's central branch between three candidates for Vancouver city council: COPE's Ellen Woodsworth, the NPA's Michael Geller, and Vision Vancouver's Geoff Meggs.

All three candidates gave thorough and often thoughtful responses on housing issues. I'll have more on that in the next edition of the Georgia Straight, which will be distributed across Metro Vancouver tomorrow (October 30).

But I was stunned that none of these three candidates could explain what peak oil was, let alone tell the audience whether or not they would respond to this issue if they were elected.

Keep in mind that Geller is a former president of the Urban Development Institute and played a major role in the development of the mixed community on the south shore of False Creek. He is seen as the NPA's star candidate for city council.

Meggs is a former top advisor to B.C. Federation of Labour president Jim Sinclair. Meggs was also former mayor Larry Campbell's de facto chief of staff, as well as the communications director to Glen Clark while he was premier. He's also a former journalist.

Woodsworth is a former city councillor who has presumably read a lot of newspapers during her lifetime.

Yet none of them answered the question.

Peak oil is a term to describe the peak of global oil production. Peak-oil theorists believe that once this peak is reached (or it if has already been reached), it will result in the end of cheap oil. Along with that will come severe ramifications for food production, transportation, and the production of plastics, which all rely heavily on petroleum.

This is what happens when you get people in their 50s and 60s running for public office. In my experience, I've found that people in their 20s and 30s are generally much more aware of the peak-oil issue because they know they might have to spend the next 40 years dealing with the consequences.

There are some exceptions, however. COPE councillor David Cadman, NPA councillor Suzanne Anton, members of Burnaby council, North Vancouver District mayor Richard Walton, North Vancouver City mayor Darrell Mussatto, Richmond councillor Harold Steves, and Maple Ridge mayoral candidate Michael Sather are just a few local politicians who have educated themselves on this topic.

If there are any other municipal candidates in the region who want to offer their thoughts on peak oil and whether or not politicians should address this issue, they're welcome to use the comment space below.

I recognize that with world oil prices falling, there are some who probably think the whole theory is bunk. If so, here's their chance to explain why.

To  get things started, here are 12 questions posed by Rick Balfour, a member of the Vancouver Peak Oil Executive, which is posted on the organization's Web site:

By Rick Balfour, VPO

Plan B Questions are mandatory for all civic, provincial and federal politicans.

Poor answers or no answers deserve no votes; we need leaders with both guts and vision.

We need action, not more talk. We have little time to change.

1. How high is your own consciousness, relative to global runaway impacts on our communities, about Peak Oil, Global Warming and the inevitable shift in job markets and mass migration from difficult areas to highly preferred areas? Is it higher than most, are you ahead enough in the issues to lead and be proactive?

Take a page or ten minutes. No excuses, no glib answers.

2. How are you going to raise public consciousness to bring along the deniers now holding necessary change in check? And part 2: How are you going to help the already aware, particularly younger groups to take initiative to make the necessary changes to save us all from social collapse?

3. How are you going to push for positive, rapid, radical, and light changes to the pattern of community? Are you ready to fight for what has to be done? Are you ready to take on other government levels to move reactionary hold backs into positive action? Are you ready to fight Nimby and narrow self interests that now damage our hopes for recovery?

4. How are you going to shift energy, industry and transportation back to localized low energy systems of consumption? Do not depend on others, how are you going to lead?

5. Time is short, we have half a decade to shift the pattern of community to cut energy consumption, to raise local foods, to stop the giveaway of precious resources we need here. What policy are you going to design or push to make our community really sustainable?

6. How are you going to work with your perceived opposition to move our community and economy into a lateral shift, a workable future? We have five years. Take ten minutes or half a page. No platitudes, we need action, what is yours?

7. Plan B actions are now essential, all of the Plan A assumptions are now useless, the oil and car age has ended. How are you proposing to recycle wasted resources and energy into salvaged resources to last many generations? They need the material we have wasted. What is your plan?

8. How are you going to bonus new energy and penalize old wasteful forms? Are you going to support rapid expansion of passenger and freight rail, the establishment of new rail production plants in each province or region?

9. Are you going to fight globalization and related white elephant projects that waste current resources and kill all hope for our children?

10. What is your plan for immediate food security, local water security, local energy security? How are you contributing to shutting down interests that are working against your community; are you ready to intercede in other levels of government to restore real sustainability for your citizens?

11. Are you ready to actually defend the security of your family and community to the extremes that now appear more and more necessary?

12. Do you really want to be a leader, or just appear to lead? We need leaders of vision, action and intellect. Who are the people we need to lead us now?