AbstractsGeography &GIS

Given the inevitability of declining oil production and the attendant economic conditions such an event will precipitate, it becomes incumbent on us to determine the nature of the socioeconomic vulnerability to this event and if it forms clusters in any discernable fashion. This information will help establish what methods of mitigation may be successful and what manner of adaptations may be inevitable. This thesis attempts to address these concerns by developing a methodology to measure vulnerability with data readily available to any municipality in the US, as well as determining what spatial trends might be exhibited in a small study area. Results of this investigation indicate that the vulnerability and ability to adapt to peak oil appear to be geographic inverses, making comprehensive and geographically-blind policies likely to be ineffective at best.