Riot Intro
Welcome to the Riot for Austerity 90% Emissions Reduction Project. The goal that Miranda, Sharon and other participants have set for themselves is to cut their emissions by 90% of what the average person in the US consumes - the approximate amount people in the rich world need to reduce by in order to avoid the worst effects of global warming. The eventual goal is to reach the 94% that George Monbiot calculates would represent a fair share of the world’s emissions for Americans, but we’re starting slow ;-).
We’re doing this for several reasons. First, because it is necessary - if we want to bestow a decent world on our children, we have to cut our emissions, and much harder and faster than any government has proposed. The reason governments do not propose it is because they believe it is politically infeasible. So we want to present our leaders with as many people as possible who will stand up and say “I did it. Our nation can too.” We’re excited that people want to join us, and we invite anyone who is ready to participate!
The other reason is that we’re ready to take the next step - Miranda and I have both been cutting our energy usage for a while preparing for a more sustainable future. We want to take a larger step. If you want to join in, you can do it one of two ways - first, by linking in your blog (send Miranda an email at simplereduce@charter.net with your blog info) or by commenting on either of our blogs. Click here to find the original parameters of the program.
Monbiot’s calculations were that this was impossible without government intervention. Well, we think it is possible, and we’re going to prove it. It would be a lot easier, though, with government infrastructure changes like better public transportation, more investment in renewable energies and a transfer of subsidies away from stupid things like building new highways and paying corporate agriculture. So if you participate and succeed in any way in this, you should be extremely proud of yourself - you are doing, without help, what they said could not be done.
Miranda and Sharon started this program together. We come from really different backgrounds, and we’ve each got different challenges. Sharon lives on a farm, Miranda in a city. Sharon grows a lot of her food but has no public transport and nothing very walkable. Miranda walks everywhere but only has a lawn. We’re both struggling to do this with young and sometimes recalcitrant children. We’re both excited about it, though! We think it is will be important to demonstrate that this is possible in all sorts of lives.
