There was a moment in 2016, just after Donald Trump was declared the next President of US, that the pieces of the jigsaw started to fall into place for me. Trump declared the first thing he wanted to do was to build a wall along the Mexican border and this map appeared on my twitter feed.

imrs

It is an incredible injustice that the nations who have contributed the least to man-made global warming will be impacted the most. If global warming continues unabated, the nations marked red will experience increasing deterioration in their environments, with unbearable temperatures, water scarcity and food shortages. This will propel mass migration on an unimaginable scale from densely populated areas towards the green marked nations. That Donald Trump wants to build a wall to keep them out, whilst encouraging production of carbon emissions, is chilling.

The shocking rise in fascism, I believe, is being used to socially engineer a lack of empathy or othering. This is a pre-meditated attempt to justify the closing of borders to those fleeing uninhabitable land.

We face an unprecedented challenge in 2017. De carbonise the West or unscrupulous corporations will continue their march towards catastrophic, profit-driven global warming. This will require a massive cultural shift to sustainable living. Voting with our individual consumer feet has never been more vital.

For most U.S. households, the single most important action to reduce their carbon footprint is driving less. By walking or biking to the destination rather than driving, not only is a person going to save money on petrol, but they will be burning less fuel and releasing fewer emissions into the atmosphere.

Here is a link to a carbon calculator which will help assess your current lifestyle

http://www.carbonfootprint.com/calculator.aspx

These are some of the things that I believe will help transition to sustainable living. I have pledged not to fly because it is so damaging.

  • Minimise motorised traffic
  • Prioritise food security, locally sourced goods, low air and road miles
  • More economical use of Land and public space away from car use
  • Support Renewable sources of energy and conservation of energy, change your energy supplier to Good Energy
  • NHS focussing more on prevention of illness
  • Pay people not to consume, aviation, car use, buying stuff
  • Basic income
  • Carbon accounting, carbon tax
  • Voting with our consumer feet
  • Reduce meat consumption, eat local