-by David Walton

Last year Margaret Klein Salamon PhD, a cofounder of the Climate Mobilization movement (U.S.), shared a dire message. Her premise is that the Climate Crisis is so imminent that we need a wartime style mobilization to save the planet.

Climate Mobilization has produced a Pledge to  Mobilize which they encourage everyone to sign, including politicians. The aim is to get a national mobilization happening, with the government taking the lead. During WWII the goal was to win the war and that was achieved. All industrial production was geared to armaments and there was an economic boom, full employment and technological breakthroughs. We are now in WWCO2 and a similar mobilization is necessary. As in WWII it doesn't mean economic doom. I believe she is absolutely correct and that we need governments that are bold enough to set this mobilization in place. Unfortunately with the oil pipeline decisions being made on both sides of the border, I don't believe we will see such a government in time.

What can we do? Give up and party on as long as it lasts or stand up and
do something to help save the planet? A group of like minded individuals is meeting to do something. The group is meeting to form an Owen Sound Area Transition Town ([email protected]). This is based on Rob Hopkin's book called The Transition Handbook. Transition is a method of moving away from fossil fuel dependence to a locally based, self sufficient lifestyle in all areas (e.g. energy, food, culture and transportation). I want to stress that the Transition movement is worldwide and it doesn't promote going back to the stone age but rather to a better future.

Returning to the WWII analogy, at this time of need commodities were rationed. Stamps were issued and once they were used up you couldn't get any more of that commodity. I am personally trying volunteer fuel rationing. By being conscious about why I get in the car I intend to reduce my fuel consumption by 25%.

How to Minimize Fuel Consumption:
Plan to do multiple errands in one trip rather than a series of individual trips.
Walk
Ride a bicycle
Take public transit
E bike
Car pool

These are a few ideas and I am sure there are more. We need to be conscious of how we use our cars, constantly asking ourselves, "Do I need to make this trip now? Can it be done on the way home from work or when I.....?"

I challenge everyone to join a voluntary fuel rationing plan. To get started take your fuel bills from as many months as you can find and assume that this is your average consumption. Next extrapolate to 12 months in order to figure out your yearly consumption, Set yourself a goal of reducing by a significant amount then keep track of fuel use in litres as you purchase. Remember you have allotted yourself only so much and like the ration stamps when it's gone, it's gone.

I volunteer to host a meeting for anyone that wants to take the challenge. Please contact me by email  or by phone at (519) 470-3159