Combat Climate Chaos!
90% for 90% - GET THE CARD - SHOW THE GUARD
A call for a 90% cut in public transport fares ... to make public transport affordable ... to start making changes ... that bring the 90% cut in greenhouse gases needed to halt climate change.
Are you sick of high public transport fares while pollution causes record levels of asthma in children, and the floodwaters rise? Public transport is neither affordable nor a high quality service - for passengers or for workers. Meanwhile, scientists say that to stop extreme weather events and catastrophic climate change we have to cut greenhouse gases (the gases that contribute to climate change) by as much as 90%.
Road travel is one of the fastest growing sources of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas. Getting people off roads and onto a decent and affordable public transport system is more than a nice idea - it’s essential for survival. Tired of hearing government rhetoric over the railways, and seeing no commitment to tackling climate change, people are taking action.
‘90% for 90%’ is a call for a public transport system run in the interests of passengers and workers, not profit, and available to all, regardless of income.
You might refuse to pay more than 10%. You might show the card in support of the call. You might leaflet other passengers.
* People have started carrying the 90% for 90% card on trains around the UK:
* a great day out in Blackpool was had by all, after a group of 90%ers from Manchester carried the card, showed the guard, and spent the journey talking about the state of the railways and leafleting other passengers, receiving a really positive response
* an individual travelled from the north to the south west of England, negotiating with the guard an equivalent ticket for approximately 10% of the full fare I on a journey to Oxford
* on a journey to Oxford another couple dealt with a very nice but over-officious guard who gave them penalty fare tickets and refused to talke about anything 'political'.
* one 90%er spoke at a local RMT branch meeting, distributed materials and talked about climate change. She hopes to meet again with public transport workers.
Of course getting on to public transport doesnt mean that climate change would immediately stop, but it would be a start. Even if just the first step we must find different ways of living and working, ways that end our dependence on fossil fuels, and that stop the floodwaters from taking people's homes, from Yorkshire to Mozambique. Ways that are relevant to how people live, not just economic growth.
International talks on climate change are getting nowhere. Plans include 'carbon trading' - setting up a trading system for greenhouse gases - but within a framework of big business continuing to make their profits while the poor stay poor (see http://www.xs4all.nl/~ceo/greenhouse/index.html or more info). Depressing though that is, it shows that it is up to us to define what we want and what we need, to make our lives better.
National Day Of Action 16th July
The next UN climate change conference takes place in Bonn, Germany, starting on July 16th. Governments from across the world will again bang their heads together to work out how to disguise a fetish for continued economic growth as a concern to stop the planet burning up, by creating whole new market opportunities.
Legislators don’t lead. Join the national day of action on July 16th, the first day of Bonn, and demonstrate that different ways of living and working come from us taking action based in our own lives - that includes finding accessible and affordable ways of moving around.
Join in the national day of action by getting together with a group in your area, speaking to local public transport workers, and planning a 90% for 90% day trip: to the seaside (get there before it gets to you); to the countryside (if its open); to view your another couple dealt with a very nice but over-officious guard nearest oil refinery the possibilities are endless.
Rising Tide Tour May/June 2001
The Rising Tide Tour set off in May, inspiring action around climate change, seeking solutions based in our own lives; and building up pressure before the next UN climate talks this July. It features an evening of information and entertainment around climate change, workshops, theatre and support for direct action.
Contact climatechaos@yahoo.com for local details of each stop.
BRIGHTON, 2nd - 4th May;
FARNBOROUGH, 8th May;
WEST LONDON, 11th May;
HACKNEY, 12th May;
EDINBURGH, 14th - 16th May;
NEWCASTLE, 16th -18th May
LANCASTER, 22nd - 24th May;
LIVERPOOL, 24th - 25th May;
YORK, 26th - 29th May;
HULL date tbc
READING, 7th - 8th June;
OXFORD, 9th June
www.risingtide.org.uk