WorldWithoutOil.Org

Okay, net heroes. You don't really know me yet. But I've got big plans for you - for all of us.

I'm Emil. I live in San Francisco now. Some of you probably already know me as the guy who left Evie

(mpathytest) back in New Jersey. I got offered an amazing internship on the West Coast - and she totally supported me to come out here. But wow - I miss her. A lot. Not afraid to say it either. Actually that's the biggest lesson of the oil shock for me so far - we really need to live closer to the people we love. Nothing I can do about that yet.

Okay, but that's all old news. Now for the new news.

I hope you've already watched inky_jewel's slideshow on Oil Shock and Climate Change. It's awesome. And it totally inspired me and Evie. So Evie and I pooled our resources. We've established a new You Rule - Thanks for Saving the World fund. And we're going to use that fund to thank you for your great ideas and crazy experiments and cool stories and amazing interventions. 

We've now got enough money set aside to purchase 100 one-ton carbon offsets - one ton each for 100 different heroes who do something that really gets our attention. Carbon offsets are contributions you make to renewable energy, energy efficiency and reforestation projects, balanced against carbon emissions you produce. So each one-ton offset balances out a whole ton of carbon emissions you might have helped produce taking the bus to work or eating a burger or powering your laptop. Yeah, of course you should try to create less emissions, that's the best thing and the first thing. But no matter what you do, unless you're a contestant on Survivor, you'll produce some. So this helps you balance out your environmental karma. I like it. We plan to get the offsets through Carbon Fund, which is a great non-profit doing lots of outreach and education in addition to supporting alternative fuel and climate-friendly energy projects. 

Okay, so here's how it works. Every few weeks, I'll post a new challenge. The best responses will  each win an official one-ton WWO Carbon Offset Award. Actually, Evie said that  the name "Carbon Offset Award" was really boring and you could probably think of a better one. So that's your first challenge. Post suggestions for a more interesting name for these awards in the comments. The best one will win the very first award!

The rest of team 8TSOC will be giving out some of the awards spontaneously for other awesome stories, so stay tuned - you never know when you might win one. Just our way of saying THANK YOU for putting your time and energy into helping document and understand this crisis.

P.S. Oh - I'm also the guy who created the first WWO drop spot and my friend Kal has been shooting the exclusive videos for WWO. Go get that drop spot! And keep your videos coming too. I know Kal is watching them and really inspired by what you're shooting and putting together. It's an amazing team effort.