Building intersectionality in the Climate Justice movement means Greens should should show our solidarity with others in the movement, including Greta Thunberg; afterall, she is a voice of reason and indignation.
She recently delivered a blistering denunciation of world leaders at the Youth4Climate conference in Italy. She said, ‘they,’ the adult authorities, our elected leaders and captains of industry, have had ’30 years’ to stanch the build up of carbon effluence to stop global warming, but have done nothing of any consequence.
Indeed, global warming is a fact, and human produced carbon effluence is the primary culprit; global warming denialism be damned.
Dismissing world leaders ‘words’ as ‘blah, blah, blah,’ meaning they lack meaningful action, Thunberg’s frustration was stark but rightfully so.
Greens should amplify Thunberg’s demand for climate justice at every opportunity for she speaks for the youth; she wants action, and the world leaders are not leading, in fact, they have been working against taking action.
Indeed, the United State government authorities have had well over 30 years to act on warnings. Action against global warming, and efforts to stem the use of fossil fuels have been stymied by a concerted effort from the Petro-Chemical industry, which has thwarted global warming mitigation and interfered with the advancement of sustainable energy systems.
Essentially, the powerful have not acted because they are attached to an industrial machine that brings in huge profits of which the plutocratic elite are unwilling to abandon.
Meanwhile, John Kerry, as President Biden’s Climate Change czar, has been flying around the world endeavoring to build a consensus for commitments to limit effluence. The NY Times reports that world leaders are not confident that Kerry and President Biden can be relied upon to deliver.
Traditionally, when one party takes the Presidency, two years later, the same party loses the House, so the other industrial nations feel trepidation about the future of American diplomacy and capacity to deliver on promises.
Thunberg’s indignation at American leadership especially needs to be acknowledged and channeled. But where can we go with our anger? To the streets of course; but it would also be appropriate to direct our ire to those that deserve it the most, and include in our demand for climate justice an accounting of the harm done.
Climate collapse didn’t need to get this bad; something could have been done, and might have been done, when John F. Kennedy took office. Even before the 1960’s. global warming was on the radar. Brakes on fossil fuel use may very well have been applied during a second Kennedy president, were he to have survived. But that is water under the bridge; in any case, we need to mobilize and push the cause and support the movement as well as we can; and at minimum, Greens should stand in solidarity with Greta and the movement she is advancing.
But people need to be held to account for injustice; Greens can call for the more freely than Greta since she does have sponsors she cannot offend.
In any case, responsibility should be assigned to those who have denied the climate science, and who have profited the most, and reparations should be paid. The value of harm done can be determined by the economists and ecologists working together.
However, It is not in Thunberg’s repertoire of rhetoric to mention conspiracies but Greens can and should. In the Pacific Green Party platform there is a plank that says that ‘polluters should pay’ for the pollution caused. And Green Party US platform calls out corruption and the deep collusion between corporations and agencies within the state.
We need to name the conspiracy, and name the actors involved. The ecological disaster we are in is the result of a class of people, who acted out of greed and not for the ‘general welfare,’ nor in the public interest.
Understanding conspiracy is important. The word ‘conspiracy’ has taken big rhetorical hits as it is now associated with misinformation in the context of a ‘conspiracy theorist;’ a deranged thinker. It’s a term coined by the CIA to discredit doubters of the Warren Commission Report.
What ‘conspiracies’ am I talking about? For example, the Petro / Chemical industry, under the leadership of Exxon, the officials knew by early 1970’s, from their own research, that unbridled use of oil and gas would lead to global warming. They did nothing to warn their investors of this problem nor bring the data to the attention to the general public. It kept its knowledge of potential harm a secret to avoid losing income due to regulatory action to mitigate effects of fossil fuels. Federal regulators never pressed the issue.
Later, James Hansen, an icon of the science ‘truth’ community for his dire warnings in 1989 about global warming, were dismissed by officials in the Reagan administration, namely, John Sununu.
Aside from global warming, fossil fuel companies have produced bizarre compounds that are now known as the ‘forever chemicals’ that will be around for millennia, and which are found all around the earth and in our bodies, in our blood stream and tissue, and appear to be a major source of various cancers.
A conspiracy by government officials and private sector business interests has produced the greatest ecological catastrophe since the European arrived and colonized the New World: global warming and toxic spill of plastic and other petroleum based compounds, including pharmacological compounds. Chemicals have no limits because of government / corporation collusion; call it, regulatory and legislative malfeasance.
Other conspiracies by the elites have led to industrial hemp farming to be shut down over fears of “Refer Madness.” This conspiracy involved the petro-chemical industry and the Hearst news paper, and others. As the petro-chemical industry grew, it sought to secure its interests by limiting or outright outlawing, competing industries.
Hemp provided fiber and oil from the stalk and seed, respectively. Under the cover of a war on marijuana, led by FBI official Anslinger, spearheaded the war against cannabis, which shut down industrial hemp farming and established cause to incarcerate mainly people of color for smoking marijuana.
The consequence of outlawing the hemp industry is that chemical / petroleum markets could develop without competition from hemp. One tool necessary for lowering our global warming footprint will be to use non-petroleum based resources, such as hemp; It will be critical for building out an ecologically sustainable infrastructure.
More on the occult side but still very real, proponents of free energy cite the Hubbard Coil as a viable source of electricity that would have undermined the financial potential of the emerging fossil fuel industry. Patents were filed, in the 1920’s for the Hubbard Coil, but “offialdom’ precluded commercial development.
And there was the conspiracy by Firestone and General Motors to dismantle municipal train services, mostly private concerns, to clear the way for mass use of automobiles, an urban disaster in many respects.
For well going on more than a 100 years, the powerful petro-chemical industry has used its power and influence to drive policies that benefit Big Oil and Gas. This qualifies as malfeasance even if it was not a crime under the law. It was a violation of the public trust.
Reparations are in order. Again, we will leave it up to the economists and ecologists to determine a fair value for the harm done. Reparations should be apportioned mostly to mitigate toxins, finance regenerative farming, web of life restoration, and providing social security so every individual may contribute to the best of his / her / they abilities, and be provided for at minimum as is needed to thrive.
Proceeds from a negotiated settlement for all the malfeasance should be channeled into mitigation and development of sustainable industries that will enable society to lower our carbon footprint. This is necessary to ensure the ecological conditions for a livable future.
Reparations could also be used to reorder our business structures from owner operator to worker collective operations. This way, the huge sums that will be spent to restore the earth aren’t sent back to Wall Street but remain to circulate in the local community.
Human kind is standing on the brink of an unfolding ecological disaster, so radical change is required. The Green solution to climate catastrophe is the total reform of our industrial economy, the acceptance of limits, and an equitable distribution of resources.
The world needs the the Green vision for making a better society and for repairing the web of life. By offering Green principles, brave individuals willing to run for political office can build confidence in society that real progress will be made…but as things stand, Thunberg is not confident and nor am I.
We are all at risk on so many different levels. Green leadership is necessary, now more than ever. Join the Pacific Green Party, get active, form a cell with your family and friends, fight for the change we need by supporting a Green electoral revolution.
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2021/09/29/great-thunberg-leaders-blah-blah-blah/
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https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/22/climate/john-kerry-climate.html#commentsContainer
Mark Goldes commented September 24
Mark Goldes
Santa Rosa, CASept. 24
Innovation is the little recognized path to rapid replacement of fossil fuels. Autonomous generators are under development in several nations, including India, China and Russia as well as the USA. The first example of an autonomous technology to generate electricity was invented by teen aged Alfred Hubbard just over 100 years ago. His first unit lit a lamp. Next he installed one in an 18' electric boat, without batteries. He demonstrated that work on a lake in Seattle with a large number of witnesses. Then he replaced the engine in a car, turning it into a 40 HP EV. Scientists were baffled and most still are. However, in spite of many claims to the contrary, working examples of autonomous generators now confirm his achievement. One example by a firm in the USA received worldwide patents last year. The U.S. Patent as well as technical details of their low power Proof of Concept prototype are now on the web. There are no moving parts. Cell towers requiring 9 kW are a target market. An improved modern version of the Hubbard generator is under development. An early product will be a 5 kW generator occupying merely one cubic foot. With a million losing power from Hurricane Ida, the first units will be emergency generators. Next, this will likely become a 24/7 alternative to intermittent rooftop solar. Finally, larger versions can give EVs unlimited range and the ability to sell electricity or power buildings. Innovations are harbingers of hope. Mr. Kerry might take note
https://fuel-efficient-vehicles.org/energy-news/?page_id=1164
https://gratisenergi.se/hubbard.htm
The oil industry knew at least 50 years ago that air pollution from burning fossil fuels posed serious risks to human health, only to spend decades aggressively lobbying against clean air regulations, a trove of internal documents seen by the Guardian reveal.
The documents, which include internal memos and reports, show the industry was long aware that it created large amounts of air pollution, that pollutants could lodge deep in the lungs and be “real villains in health effects”, and even that its own workers may be experiencing birth defects among their children.
