Activism defeats Denialists
A lesson from Seattle for Copenhagen:
Vigorous Activism Can Defeat the Denialists
by Patrick Bond
Preparations for the December 7-18 Copenhagen climate summit are going as
expected, including a rare sighting of the African elites’ stiffened
spines. That’s a great development (maybe decisive), more about that below.
While activists help raise the temperature on the streets outside the Bella
Centre on December 12, 13 and 16, inside we will see global North elites
defensively armed with pathetic non-binding carbon emissions cuts (U.S.
President Barack Obama’s promise is a mere 4% below 1990 levels) and carbon
trading, but without offering the money to repay the North’s ecological
debt to the global South.
The first and third of these are lamentable enough, the second is the most
serious diversion from the crucial work of cutting greenhouse gas
emissions. A nine-minute film launched on the internet on December 1, The
Story of Cap and Trade (watch the film at the end of this article on the
website), gives all the ammunition climate activists need to understand and
critique emissions trading, and to seek genuine solutions.
Another important diversion emerged on November 20, when hackers published embarrassing emails from the University of East Anglia (UEA) Climate
Research Unit. What I’ve understood from Guardian’s George Monbiot and
EnviroKnow is roughly this:
* The UEA researchers were silly egocentric, ultracompetitive academics who
were at times sloppy — an occupational hazard true of most of us — only
in this case there is a huge amount at stake so their silliness is
massively amplified.
*But a few academics who are silly about their work ethos do not reverse
the universal understanding that scientists have regarding climate change.
* People who want to distract the world from getting to the root of the
climate crisis may well have a field day with the UEA emails scandal, which
should in turn compel the rest of us to redouble our efforts to achieve
real action to stop climate change.
The unapologetic UEA researcher Phil Jones seems to think that because
climate denialists have been a pain in the arse (since 2001), it was okay
to hide scientific data (paid for by taxpayers), and to avoid wasting
valuable time addressing the loonies’ arguments: “Initially at the
beginning I did try to respond to them in the hope I might convince them
but I soon realised it was a forlorn hope and broke off communication.”
Click here to continue reading – and watch video:
http://www.socialistproject.ca/bullet/283.php#continue
right to strike on the environment
