What does global warming have to do with the global Occupy Movement? Absolutely everything. Flooding in Bangkok, heat waves in Russia and rising sea levels in Tuvalu, like growing income inequality, obscene corporate profits and foreclosed homes, are all indicators that the system is broken. Just as tinkering around the edges of global finance isn’t going to resolve it’s fundamental flaws, neither will investment in carbon capture and storage or the creation of carbon trading schemes do more than, at best, temporarily slow the rate of increase of heat trapping emissions into our atmosphere.
The science tells us that if we don’t drastically scale back global warming emissions, now, it will be too late. Some say we have less than 100 months to take radical action to avoid reaching the tipping point of run away climate change.
Think about that for a minute. This is the future of our planet we’re talking about! We’re facing a world wide existential crisis, and our response so far has been pretty underwhelming.
Can our current system make the radical self-corrections needed to ensure we avoid a climate crisis? More to the point, would the interests that benefit from the status quo -- the big corporations that profit from delay and inaction on global warming -- let it? Not a chance. At best they can offer us fine tunings of their current agenda: “clean coal,” “ethical oil,” and greener,TM more eco-friendly © shopping choices.
If we are going to achieve the massive reductions in emissions needed to avoid runaway climate change, we will have to fundamentally alter every aspect of our lives -- how we eat, how we travel, where we live, and what we do for fun. We are pretty much going to have to rebuild society from the ground up in a way that is more sustainable which seems to me to be exactly what the Occupy Movement is proposing.
However, while the financial meltdown provided an opening for change -- a chance to tear the financial system apart and rebuild it in a way that is fairer for all -- global warming has given us no “easy” opportunities for radical revision. If we want to start the revolution needed to stop global warming, we can’t wait for the tipping point. We’re going to have to consciously and deliberately step out into the streets and start it ourselves. We’re going to have to engage in direct action and civil disobedience to physically stop the things that cause global warming.We need to keep pushing forward with all other strategies at hand - writing letters, holding rallies, meeting with politicians, etc. -- but we have to recognize that they alone are inadequate, given the urgency and scale of the climate crisis. As Churchill said, some times it’s not enough to just do what we can. Sometimes we have to do what is necessary.
People across BC are joining together to take these necessary next steps. It starts by building strong, trusting, face to face connections, learning about the philosophy and legal implications of civil disobedience, and carefully thinking through strategy and tactics -- all important prerequisites to action. The grassroots group I am involved with is working to end the age of coal in BC. If you want to learn about the role that BC plays in exporting coal and what you can do about it, visit StopCoal.ca. Take the direct action pledge and join us in helping start the revolution.
