Why I Refuse to Promote Bill McKibben
Published July 7, 2011 by Political Context: http://bit.ly/pqOXts
Image: Corporate media’s poster boy for the environmental movement, Bill McKibben. (Photo: Nancie Battaglia /
Creative Commons, 350.org)
“Nations and peoples are largely the stories they feed themselves. If they tell themselves stories that are lies, they will suffer the future consequences of those lies. If they tell themselves stories that face their own truths, they will free their histories for future flowerings.” – Ben Okri, Nigerian poet and novelist
It continues to both concern and baffle me that those within the movement who coined the term “climate justice” continue to promote a false prophet who believes/hopes and promotes that greed can save us (see McKibben’s The Greenback Effect: Greed Has Helped Destroy the Planet – Maybe Now It Can Help Save It). Greed, of course, being one of the ugliest traits in the human species. Greed being the pivotal factor behind the “success” of capitalism. Greed being the reason the world’s wealthiest 15% contribute 75% of all global greenhouse gas emissions (Professor Stephen Pacala) on the backs of the poor and most vulnerable while simultaneously decimating and raping the Earth.
Throughout history, greed has proven to be lethal. Greed and justice cannot co-exist.
The premise that “greed can save us” is void of all ethics. It stems from either desperation or denial, or perhaps both combined.
Perhaps McKibben’s 350.org/1Sky partner – Climate Solutions (who McKibben praised/promoted in a recent article) – will soon see their wish list of “sustainable aviation,” biofuels and carbon offsets morph into a global reality. 350.org/1Sky partner Climate Solutions was a key player in the creation of 1Sky – an incubator project of the Rockefellers, who are pushing/funding REDD (the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation program) and many other false solutions that ensure power and monetary wealth remain exactly where it is – in the hands of the few.
Of course, James Hansen’s magic wand (which Hansen himself sometimes refers to) will be most imperative for such false solutions to succeed in cooling the planet and stopping the eradication of most life on Earth.
Do we reject biofuels, carbon offsets, the greenwash and delusional concepts like “sustainable aviation”? Or do we reject these false solutions only when promoted directly by industry and government? If we do reject false solutions outright, why do those who claim to seek climate justice turn a blind eye when our “friends” and “partners” support these false solutions that we must fight against?
Perhaps it is a good time to reflect upon the concept of living well, proposed by Bolivia, which describes the capitalist system and the effects of greed that it perpetuates like this:
“We suffer the severe effects of climate change, of the energy, food and financial crises. This is not the product of human beings in general, but of the existing inhuman capitalist system, with its unlimited industrial development. It is brought about by minority groups who control world power, concentrating wealth and power on themselves alone. Concentrating capital in only a few hands is no solution for humanity, neither for life itself, because as a consequence many lives are lost in floods, by intervention or by wars, so many lives through hunger, poverty and usually curable diseases. It brings selfishness, individualism, even regionalism, thirst for profit, the search for pleasure and luxury thinking only about profiting, never having regard to brotherhood among the human beings who live on planet Earth. This not only affects people, but also nature and the planet. And when the peoples organize themselves, or rise against oppression, those minority groups call for violence, weapons, and even military intervention from other countries.”
It must be remembered that McKibben, 350.org/1Sky and most all other “big greens” have rejected the People’s Agreement of Cochabamba rather than unite behind it, in favour of the false illusion of “green” capitalism.
No Logo
I, for one, choose not to promote organizations or individuals who embrace such a system so unfair that it is systematically destroying all life, nor those who purposely and continually reject and undermine the Cochabamba People’s Agreement. I leave this to the likes of Naomi Klein, who recently joined 350.org/1Sky and other key 350.org/1Sky messengers … celebrated individuals who have warned us of the dangers of unfettered capitalism, yet have chosen to embrace the “green” capitalist entity, 350.org/1Sky.
Over a decade ago, Klein brilliantly educated the public on the growing trend of corporations hijacking public entities, including our universities and museums. In a statement on BP’s sponsorship of the Tate Museum, to which Klein is listed as the first signatory, she/they write: “Corporate sponsorship does not exist in an ethical vacuum.”
Yet, hypocritically, when it comes to corporate power funding the entire mainstream environmental movement, Klein and others have not only failed to speak out against it – they have lent their names to it. In the environmental movement, it has been decided by Klein and others that corporate funding sponsorship does indeed exist in an ethical vacuum, thereby lending legitimacy and credibility to an organization that promotes and protects the branded logo 350 – and little else. As much as Klein and other celebrated anti-capitalists such as Vandana Shiva passionately deliver us the imperative truth, when it comes to 350.org/1Sky and pro-free market McKibben, they turn a blind eye to a movement shaped and funded by the industrial machine itself. As the push towards an illusory “green economy” and “climate wealth” strengthens, even those within the climate justice movement itself are covertly being estranged from the truth.
The videos below shed light on our free markets at work. These people represent only a glimpse of those who suffer at the hands of our current economic system. Climate “justice” or any kind of justice just cannot and can never exist in our capitalist economic system, as this system is dependent upon not only continued growth, but continued violence, oppression and exploitation of perhaps 85% of humanity – who emit a mere 25% of all emissions. This way of life is coming to an end. This system is destined to ultimately collapse – or kill us – whichever comes first.
If the definition of justice is “the quality of being just or fair” – our current economic system, that being capitalism, is the furthest thing from any kind of justice. The idea that we can avert climate genocide by embracing “green” capitalism is an illusion. It is a lie whereby the consequences will prove to be lethal beyond anything our species has ever witnessed. Those who truly seek justice must think long and hard about maintaining faith in a system that has finally brought us to the precipice. We may be trapped within it – but that does not mean we cannot fight like hell to break free.
Testimony of Rosa Elbira: Gang-rapes at a Canadian-owned mine in Guatemala:
The “Green Economy” to solve our climate crisis, in a nutshell (this is not a spoof): http://www.whitehouse.gov/photos-and-video/video/energy-security-and-independence (don’t miss ten minutes in – featured in doc END:CIV):
Violent Evictions at El Estor, Guatemala: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgwtLuISE1Y&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL
All That Glitters Isn’t Gold – 10 min. Trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tmqXc5rX8s&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL
On the Origins of Green Liberalism: http://tedsteinberg.com/essays/can-capitalism-save-the-planet/
Cory Morningstar is climate justice activist whose recent writings can be found on Canadians for Action on Climate Change and The Art of Annihilation site where you can read her bio. You can follow her on Twitter: @elleprovocateur
While it may be satisfying to take the moral high ground and have no truck with “impurists” like McKibbon, the fact is that McKibbon, Klein, et al are much more effective at reaching “the masses” that need to be moved to action on the climate than people who shout from the rooftops, to a very limited audience, that capitalism is evil and must be replaced. Yes, capitalism has created many of the problems that we face (although communist Russia and China can’t claim to be models of planetary preservation, either). The truth is, there is no ONE answer to the environmental crisis that we are facing. And to claim that you, and only you, have the answer, is highly suspect. We all have to work together to avert the very very real danger we are facing of climate chaos, loss of biodiversity and ocean acidification. The fact that it is as difficult to address these issues as it is indicates the huge change in system as well as mindset that is needed to do so. But calling down hard-working and committed activists because they don’t quite fit with your own political agendas is small-minded and indicative of the kind of divisive mindset we need to leave behind. Remember the ancient First Nations greeting, “all my relations” – it’s the key to a better tomorrow.
“Greed and justice cannot co-exist…The premise that “greed can save us” is void of all ethics” I am more that inclined to agree; but I wonder if you could possibly confuse rhetoric and narrative with core values here. You largely answer that with your opening quote. I’m struggling a little with how to respond because while I think you ask valid questions I’m not at all convinced that greed is a core value for McKibben and I don’t think it’s a central tenet for him.
The single most important thing that must be accomplished in order to achieve reversal of climate change is this: It needs to become overwhelmingly socially unacceptable to abuse the atmosphere. The damage occurring must be universally acknowledged more than anywhere else in the United States and China.
All roads that lead toward that acknowledgement are generally in our favor. All strong forces that lead in that direction are worth exploring. I am by no means suggesting that the ends justifies the means (Although if the alternative ends is failing agriculture and eventual mass global starvation you’be got to think twice).
What I am saying: Anything McKibbon says about greed is likely more or less “motivational flavor of the day.” I just don’t think he’s a bad person.
It would be really nifty and fantastic if some “global messiah” who everyone magically knew was the right leader could suddenly appear and single-handedly guide us out of this mess; but I’m inclined to pay homage to our genetic heritage for collaboration: We are a species that achieves by seeking common ground. And right now that most crucial common ground where we all need to arrive together is the universal acknowledgement that abuse of the atmosphere is henceforth off limits.
My suspicion is that we need many McKibbons to help forge that common ground and coalesce upon that seemingly illusive common ground that really does get a little close each day. A lot of good things are happening: Poll data suggests opinions are moving in the right direction and that shift coincides with important sympathetic technologies (wind, solar, etc) that are suddenly becoming economically feasible at precisely the right time.
I guess my main response to you is this: Take heart. Don’t give up. And don’t give in. But if you suspect a McKibbon is a bad person; make sure you canvass everything they communicate before jumping to conclusions; and consider that he may just be a leader guiding others to rendezvous with you upon that common ground…You can look forward to meeting him there when we all arrive.
My Quibble with Bill is with his support for hybrids which are just A MIDDLE CLASS feel good about myself solution.