By Ted Glick
“And
through conversations with others in the growing climate justice
movement, I began to see all kinds of ways that climate change could
become a catalyzing force for positive change—how it could be the best
argument progressives have ever had. . . The urgency of the climate
crisis could form the basis of a powerful mass movement, one that would
weave all these seemingly disparate issues into a coherent narrative
about how to protect humanity from the ravages of both a savagely unjust
economic system and a destabilized climate system.”
- Naomi Klein, “This Changes Everything”
The
reaction to the horrific ISIS terrorist bombings in Paris have brought
back memories of what happened after the Al Qaeda terrorist actions in
the United States on September 11th, 2001. Now, as was true
then, there are calls for further militarization not just to defeat ISIS
but “terrorism” or “radical Islam,” for a restriction of civil
liberties so as to better locate ISIS members or supposed sympathizers,
and for anti-Islamic actions in general.
A
very immediate front in the battle to prevent the use of the Paris
bombings for these regressive purposes is the series of activities being
organized by the international climate movement from November 29 to December 12
during the UN Climate Conference in Paris. As this is being written, it
is uncertain what the stance of the French government will be toward
those actions.
Tim DeChristopher has put this situation in its proper context (http://www.timdechristopher.
“This
attempt to keep the movement out of the streets is coming at a time
when the people power of the climate movement is actually winning
against the entrenched monied power of the fossil fuel industry. The
last few weeks have been unprecedented in the history of the US climate
movement. The unrelenting #ShellNo campaign convinced Shell to give up
on their attempt to drill in the Arctic. The northern leg of the
Keystone XL pipeline was vetoed in the face of a huge resistance
campaign. A real climate bill
that would keep fossil fuels in the ground has been introduced in the
Senate. Exxon has been subpoenaed for lying about climate change, the
Port Ambrose liquified natural gas export facility was vetoed, and late
last night the Bureau of Land Management cancelled an oil and gas
auction in Utah that faced major protest. That momentum is what would
have been on display in Paris and what political leaders are now trying
to suppress.
“Thankfully,
the politicians who are trying to call off the protests are not the
people who were planning the protests. Our movement has the choice of
how to respond to this attempt at repression, and this development just
raises the stakes. Since the power of our movement is in the display of
commitment and resistance, an unwanted protest is far more powerful
than a sanctioned one.
“The call to kick the fossil fuel industry
out of the climate talks should be amplified louder than ever into a
fierce demand. Journalists who are told there is not enough space for
them at the official talks should be asking why there is always enough
space for corporate lobbyists. And the movement must march. People
have to fill the streets.”
Like
it or not, the climate movement has a crucial role to play right now.
It must provide leadership by example for the overall international
movement for justice, peace and ecological sanity. It must make clear
that the struggle against the dominance of the fossil fuel industry is
integrally related to the struggle for a world where terrorism is
dramatically reduced because of the world’s increasing commitment to
economic, racial and gender justice, a reversal of the arms race, and
respect acted out in deeds for all people, all nationalities, all
religious beliefs and all cultural backgrounds.
Those
who are on the ground in Paris will need to determine the specific
tactics to deal with this new situation, and they must clearly take into
account the political dynamics among the French people after the ISIS
attacks. But I would see these as among the main points and demands to
be brought forward leading up to action during the COP 21 Climate
Conference:
-As Tim writes of above, kick the fossil fuel industry out of the conference. Period.
-Take
a firm position that terrorism is not going to be reduced or eliminated
by military means. Terrorism grows in the soil of injustice,
oppression, poverty and racism. The shift from fossil fuels to renewable
energy, particularly distributed renewables, is essential to avoid
increasing water scarcity, crop failures, the spread of disease and
massive climate refugee movements as the world heats up. Conversely,
renewables can be a key driver of justice-based and non-polluting
economic development for struggling communities and nations.
-Climate change-related drought in Syria was connected with the emergence of ISIS out of desperate economic conditions.
-And
as Bernie Sanders, to his credit, raised in the recent Democratic
Presidential debate, regime change by outside powers ultimately breeds
resistance, including violent terrorism. Self-determination and respect
for various nationalities and cultures must become the for-real foreign
policy of the formerly colonial European powers, of the USA and of all
the world’s nations.
In
Tim’s concluding words: “This is a critical juncture for a movement
that has forward momentum on our side. We have the power right now. We
cannot allow ourselves to give up our power out of concerns about
safety and security. Juxtaposed to the overwhelmingly hopeful news
about the climate movement has been the equally overwhelmingly dire news
about the climate science. That means we are entering a desperate age
of unraveling in which there will never again be a safe time when
protest is welcomed and appropriate. Elites and officials will always
have reason to fear insecurity. But young people and future generations
will never have the security that UN officials insist upon for
themselves. Now that we have a movement with real power, it is
essential that we have the courage to use it.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ted Glick has been a progressive activist and organizer since 1968. Past writings and other information can be found at http://tedglick.com, and he can be followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/jtglick.
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