The brave James Hansen, who blew the whistle on Bush/Cheney's efforts to black out the facts re: global warming, has told the Guardian that "the democratic process"-- i.e., the electoral process--hasn't helped slow climate change. He's therefore calling for protest and other forms of direct action.
I'm with him there; although I would suggest that protest and direct action are also features of "the democratic process," which is, or ought to be, a process far more vigorous and demanding than a series of elections every several years. I would also say, moreover, that "the democratic process" might by now have done far more to save the planet if the GOP had not subverted our elections since 2000 (or if the Democrats had not allowed the GOP to get away with it). Certainly both parties serve the corporate juggernaut instead of all the rest of us; but there is no denying that the Earth would be much farther from the boiling point today if Bush & Co. had not been forced upon us by the Supreme Court. With Al Gore in the Oval Office--and, as well, with fewer apocalyptic types in Congress--we would surely have begun to move (and helped to move the world) toward sustainability, and not in the very opposite direction. So anyone who cares about the planet has to care about the vote. Someone therefore ought to tell Prof. Hansen what's been happening on the electoral front, because we need to hear him speak out loud and clear about that, too--and so must every other righteous expert on the state of the environment. For democracy is green; and there can be no green without democracy. MCM Leading Climate Scientist: "Democratic Process Isn't Working" Wednesday 18 March 2009 <http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2009/mar/18/nasa-climate-change-james-hansen>by: David Adam | Visit article original @ The Guardian UK Professor James Hansen. (Photo: PA) Protest and direct action could be the only way to tackle soaring <http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/carbon-emissions>carbon emissions, a leading climate scientist has said. <http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/hansen>James Hansen, a climate modeler with NASA, told the Guardian today that corporate lobbying has undermined democratic attempts to curb carbon pollution. "The democratic process doesn't quite seem to be working," he said. Speaking on the eve of joining <http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/ethicallivingblog/2009/mar/18/1>a protest against the headquarters of power firm E.ON in Coventry, Hansen said: "The first action that people should take is to use the democratic process. What is frustrating people, me included, is that democratic action affects elections but what we get then from political leaders is <http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/series/greenwash>greenwash. "The democratic process is supposed to be one person one vote, but it turns out that money is talking louder than the votes. So, I'm not surprised that people are getting frustrated. I think that peaceful demonstration is not out of order, because we're running out of time." Hansen said he was taking part in the Coventry demonstration tomorrow because he wants <http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/feb/15/james-hansen-power-plants-coal>aworldwide moratorium on new coal power stations. E.ON wants to build such <http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/mar/02/coal-plant-delayed>a station at Kingsnorth in Kent, an application that energy and the <http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/climate-change%22>climate change minister Ed Miliband recently delayed. "I think that peaceful actions that attempt to draw society's attention to the issue are not inappropriate," Hansen said. He added that <http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/mar/12/copenhagen-summary>a scientific meeting in Copenhagen last week had made clear the "urgency of the science and the inaction taken by governments". Officials will gather in Bonn later this month to continue talks on a new global climate treaty, which campaigners have called to be signed at a <http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/copenhagen>UN meeting in Copenhagen in December. Hansen warned that the new treaty is "guaranteed to fail" to bring down emissions. Hansen said: "What's being talked about for <http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/copenhagen>Copenhagen is a strengthening of Kyoto [protocol] approach, a cap and trade with offsets and escape hatches which will be gauranteed to fail in terms of getting the required rapid reduction in emissions. They talk about goals which sound impressive, but when you see the actions are such that it will be impossible to reach those goals, then I can understand the informed public getting frustrated." He said he was growing "concerned" over the stance taken by the new US administration on global warming. "It's not clear what their intentions are yet, but if they are going to support cap and trade then unfortunately I think that will be another case of greenwash. It's going to take stronger action than that." --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to Mark Crispin Miller's "News From Underground" newsgroup. To unsubscribe, send a blank email to [email protected] OR go to http://groups.google.com/group/newsfromunderground and click on the "Unsubscribe or change membership" link in the yellow bar at the top of the page, then click the "Unsubscribe" button on the next page. For more News From Underground, visit http://markcrispinmiller.com -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
