Naomi Klein on an event that received virtually no Western media coverage (except Democracy Now!): Cochabamba, Bolivia It was 11 am and Evo Morales had turned a football stadium into a giant classroom, marshaling an array of props: paper plates, plastic cups, disposable raincoats, handcrafted gourds, wooden plates and multicolored ponchos. All came into play…
Showing all posts tagged climate change
The world has realised that our leaders are failing on climate change
The failure of Copenhagen, writes the Independent’s Johann Hari, requires a new kind of action: The time for changing your light-bulbs and hoping for the best is over. It is time to take collective action. For some people, that will mean joining Greenpeace or Friends of the Earth or the Campaign Against Climate Change and…
The First World doesn’t really care too much about the rest
The collective failure of the Copenhagen climate change summit – the unwillingness of the developed world to acknowledge its responsibility in addressing the key issues – is explained well by George Monbiot: Watching this stupid summit via webcam (I wasn’t allowed in either), it strikes me that the treaty-making system has scarcely changed in 130…
Washington wants war over cooler degrees
Who is really serious about addressing climate change? Here’s Bolivia’s leader Evo Morales in Copenhagen: The budget of the United States is $687 billion for defense. And for climate change, to save life, to save humanity, they only put up $10 billion. This is shameful.
Naomi Klein says the first world owns climate relief to the globe
Naomi Klein, recently speaking out against Israeli crimes in Palestine, goes back to her roots as a leading voice against rampant capitalism and here explains on Democracy Now! that it’s the duty of global citizens to challenge the supposedly accepted concepts of climate change: [There is a] growing demand for the repayment of climate debt.…
One confused company
Yahoo goes green. (It’s a shame, therefore, that the company collaborates with the Chinese dictatorship, though it appears to be making progress towards protecting human rights): Yahoo boss Jerry Yang, whose company once allegedly helped Chinese police nab and jail cyber dissidents, is today in the forefront of a global campaign to free those languishing…
Solving the world’s problems (thanks to America)
The supposed doyen of the New York Times, Thomas Friedman – a man whose message to the Iraqi people in early 2003 was “suck. on. this” – received a surprise at Brown University: Not everyone agrees with Friedman’s vision that innovation is the path to climate and energy salvation. Just seconds into his speech, he…
Ditching the oil addiction
As usual, the global public are far smarter than the political and media elite, according to a new study: World Publics Say Oil Needs to Be Replaced as Energy Source.
Real solutions (avoided)
Naomi Klein, The Nation, December 17: Anyone tired of lousy news from the markets should talk to Douglas Lloyd, director of Venture Business Research, a company that tracks trends in venture capitalism. “I expect investment activity in this sector to remain buoyant,” he said recently. His bouncy mood was inspired by the money gushing into…
More consumption and more fun
Medialens, November 1: The Guardian this week published an article by the readers’ editor, Siobhain Butterworth, discussing “the contradiction between what the Guardian has to say about environmental issues and what it advertises”. (Butterworth, ”˜Open door – The readers’ editor on… the contradiction between what we say and the ads we run,’ The Guardian, October…