Journals
Sunday,Feb 6 2005, 07:43:07 PMThis is: Short Version Part II of the Series...
See Part I of Series Lessons Learned at:
http://mer130.tripod.com/index.blog?entry_id=606875
By Jason martin and Rachel Guevara
Tsunamis of Environmentalism’s Death:
The Theft and Tricks of the
(See long version at: http://mer130.tripod.com/index.blog?entry_id=620562)
By Jason martin and Rachel Guevara - CONTACT: Jasonmartin7@lycos.com
The ecological time bombs of trade (invasive species) and global warming are ticking away. The environmental movement has failed and should die so something better can take its place. We need to address the “real” issues which Ted Nordhaus has brought to light: The world cannot change in time to stop global warming. (NOTE 1)
The leaders of USA environmental groups (Enviros) and the US social change groups (Narrow Left) (NOTE 2) do not want to connect the issues of the poor, the environment, the global economy or the wars of US imperialism because that would require that they risk their careers and lives. Real change violates their idea of change: slow, cautious and all inclusive. Giving the rich essentially vetoes… and each day it looks more like the Enviros want the problems to get so big that they can trumpet: “Well we tried, but now it is too late.”
Technical fixes aren't sufficient to deal with climate change, species loss, deforestation or other environmental threats. The global economy has to be transformed which is a bigger problem than environmentalism has faced in the past… Ditto, the single-issue constituencies: labor, women, civil rights. They're faltering and need to think of themselves as a political movement, figure out what values they share and ways to organize accordingly.
In "The Death of Environmentalism" Ted Nordhaus and Michael Shellenberger, attack the strategies of the US Enviros and the Narrow Left. This sophisticated maneuver is a “double agent attack on single issue politics from the right wing of the Narrow Left.” Nordhaus (Apollo Alliance) pretends to be a broad coalition of groups and ideas but the focus is labor unions, jobs and national political power though elections. Nordhaus only mentions “Addressing a post-Global Warming world”once, but his proposals fit snuggly into the GW Bush program of global domination and surviving a post-Global Warming world. (NOTE 5).
His eloquent critiques are on target but the motives and the eventual goals of this effort exists (safely) beyond the analysis of most people. These bait and switch tactics follow those of the Democratic Party and the Republican Party who have given up on reducing greenhouse gases and are now planning for a post-catastrophe world. Only the
Illustrating their disconnection from the resistance rising up around the world, US activists and many in Europe do not appreciate the changes underway in
Enviros and the funders of social change groups want the support of political majorities in the
Or, perhaps these Enviros and their critics do understand all of this (the double agent thesis). I gave an early draft of this paper to Rachel Guevara who has often been my savior when I was stuck with a complex issue and the need to cut through the jargon and our jargonized minds She made me see how deep this big lie of the Enviros, the Narrow left and the pretend critics extends. (NOTE 9).
"It would be foolish to underestimate the challenge of checking the consumption juggernaut," concludes Christopher Flavin. "But as the costs of unbridled appetites grow, the need for innovative responses becomes clearer. In the long run, meeting basic human needs, improving human health, and supporting a natural world that can sustain us will require that we control consumption, rather than allow consumption to control us."
-- State of the World 2004. (NOTE 10)
Key Points for Understanding the Death of Environmentalism and Single-Issue Politics
USA Enviros have failed to build political, social or moral power around global warming. They have mis-educated the people about trade, invasive species, mega cities, industrial farming, economics and the trade-offs between growth and sustainability. These are all intimately linked. Disconnected education is everywhere in the
Inspired by my colleague Guevara, I felt the tsunami of clarity smash and re-forge a few of the barriers and structures in my brain. This crystallized enlightenment washed over my perspective and cleansed it as it sucked back out to sea, just like the tsunami carries much of its destruction out to sea as it retreats. Given the sophistication of the Sierra Club and the big Enviros (and their foundations) it should surprise no one that the debate over the Death of Environmentalism turns out to be a con job – like a “Good cop / Bad cop” trick – with both groups worried that if they don’t make some noise and act like they are on top of their game then the funders could move on or the gullible members, donors and progressives might figure out how badly they have been tricked and robbed. Citizens might even tie this billion dollar scam into the con jobs done by Democrats for decades. The jobs of a few hundred highly educated and well-honed hucksters would be threatened.
The response of the eco-grantor denialers: Philip Clapp, president of the National Environmental Trust (a critic of the Nordhaus essay) “the last way to influence people is to start by saying everything you're doing is wrong." This thinking – immature and evasive - is at the root of the fascism of the West. A healthy person would address the content, the challenges and the issues, not the style of a critique. The ghost of Susan Sontag haunts the culture of the
To Carl Pope’s fear that “[Nordhaus and Schellenberger are] self serving because, given that the chosen audience of the paper was the funders, it will be hard for many readers to avoid the suspicion that the not so hidden message was "fund us instead,"
We in the Real Left say:
“No! Fund us instead!”
(See: The
(NOTE 12)
"…
This is the millennial world of 2005 that we live in: Fake environmentalists pretend to struggle with Narrow Leftists over billions of dollars in donations and grants (acquired from Imperialism!) Fascist US presidents and “radicals” alike praise democracy (even US-styled democracy) and they all pretend happily – or not so happily – that they are doing their best – that there is nothing else that can be tried. The real radicals and the Real Left (Hugo Chavez and the Bolivarian Revolution) are attacked or ignored by their natural allies. Greens form coalitions in
The planet is heating up rapidly as is the Global Economy and somehow these issues are kept separate. Technocrats trot around to Global Warming or
If Enviros cannot address the need to reduce consumption in the rich countries then they assist the destruction of the planet by misleading people into thinking that tinkering (recycling, bike-riding, ) or cleaning up air and water pollution in the
US Anarchists, radical environmentalist (like Earth First!) and even Animal liberation arsonists lack class consciousness or an appreciation (sympathy, information) of global struggles. They are super Nimbys! and Narrow Lefties captive to their own single issue near-sighted visions. Most
These “(en)counter-revolutionaries” reject the efforts of the Weathermen, Sandinistas, the FMLN, the FARC-EP and the Cubans – and yet they romanticize Zapatistas (who also killed people)! This is the influence of the Carnival of Resistance – Change the World Without Taking the Power types who reject alternative economics because that would be planning. They do almost nothing to resist their own country’s plunder and pillaging because they might have to work with communists and the like. The
Nordhaus calls for environmentalists to abandon their small-bore, politically neutral approach and launch a more expansive strategy aimed at building a political majority in the
The Enviros (and everyone?) shy away from tackling the TRANSFORMATION OF THE ENTIRE GLOBAL ECONOMY (as Nordhaus proposes so unrealistically – like all of his proposals) because that would require class war, prolonged struggle … and well they do not want to talk about the real world… the world far beyond their coastlines that is increasingly threatened by US imports, armies and the economic model of unfettered WTO globalized capitalism.
Excited by the attack on the Enviros and the Narrow Left presented by Hertsgaard in the Nation, I googled into Carl Pope’s response knowing there would be plenty of meat to hack at and hoping that now the Enviros' twisted views would be opened for deeper attacks. Perhaps a real debate might ensue. Alas, it was not to be. Pope's response is elusive with no gem – no smoking gun - to attack, just the exquisitely inane moderate
From an environmental perspective, the most striking thing about the Sierra Club/Pope (and the Apollo group's) response is their love of consumption growth (stability for the
(See also: The Rambling ENVIRO Debate: Sierra club, Enviro Critics and the Real Left: www.mer130-.tripod.com******)
CONCLUSIONS:
Useful Hierarchies and Strategic Thinking in Pursuit of Power
One cannot have just a simple-minded plan of how the world works or how to resist – not against the uncouth
Everything has to come together – the earth, the sky and the waters and fire. This will happen slower in some ways in
So – First comes the war against capitalism (which is mostly a mental war of rejecting the brainwashing they feed us) and then the establishment of sustainable-oriented governments in the Andes and then in all of
Then we do years of education and experiments in new theories of economic development, then we will be on the road to justice. Then if there is an environment left we try to protect and restore it. Then we might be approaching the road to sustainable development. To help move this hierarchy of needs and evolution along people in the USA-EU can send dollars (or Euros) and many skilled specialists and trades people to the revolutions in the
[ BELOW IS OPTIONAL or use complete passage NOTE 15 ** ed. ]
”Global warming will cause worldwide economic damage (two trillion dollars by 2015); tornados will come upon Germany soon; even if the US joined the Kyoto protocol, that would be only a symbolic step since the agreement only prescribes that the most important industrial states reduce their emissions of six greenhouse gases five percent by 2012 compared to 1990. According to the data of science, a 50 percent reduction by 2050 is necessary. An 80 percent reduction would be necessary if the right of third world societies to catch up in industrialization were considered.
The time of warnings has now expired unused. The catastrophe is at our door. The ecology problem cannot be separated from the economy problem. …
An ecological awakening from the middle of society is crucial. This happened in
The Greens wanted to change the consumer mentality of the masses. They discussed the questions about living- and working conditions less dependent on cars and whether less meat consumption leading to less methane output with less livestock breeding wouldn’t be welcome on account of the better health of consumers. All this seems forgotten…." -- Michael Jager, (Ecological Prospects: Only a Radical Movement Can Help) : (NOTE 15)
KEY POINTS
1.
2. There is no way to avoid the catastrophe of global warming because the capitalist model of consumption growth and rampant pollution to reduce costs combines with US greed to guarantee massive increases in greenhouse gases.
3. To survive in this post-global warming future of brutal US imperialist wars, the few remaining moral people in the
4. There are billions of dollars in potential funding up for grabs in the
5. There is a process or hierarchy of resistance and movement building that can guide our efforts to stop imperialism and protect the environment. The basis of this hierarchy is that we must be honest and probing about our goals (near term and long run); about the strategies that could achieve them; and deeply open to debate and to clearer thinking than in the past. The Real Left needs to make sense – AND be understandable, with real solutions to all of the linked problems.
“The number of Americans who agree with the statement, "To preserve people's jobs in this country, we must accept higher levels of pollution in the future," increased from 17 percent in 1996 to 26 percent in 2000. The number of Americans who agreed that, "Most of the people actively involved in environmental groups are extremists, not reasonable people," leapt from 32 percent in 1996 to 41 percent in 2000. The truth is that for the vast majority of Americans, the environment never makes it into their top ten list of things to worry about. Protecting the environment is indeed supported by a large majority -- it's just not supported very strongly. Once you understand this, it's much easier to understand why it's been so easy for anti-environmental interests to gut 30 years of environmental protections.” (NOTES 4.e)
The Five Part Series: Lessons Learned:
From The Failure of Politics and Vision in North America
To the Steady Victories of the Social Movements in
by Mundo de Escuelas Revolucionarias (MER)
George W Bush’s Eternal Triumph or The
(EXCERPTS) -- "It is misguided to protest Bush without an alternative. Feeling good just to be doing “something” is selfish and no substitute for real thinking." – Jane Dole, a 30 year anti-capitalist veteran who now shuns anti-globalization and anti-war groups for being part of the problem.
Social movements need to embrace a practical and focused goal of accumulating power in order to takeover governments. Conventional politics and left-thinking in the
Instead of growing frustrated with the defeats that are inevitable in the
Move beyond political stalemate and make a real difference – Forget politics as you knew it – Do the politics of building resistance. Forget politics, lobbying – forget all environmental, social justice and organizing in the
Take the power where you can find it!
Conclusion – To build a counter-power to the imperialist USA, activist groups need to reach beyond national boundaries to build strong alliances in Latin America with indigenous people (40 to 80 million people), workers in the Andes (30 to 40 million people), African descendants (100,000,000 to 120,000,000 people), and to finance aid programs with Venezuelan and Andean revolutionary groups. Solidarity with these groups and the 200 million Latin American people trapped in neoliberal (USA-imposed) poverty can yield huge dividends abroad and within the
Key Points
1. Social movements need to embrace a practical and focused goal of accumulating power in order to takeover governments.
2. Conventional politics and left-thinking in the
3. The only practical or effective means of altering the balance of power in the
4. The cultish leaders of
Tsunamis Inside the Criticisms of the Left:
5. The
6. Only through extending our conceptions of politics – which is another word for Power – extending it beyond the imaginary borders of nations can we create a better world. (Note 6)
PART III.)) The Real Left is Defined by Decentralization: A Political Economy of Hope and Participation (Available February 16, 2005)
PART IV.)) Why the
NOTES Part II:
Tsunamis and Tricks Inside the Criticisms of the Left:
1.)) NOTES
To the Steady Victories of the Social Movements in South America – George W Bush’s Eternal Triumph
or The Andes to the Rescue of the World - http://mer130.tripod.com/index.blog?entry_id=606875
http://newswire.indymedia.org/en/newswire/2005/01/818213.shtml
http://margotbworldnews.com/archive/2005January/Jan25/rescue.html
b. Links to Death of Environmenatalism:
http://grist.org/news/maindish/2005/01/13/pope-reprint/
http://mer130.tripod.com/index.blog?entry_id=620562
2. )) NOTES II. : a.) In this paper we refer to the largest groups of the
b.) For a view of some Enviro leaders see St.Claire’s book review at: http://zmagsite.zmag.org/JulAug2004/mclellan0804.html
“G. Jon Roush’s salary is $125,000 annually. He is president of the Wilderness Society whose
c.) We use the term Real Left to denote leaders and groups that make sense in the world of 2005. The standout examples of this type of thinking are the people of
d.) We refer to the leaders and groups working on single or narrow issue social change issues as the Narrow Left. Most of the old left falls into this category too, because of its lack of environmental understanding and its failure to factor in social issues and perspectives. Much of what is referred to as the New Left should also be categorized as the Narrow Left because of their general fuzziness and lack of a well worked-out plan. The only exception we have come up with were the Sandinistas of Nicaragua ( 1978-1990 ) who seemed to have had a very workable and comprehensive plan but were thwarted by massive
e.) Examples of this fuzzy or narrow left in the US are: Global Exchange, CPUSA, the US Green Party, Ralph Nader, WILPF, Move On, Answer, Narco News, Fair Trade Network, Indymedia, Global Action, many more (all?) and many aspects of the WSF.
f.) What is the Organizers’ Collaborative? Information Clearinghouse (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=US+social+change+groups)
Though there are 30,000+ social change groups in the US, these groups often do not feel sufficiently connected to the movement they are a part of. ... www.organizenow.net/pdf/brochurec.pdf
For a huge list of social change activities in the
3.)) NOTES III.: January 19, 2005; http://www.circleoflife.org/blog/julia/
4.)) NOTES IV. .) a.) Mark Hertsgaard see: http://www.markhertsgaard.com/Articles/2004/EnviroChallenge/
b.) "The Death of Environmentalism,” presented to a grant makers meeting, October 2004, by Ted Nordhaus and Michael Schellenberger (S and N) :
http://www.thebreakthrough.org/images/Death_of_Environmentalism.pdf
This report would not have been possible had many of the country’s leading environmental and progressive leaders not been courageous enough to open up their thinking for public scrutiny: Dan Becker, Phil Clapp, Tim Carmichael, Ralph Cavanaugh, Susan Clark, Bernadette Del Chiaro, Shelly Fiddler, Ross Gelbspan, Hal Harvey, David Hawkins, Bracken Hendricks, Roland Hwang, Eric Heitz, Wendy James, Van Jones, Fred Keeley, Lance Lindblom, Elisa Lynch, Jason Mark, Bob Nordhaus, Carl Pope, Josh Reichert, Jeremy Rifkin, Adam Werbach, Greg Wetstone, V. John White, and Carl Zichella. We are especially grateful to George Lakoff for teaching us how to identify category mistakes and to Peter Teague for continually challenging us to question our most basic assumptions,
b.) “The institutions that define what environmentalism means boast large professional staffs and receive tens of millions of dollars every year from foundations and individuals. Given these rewards, it's no surprise that most environmental leaders neither craft nor support proposals that could be tagged "non-environmental." Doing otherwise would do more than threaten their status; it would undermine their brand.
Environmentalists are particularly upbeat about the direction of public opinion thanks in large part to the polling they conduct that shows wide support for their proposals. Yet
c.) S and N: “Part of what's behind America's political turn to the right is the skill with which conservative think tanks, intellectuals and political leaders have crafted proposals that build their power through setting the terms of the debate. Their work has paid off. According to a survey of 1,500 Americans by the market research firm Environics, the number of Americans who agree with the statement, "To preserve people's jobs in this country, we must accept higher levels of pollution in the future," increased from 17 percent in 1996 to 26 percent in 2000. The number of Americans who agreed that, "Most of the people actively involved in environmental groups are extremists, not reasonable people," leapt from 32 percent in 1996 to 41 percent in 2000. The truth is that for the vast majority of Americans, the environment never makes it into their top ten list of things to worry about. Protecting the environment is indeed supported by a large majority -- it's just not supported very strongly. Once you understand this, it's much easier to understand why it's been so easy for anti-environmental interests to gut 30 years of environmental protections.”
d.) S and N: “Talking about the millions of jobs that will be created by accelerating our transition to a clean energy economy offers more than a good defense against industry attacks: it's a frame that moves the environmental movement away from apocalyptic global warming scenarios that tend to create feelings of helplessness and isolation among would-be supporters.”
e.) S and N: “Consider what would happen if we identified the obstacles [to stopping Global Warming] as:
The radical right's control of all three branches of the
Trade policies that undermine environmental protections.
Our failure to articulate an inspiring and positive vision.
Overpopulation.
The influence of money in American politics.
Our inability to craft legislative proposals that shape the debate around core American values.
Poverty [ Nowhere a mention of reduced consumption in the OECD or the problems of increased consumption in the rest of the world].”
g.) S and N: “And if the political prospects for action on GLOBAL WARMING appear daunting in the U.S., don't look to China for uplift: the 1.2 billion person country, growing at 20 percent a year, intends to quadruple the size of its economy in 30 years and bring 300 gigawatts -- nearly half of what we use each year in the US -- of dirty coal energy on-line.
The challenge for American environmentalists is not just to get the
h.) S and N: "The major national environmental groups focusing on climate -- groups like the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Union of Concerned Scientists, and the World Wildlife Federation -- have agreed to accept what they see as a politically feasible target for 450 parts per million of carbon dioxide ... [That] may be politically realistic, it would likely be environmentally catastrophic."
i.) The debate is serious when even the British Economist carries it: Hotting up - Feb 4th 2005
http://www.economist.com/agenda/displayStory.cfm?story_id=3630425
5.)) NOTES V.: a.) How Apollo snuggles up to GW Bush world domination:
http://www.apolloalliance.org/strategy_center/a_bold_energy_and_jobs_policy/ten_point_plan.cfm
The Ten-Point Plan for Good Jobs and Energy Independence
1. Promote Advanced Technology & Hybrid Cars:[ Technology always benefits the
2. Invest In More Efficient Factories: [Helps keep US competitive, the population assuaged and prepares the
3. Encourage High Performance Building: [To save energy since most of the world will embargo
4. Increase Use of Energy Efficient Appliances: [See responses 1,2,3 – and it frees up more oil for cars!]
5. Modernize Electrical Infrastructure: [Great idea to protect vulnerability of US to domestic terror attacks and a big subsidy to nuclear weapons manufacturers like GE]
6. Expand Renewable Energy Development: [Great domestic PR and would have been a great idea – if implemented – 10 or 20 years ago before Bush (s) went to war in Middle East – now it can only serve as a reminder of our follies and as a defense against energy embargoes/disruption. Renewables outside of hydropower are a tiny fraction of power – many so-called renewables – forests, agricultural biomass fuels and even wind are not really renewable as they require soil mining or a huge industrial infrastructure!]
7. Improve Transportation Options: [Jobs for votes and loyalty- National morale and defense]
8. Reinvest In Smart Urban Growth: [see response 3]
9. Plan For A Hydrogen Future: [Corporate subsides and to help the big oil companies that will go broke when their assets are nationalized or destroyed]
10. Preserve Regulatory Protections: [Thrown in to hold on to the quasi-Green vote, only to be implemented as a moderating growth strategy]
BONUS: # 11. Build 50 Nuclear Power Plants [Not one of their proposals (yet?) – but one they will have to swallow if they do not reduce consumption and energy use 50- 80 percent in the OECD – or the
b.) http://www.apolloalliance.org/strategy_center/podestadoc.cfm
“After all, there are more than 220 million cars, trucks and SUVs in this country logging more than 15 trillion miles annually. The auto industry in this country is responsible for 6.6 million jobs nationwide.
What happens to those jobs -- and what happens to the workers and the families who depend on those jobs -- if
[WRONG, WRONG! – I have shown this statement to several moderate environmentalists and they all laughed without me telling them what point I was interested in. Most people have already debated this when the fuel cell – hydrogen issue came up a few years ago. The underlying problems are not population growth, what kind or how much fuels (or carbon) are burnt – but instead the whole lifestyle of consumption, wealth chasing and the car culture that makes Wall Marts, commuting, sprawl, travel and trade possible and necessary.
c.) NOTES – The Apollo Alliances supporters show how deep this right wing conspiracy reaches and probably what gullible fools many groups are: (Bold De-notes conspirators, Italics denote those whom we hope are just naive) (http://www.apolloalliance.org/about_the_alliance/)
(It would be nice to know why groups like World Watch and the Nature Conservancy did not sign on to Apollo’s industrial proposals)
Founding Board Members: Senator Maria Cantwell, MS Congress (D-WA); President Leo W. Gerard, The United Steel Workers of America; Representative Jesse Jackson Jr., US Congress (D-IL); Carl Pope, Executive Director of the Sierra Club; Board of Advisors: Phil Angelides, California State Treasurer; President Andrew Beebe, Energy Innovations, An Idea Lab Company; Chairman Julian Bond, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP); President Thomas Buffenbarger, International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers
d.) For a view of a complex and slightly hard to label character see:
http://www.nathannewman.org/log/archives/001957.html
Apollo was no unique victim of the Kerry campaign. I don’t blame Kerry for the campaign he ran. I’ve come to realize that the election was lost years ago.... The obstacles we face are the same obstacles any “progressive”[bold and quotes by ed.] faces when trying to explain the need to think differently about problems and solutions to liberals who insist on putting all problems and solutions in traditional, single-issue categories....
6.)) NOTES VI.: a.) Michael Crichton and the end of radical environmentalism;
http: //www.seacoastonline.com/news/dover/01282005/editoria/61389.htm
b.) http://www.yubanet.com/artman/publish/article_17589.shtml
State of
c. For a more balanced skeptical analysis, see: Hotting up - Feb 4th 2005
http://www.economist.com/agenda/displayStory.cfm?story_id=3630425
7.)) NOTES VII.: Anarchists and US activists first attacke
Wednesday,Jan 19 2005, 12:04:00 AMM. E.. R... -- Mundo de Escuelas...
M. E.. R... -- Mundo de Escuelas Revolucionarias:
Economics – Resources – Social Solidarity
Agrarian Reform | Participatory Decentralized Economics | Solidaristic Policies ...
Read More...
Wednesday,Dec 29 2004, 06:12:17 PMDecember 28, 2004 Supplement to Venezuela...
December 28, 2004 Supplement to Venezuela Information:
See earlier article for # 1-5.
6. -- The Bolivarian Circles were launched in December 2001. ...
Read More...
Tuesday,Dec 28 2004, 04:15:18 PMCONTENTS: 1.) Bolivarian Alternative for...
CONTENTS:
1.) Bolivarian Alternative for Latin America and the Caribbean
2.) Participatory Democracy in Venezuela, part 3 ...
Read More...
Monday,Dec 13 2004, 09:51:39 PMAndean Circles FSA: Fondo para Solidaridad...
Andean Circles FSA:
Fondo para Solidaridad Andino (FSA)
The Fund for Andes Solidarity: ...
Read More...