Lorna Salzman
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There are a few bills in congress, including the ten year phase out of fossil fuel subsidies sponsored by Bernie Sanders, one carbon trading bill, and one efficiency. I havent read them and can’t comment, but my experience tells me they won’t come near what we need or want.A colleague told me yesterday that a congressional legislative aide said that no one had visitedhim on the climate change issue for eight months. That undoubtedly includes McKibben. And it means that all the groups have closed shop on the issue and no one is doing anything. I am not surprised at all. This confirms my worst fears. We have no movement. So who will fill the void?
And who will tell the McKibben cheering squad that he is asleep at the wheel? Maybe if more of them find out, someone will do something. Any suggestions? -
Interviewed recently on the Bill Maher show, Bill McKibben said that the main problem regarding the climate change problem was “not politics…it’s physics”. This may be his excuse for
refusing to formulate legislation or organize a lobbying movement for energy policy,but he isn’t addressing the REASONS why climate change deniers are DENYING it or doubting it. This is not ignoring science but putting self interest, politics and economics first. It is time we stopped being defensive about having the facts and the truth, and instead of worrying about the deniers we should focus on organizing a political force to confront the deniers instead of continuing to just
publish more and more facts about climate change. Most people know it is real and happening, and are open to more aggressive action than the road shows and email letters McKibben and 350.org use. How can we move past the sloth and inaction of 350.org into aggressive public
organizing for tough energy legislation and public policy….the things that McKibben has
publicly said are impossible to influence and from which he has recused himself. How can we get principled uncompromising leadership that, based on science, will focus on organizing and
legislative change? A colleague who met recently with a congressional legislative aide was told that no one had approached his/her committee in eight months to talk about climate change.
It seems everyone has literally given up on congress. But why should congress listen if we do not have a real movement and constituency for a sane energy policy? We need to develop the movement first and then congress will listen. All we have now are speeches with cliches like
McKibben’s (“we need action”). Would McKibben please tell us what kind of action we need?
And why he hasn’t proposed it already? Or done anything about it?
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