We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Thursday, March 3, 2016

The Paris Climate Agreement and the Fight Against Climate Change: A Detailed Summary

Click here to access article by Arnold De Graaff from Heathwood Institute and Press

This Canadian author, academic, and therapist provides an excerpt from his forthcoming book on the above subject. After summarizing the reactions to the recently concluded Paris climate talks, he writes:
They range from euphoric to disastrous. After the first relief passed that at least something had been accomplished, the negative reactions multiplied. The general consensus from many different sources is that the Paris agreement is a failure for humanity and a disaster for the global environment. These negative reactions are well-founded. Here’s why.
He examines the mostly futile efforts that Canadian provinces are making to deal with this problem, and reaches this conclusion:
Unfortunately, climate change does not respond to global economic practices nor to political pressure and manipulation. The rise in CO2 and other gasses, leading to global warming, is a matter of scientific observation and requires solutions that are in keeping with current science and not market-based. Or, on a more practical level, climate change is a matter of global experience by millions of people and requires down-to-earth solutions and people-power. In this respect most of the world leaders are ‘climate change deniers’ that do not really take the evidence of science into account in developing their policies. They are committed to an ideology that makes them blind to the reality and urgency of global warming.