The lack of action to address climate change is perhaps the biggest political failure of the last two decades. Researchers have grown more and more certain that carbon dioxide emissions cause global warming, and extreme weather, such as Hurricane Sandy, has become the norm. But prominent political figures have downplayed or denied climate change and blocked any hopes of meaningful legislation. Our “progressive” president barely mentioned it in his campaign. So monstrous has this dysfunction been that even the World Bank recently issued stern warnings of the dangers of the 4 degree temperature rise for which we are on track.
At the root of this dysfunction is a twisted distribution of power in Washington. There are those who will gain from continued carbon dioxide emissions, and those who will lose. The winners—fossil fuel companies—contribute heavily to our politicians’ campaigns and fund front groups to distort public perceptions. The losers—the rest of us, and posterity—have been too distracted with more immediate problems like the economy to fight back with our smaller though more numerous voices.
Conversely, much of the environmental movement has been asleep at the wheel. Classical environmentalism has been about individual actions. Recycle. Buy a Smart car. Or, as Jimmy Carter once suggested, put on a sweater. It is important to promote these actions, but as Bill McKibben points out, a crusade for cardigans won’t help if we can’t get a carbon cap or tax. We need instead a civil movement that translates into legislation. We need greater action.
That’s why a couple of Saturdays ago, several classmates and I joined over 40,000 people gathered around the Washington Monument for the largest demonstration on climate change in U.S. history. The “Forward on Climate” rally focused on protesting the proposed Keystone XL pipeline. But it portrayed modern environmentalism as something deeper, as a movement for social justice in the tradition of civil rights.
To start the rally, speakers reminded us of the stakes. Green jobs advocate and former White House advisor Van Jones warned, “This is the last minute in the last quarter in the biggest, most important game humanity has ever played.” Addressing his remarks to President Obama, Jones warned that approval of the Keystone XL pipeline would damage his legacy and his credibility, comparing it to a “fuse on a carbon bomb” while receiving loud cheers.
Speakers consistently portrayed climate change as an issue of of social justice, as one where human lives and futures are at stake. As First Nation Chief Jackie Thomas put it, “If we destroy this land, we will destroy ourselves.”
That’s the power of this new approach to environmentalism that 350.org in particular has helped to mold. It’s no longer about turning off the lights and being satisfied with that. It’s about fighting against climate change for what this is—a civil rights issue, a justice issue, and an existential threat. It’s about solidarity with indigeneous peoples, about student protests for university divestment, and about—already—civil disobedience. (We didn’t break any laws, but many of the organizers did a few days earlier when they handcuffed themselves to the White House.)
One may be wary of the more activist side of environmentalism. But Rev. Lennox Yearwood recognized the stakes when he compared the rally to the March on Washington: “While they were fighting for equality, we are fighting for existence.”
After the rally, we marched 40,000 strong down to the White House, holding signs over our heads to form a symbolic human pipeline. Chanting “This is what democracy looks like,” to keep up our energy in the wintry weather, we filled the streets for two hours. It was too bad that President Obama was out of town—ironically enough, golfing with fossil fuel executives.
As climate activist and 350.org founder Bill McKibben declared, “All I ever wanted to see was a movement of people to stop climate change, and now I’ve seen it.” With 40,000 people marching on the White House, with hundreds of fossil fuel divestment campaigns picking up steam on campuses across the U.S., and with celebrities getting themselves arrested to protest the Keystone XL pipeline, here’s hoping it’s not too late.