Steve Ongerth
Moderator
This is posted here for information purposes only. System Chnage not Climate Chnage has not taken a position on this event: 350.org Launches Fossil Free US Campaign in Large-Scale Event the Day After the State of the Union
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Event (not a conference): 350.org Launches Fossil Free US Campaign in Large-Scale Event the Day Afte
- Thread starter Steve Ongerth
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Matthew Andrews
Member
I almost posted this in the Strategy Discussion forum, but I see that the article is intended to promote the event Steve already mentioned above. Without a more radical program, turning attention away from Washington sounds like a retreat. In this article McKibben offers three strategies, but they are all what the movement is already doing: city level transition pledges, direct action against new fossil fuel infrastructure, and divestment. But what is the alternative? We need a massive mobilization of labor and wealth to shut down fossil fuel waste, and build a new green economy. There's so much to be done in so little time that is getting left off the table when we give up on the federal government! With the 2018 mid-term elections around the corner, how many of these activists plan to run or support an environmentalist for Congress? Instead of giving up on Washington, I wish they would give up on the corporate-led establishment parties.
3 Strategies to Get to a Fossil-Free America
None of them rely on Washington to do anything useful.
By Bill McKibbenTwitter
January 25, 2018
https://www.thenation.com/article/3-strategies-to-get-to-a-fossil-free-america/
3 Strategies to Get to a Fossil-Free America
None of them rely on Washington to do anything useful.
By Bill McKibbenTwitter
January 25, 2018
https://www.thenation.com/article/3-strategies-to-get-to-a-fossil-free-america/
Steve Ongerth
Moderator
"We need a massive mobilization of labor and wealth to shut down fossil fuel waste, and build a new green economy."
I have argued for just such a program: Restoring the Heartland and Rustbelt through Clean Energy Democracy: an Organizing Proposal | ecology.iww.org
And while I agree that Washington shouldn't be ignored, it's rather difficult to move Washington when there isn't a mass movement pushing from below, which has to be built. However, Bill McKibben is just one individual and doesn't even speak for all of the green-NGO community (heck, he doesn't even really speak for 350 anymore). There is just such a mobilization being targeted towards Washington, which includes the OFF act which the CNA and Food & Water Watch have teamed up on. Yes, it has severe limitations, but less so than anything that has come out of the mainstream left, and if we more revolutionary leftists can build the capacity to push for more revolutionary change, more radical measures will come out of Washington.
I have argued for just such a program: Restoring the Heartland and Rustbelt through Clean Energy Democracy: an Organizing Proposal | ecology.iww.org
And while I agree that Washington shouldn't be ignored, it's rather difficult to move Washington when there isn't a mass movement pushing from below, which has to be built. However, Bill McKibben is just one individual and doesn't even speak for all of the green-NGO community (heck, he doesn't even really speak for 350 anymore). There is just such a mobilization being targeted towards Washington, which includes the OFF act which the CNA and Food & Water Watch have teamed up on. Yes, it has severe limitations, but less so than anything that has come out of the mainstream left, and if we more revolutionary leftists can build the capacity to push for more revolutionary change, more radical measures will come out of Washington.