Environment
Repower Australia not enough to empower climate movement
Saturday, November 5, 2011
In the context of Australia’s struggling climate movement, the achievements of the Australian Youth Climate Coalition (AYCC) have been significant.
When the Murdoch press would rather report Lord Munckton’s denialist nonsense, a group that connects more than 70,000 young Australians to raise awareness and combat climate change is commendable.
However, AYCC’s politics are not without problems.
AYCC has proven effective in its strategy of appealing to young people, but the way it engages young people in discussions around climate change often lacks depth in political and economic analysis.
This was apparent at the recent Powershift conference, which I attended along with 1000 other young Australians.
Together we will occupy
The world is rising up. When we look around the globe we see people in motion. Revolutions in the Middle East and North Africa against brutal dictators, the movements against austerity measures in Europe and Britain, democratic and indigenous revolutions in Latin America, and the Occupy Wall Street protests spreading across the United States. Resistance is in solidarity with all these movements for change.
What these movements have in common is a struggle for a more democratic society and a fight to end corporate control over people's lives. This is a struggle we share in Australia. We’re here for the same reason as everyone else. We’ve had enough — and we think an alternative is possible.
Resistance gears up for climate change, social change conference
Resistance is a co-sponsor of the Climate Change Social Change activist conference in Melbourne over September 30 to October 4. Green Left Weekly asked some Resistance members about their thoughts on this major event.
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Hannah Reardon-Smith, Brisbane
To me, events such as the Climate Change Social Change conference are essential for reigniting my enthusiasm and my energy for the good (but long) fight.
I’m going because I want to add much to my knowledge, get inspired, gain new ideas on the best ways to take action, challenge my perceptions, and surround myself with people that can see the injustice and destruction in the world around us as well as the causes — people who are willing to stand up and speak out.
There is no other event that brings together the two biggest crises of our time — global warming and social crisis. In doing so it highlights that the root cause of both is in fact the same — in Nina Power's words: “Capitalism! Obviously.” — and in order to fight against one we must take up the challenge to fight it all.
Unlike the despair displayed by activists in other movements, socialists are the ones who consistently have concrete answers and inventive ideas about what can be done and how to go about it.
We need a movement to win real action on climate change
The science that informs us about climate change is becoming more and more alarming.
The National Snow and Ice Date Center said on March 23: “On March 7, 2011, Arctic sea ice likely reached its maximum extent for the year, at 14.64 million square kilometers (5.65 million square miles).
“The maximum extent was 1.2 million square kilometers (463,000 square miles) below the 1979 to 2000 average of 15.86 million square kilometers (6.12 million square miles), and equal (within 0.1%) to 2006 for the lowest maximum extent in the satellite record.”
Another alarming finding is that the permafrost in the Arctic is melting at an unprecedented pace. This could be one of the most dangerous feedback loops.
Is sustainable agriculture viable?
The debate around the Murray Darling Basin crisis has brought to public attention the need to rethink agriculture in Australia.
Today, sustainable food production is relegated to niche status — squeezed out by methods of farming that are seen to be more efficient. However, the efficiency of the dominant mode of agriculture relies heavily on chemical inputs for fertilisers, pesticides and herbicides.
This agriculture degrades soils, pollutes waterways and contributes heavily to climate change.
