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Civil Unrest Has a Role in Stopping Climate Change, Says Gore
Ahead of Copenhagen summit, former US vice-president says 'non-violent lawbreaking' is legitimate in persuading governments to cut emissions
Al Gore has sought to inject fresh momentum into the Copenhagen build-up, saying he is certain Barack Obama will attend and predicting a rise in civil disobedience against fossil-fuel polluters unless drastic action is taken over global warming.
(Flickr photo by Andrew*) Amid increasing incidents of climate protesters disrupting the operations of fossil-fuel industries and airports in Britain and elsewhere, Gore suggests the scale of the emergency means non-violent lawbreaking is justified. "Civil disobedience has an honourable history, and when the urgency and moral clarity cross a certain threshold, then I think that civil disobedience is quite understandable, and it has a role to play," he says. "And I expect that it will increase, no question about it."
In his only UK newspaper interview to mark the publication of his new book, entitled Our Choice, Gore says it is crucial for Obama to attend Copenhagen in person, adding: "I feel certain that he will."
He remains optimistic, he insists, that the US Senate will pass a climate change bill before Copenhagen – a move widely seen as vital for persuading the world, especially developing countries, that the US is serious about reducing emissions.
But Gore was speaking before reports this week that Harry Reid, the Senate Democratic leader, would back Republican demands for a full cost analysis of any such legislation – a process that could take five weeks, postponing debate until after the Copenhagen summit.
On Thursday the UK climate change secretary, Ed Miliband, acknowledged that hopes were fading that Copenhagen would result in a full treaty.
Nevertheless, there are "surprises … in store" on a potential Senate bill, Gore says, citing confidential conversations between Democrats and Republicans in which he has been involved. This week Democrats made small but significant progress when they pushed the bill through a vital committee stage despite a Republican boycott.
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18 Comments so far
Show AllI wonder if the surprises in store to which he refers to are similar to those daily suprises heaped upon us ala the Treasury/Goldman Sachs 'negotiations.' His government back here in the US has a credibilty problem and the 'progressive agenda' has a sepsis diagnosis.
More like civil unrest is the lead role in stopping climate change, because Obama and Congress sure aren't helping.
The problem with "civil unrest" is that the MSM is corporate controlled and will paint a very different picture than those attending would like. Until major multi-national corporations realize that there is a profit to be made from turning away from fossil fuels and investing in new technology, there is little hope that the news will give the general public a true account of the situation.
I am proud that a Beltway insider like Al Gore has come out for civil disobedience, but he should be out there with us getting busted. Because we will get busted and labeled eco-terrorists for merely sitting in or laying in to express our concern about the climate...unless a "celebrity" like Al Gore is with us.
It is crucial that we recognize that "our" federal gov't is nothing more than the puppets of the global bankers and corporations. And they WILL NOT create laws and treaties that really save our planet on time. Groups like Rise Up and Climate Justice are working to make the changes locally...where we still have some power. We must reduce our spending drastically (ONLY WHAT WE NEED), buy locally and organically, live locally and stop being spoiled, consuming Americans. Then we will start breaking the polluting corporations as well as saving our planet.
Putting his tootsies on the line would be a nice touch.
I agree with you in that we "must reduce our spending drastically (ONLY WHAT WE NEED), buy locally and organically, live locally and stop being spoiled, consuming Americans", but I don't see small groups of people in distantly-spaced communities "breaking the polluting corporations"...to do that, we'd have to pool together large groups of people with a firm commitment, in an organized way, with effective strategies, buying mostly (or only) those items and services that meet the demands of the enviromentally-conscious public. No one in this country bonds together in a meaningful, effective way to bring about major changes - there's way too much complacency in the American citizen, an air of attitude that "someone else will do it for us" and, of course, that leaves weak and ineffective ground for getting anything done. It's, unfortunately, going to take a huge and widespread tragedy before the American citizens band together and force issues that have been long left to go the way those in power wish them to.
I also agree with you that Al Gore and several other big name environmentalist should put their bodies and reputations right up front with the rest of us where it'd make a bigger difference.
Funny, I don't Al Gore leading any civil unrest.
On another note, NO ONE, and NO GROUP is going to "stop climate change" on any appreciable scale. Climate change is going to happen, period. Climate change that's due to man's polluting of the earth can be vastly minimized over a long period, no doubt, if the majority of the world powers and large, organized world citizens see to it...that'll take a lot of well-placed pressure on the right people, in the right way. Becoming and continuing to be active in those efforts will add to the force that's necessary to turn some well-needed events and technologies around.
I fear, my dear, we are too late.
Including "Tea Parties"?
To Beth November and Munkee Chunkz, I couldn't agree with you more. Thanks for your posts. May I suggest that everyone who is planning to boycott the current economy and go local start by contacting 350.org and letting them know what you're planning to do? That's what I plan to do and it will mean giving them the name of the town and state I live in but it also means that I may find other people in my area to join with. I have 3 acres and a black thumb; I'm happy to provide the space for a community garden but when I try to grow things myself they tend to wither and die. Frustrating...For those who live in cities or suburbs, may I suggest a Victory garden. That's what they did in England in WWII and that's how they kept themselves fed. They ripped up their lawns and planted vegetables.
And just in case I have a neighbor reading Common Dreams; I live in Hallam, Nebraska. (I read a discussion on another thread about the "dangers" of using real names; trust me, anyone who doesn't like us already knows who we are. My name will be on 350.0rg.)
There will be civil unrest, allright, when tsunamis from a collapsing ice sheet arrive on the shores of some continent.
Or, definitely, when any other undeniable tipping point is reached and our "leaders" are seen to have done nothing to prepare.
Sorry, I just checked 350.org again and the area they used to have for registering an action seems to have disappeared from their website. It's all about the Oct 24th pictures. I'll keep looking.
Don't you think Katrina qualified? It had been warned about for years and our "leaders" couldn't have been less prepared. How long did that stay in the headlines? How many people think about those bodies floating in the water or the people being met with guns when they tried to cross a bridge to safety, today?
The hotter the ocean the stronger the Hurricane. The hotter the water temperature the longer the Hurricane season. Anything over 81 degrees F will work. But people don't think about that; they just count the number of storms, which is variable, especially in an El Nino year like this one. The media not only have a very short attention span, they also have every reason to ignore or downplay the tipping points as they occur. That's why we have to actively fight back by boycotting every part of our consumer society we can, including the mainstream media.
Good points, 3645. Media has a strangle hold on public awareness, alright, and a great way to respond is to remove our $upport from the parts of our culture and economy that are not "getting it".
Civil disobedience should have started long time ago...and not just regarding climate change and pollution. The world needs a social revolution to put the thieving elite back in its place...guillotines and all.
It is disingenuous of Al Gore to advocate civil disobedience at this stage when he himself dismissed that option in the aftermath of the US Supreme Court decision giving George W. Bush the presidency in 2000.
But that is not what he is doing. He is just predicting that there may well be instances of civil disobedience if the situation on the planet deteriorates further.
The irony is that his own hands are bloodied in this matter since it was an administration of which he was a part that undermined the original Kyoto Treaty. As a result, the Treaty failed to require nations to take the action absolutely necessary. Mind you, George W. Bush refused to ratify even that weakened plan.
If Gore truly wished to provide a symbolic gesture to encourage similar acts of civil disobedience, then he has to step up and take a leadership role in that regard. I'm not even sure what that would require him to do. But nothing is likely to happen in any event. And to be fair, Al Gore is doing all that can realistically be expected of a man in his position short of putting his own life in peril.