Mexico's Environment Secretary Victor Manuel Toledo Manzur speaking on Wednesday, May 29, 2019. "Human beings are not responsible for global warming, as a superficial environmentalism and uncritical science would like to tell us," said Toledo. "The responsible are a parasitic and predatory minority, and that minority has a name: neoliberalism." (Photo: Screenshot/Youtube)
Let's Be Clear, Says Mexico Environment Minister, 'Parasitic and Predatory Neoliberalism' to Blame for Climate Crisis
"Human beings are not responsible for global warming," said Secretary Víctor Manuel Toledo Manzur, but elite capitalists and industry powerbrokers are.
In a scathing rebuke to the elite capitalists and politicians who largely control the global economic and energy systems, Mexico's newly-appointed environment secretary on Wednesday pointed a stern finger at the "parasitic and predatory neoliberals" for being the key culprits behind the planetary climate crisis.
"We can defend life, or we can continue destroying it in the name of the market, technology, progress, development, [and] economic growth."
--Mexico Environment Secretary Victor Manuel Toledo Manzur
As the Mexico News Daily reports, the public comments by Secretary Victor Manuel Toledo Manzur were his first since his appointment by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador earlier this week and seen as a direct challenge to previous Mexican governments which sacrificed the nation's environment to the interests of industry.
"Human beings are not responsible for global warming, as a superficial environmentalism and uncritical science would like to tell us," said Toledo. "The responsible are a parasitic and predatory minority, and that minority has a name: neoliberalism."
According to the News Daily, Toledo vowed "to 'take back' the Environment and Natural Resources Secretariat (Semarnat), which he said had been controlled by 'merchants from the automotive sector,' and involve citizens in policy making.
He also vowed to put ecological and human concerns above the demands of capitalism and industrial powerbrokers.
"We can defend life, or we can continue destroying it in the name of the market, technology, progress, development, economic growth, etc.," he said.
Watch the full speech (in Spanish):
>
In addition to a ban on fracking, Toledo said there was an urgent need to find replacement sources for all fossil fuels and also issued warnings about the use of genetically-modified crops.
Not a new concept, proponents of bold climate action and experts on the geopolitics of global warming have long noted that the rise of neoliberalism as the dominant political force in the United States, Europe, and elsewhere correlates in troubling ways with the rise in greenhouse gas emissions.
In 2015, as Common Dreams reported at the time, the model of neoliberal capitalism was blamed for the looming destruction of the world's natural systems in a pair of groundbreaking studies.
"It is difficult to overestimate the scale and speed of change," said Professor Will Steffen, a researcher at the Stockholm Resilience Centre who was involved with both studies. "In a single lifetime humanity has become a geological force at the planetary-scale."
And as journalist Naomi Klein wrote in her 2014 book, This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate, humanity over the last 30 years has "not done the things that are necessary to lower emissions because those things fundamentally conflict with deregulated capitalism, the reigning ideology for the entire period we have been struggling to find a way out of this crisis."
"We are stuck," Klein writes in the book, "because the actions that would give us the best chance of averting catastrophe--and would benefit the vast majority--are extremely threatening to an elite minority that has a stranglehold over our economy, our political process, and most of our major media outlets."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. The final deadline for our crucial Summer Campaign fundraising drive is just days away, and we’re falling short of our must-hit goal. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
In a scathing rebuke to the elite capitalists and politicians who largely control the global economic and energy systems, Mexico's newly-appointed environment secretary on Wednesday pointed a stern finger at the "parasitic and predatory neoliberals" for being the key culprits behind the planetary climate crisis.
"We can defend life, or we can continue destroying it in the name of the market, technology, progress, development, [and] economic growth."
--Mexico Environment Secretary Victor Manuel Toledo Manzur
As the Mexico News Daily reports, the public comments by Secretary Victor Manuel Toledo Manzur were his first since his appointment by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador earlier this week and seen as a direct challenge to previous Mexican governments which sacrificed the nation's environment to the interests of industry.
"Human beings are not responsible for global warming, as a superficial environmentalism and uncritical science would like to tell us," said Toledo. "The responsible are a parasitic and predatory minority, and that minority has a name: neoliberalism."
According to the News Daily, Toledo vowed "to 'take back' the Environment and Natural Resources Secretariat (Semarnat), which he said had been controlled by 'merchants from the automotive sector,' and involve citizens in policy making.
He also vowed to put ecological and human concerns above the demands of capitalism and industrial powerbrokers.
"We can defend life, or we can continue destroying it in the name of the market, technology, progress, development, economic growth, etc.," he said.
Watch the full speech (in Spanish):
>
In addition to a ban on fracking, Toledo said there was an urgent need to find replacement sources for all fossil fuels and also issued warnings about the use of genetically-modified crops.
Not a new concept, proponents of bold climate action and experts on the geopolitics of global warming have long noted that the rise of neoliberalism as the dominant political force in the United States, Europe, and elsewhere correlates in troubling ways with the rise in greenhouse gas emissions.
In 2015, as Common Dreams reported at the time, the model of neoliberal capitalism was blamed for the looming destruction of the world's natural systems in a pair of groundbreaking studies.
"It is difficult to overestimate the scale and speed of change," said Professor Will Steffen, a researcher at the Stockholm Resilience Centre who was involved with both studies. "In a single lifetime humanity has become a geological force at the planetary-scale."
And as journalist Naomi Klein wrote in her 2014 book, This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate, humanity over the last 30 years has "not done the things that are necessary to lower emissions because those things fundamentally conflict with deregulated capitalism, the reigning ideology for the entire period we have been struggling to find a way out of this crisis."
"We are stuck," Klein writes in the book, "because the actions that would give us the best chance of averting catastrophe--and would benefit the vast majority--are extremely threatening to an elite minority that has a stranglehold over our economy, our political process, and most of our major media outlets."
In a scathing rebuke to the elite capitalists and politicians who largely control the global economic and energy systems, Mexico's newly-appointed environment secretary on Wednesday pointed a stern finger at the "parasitic and predatory neoliberals" for being the key culprits behind the planetary climate crisis.
"We can defend life, or we can continue destroying it in the name of the market, technology, progress, development, [and] economic growth."
--Mexico Environment Secretary Victor Manuel Toledo Manzur
As the Mexico News Daily reports, the public comments by Secretary Victor Manuel Toledo Manzur were his first since his appointment by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador earlier this week and seen as a direct challenge to previous Mexican governments which sacrificed the nation's environment to the interests of industry.
"Human beings are not responsible for global warming, as a superficial environmentalism and uncritical science would like to tell us," said Toledo. "The responsible are a parasitic and predatory minority, and that minority has a name: neoliberalism."
According to the News Daily, Toledo vowed "to 'take back' the Environment and Natural Resources Secretariat (Semarnat), which he said had been controlled by 'merchants from the automotive sector,' and involve citizens in policy making.
He also vowed to put ecological and human concerns above the demands of capitalism and industrial powerbrokers.
"We can defend life, or we can continue destroying it in the name of the market, technology, progress, development, economic growth, etc.," he said.
Watch the full speech (in Spanish):
>
In addition to a ban on fracking, Toledo said there was an urgent need to find replacement sources for all fossil fuels and also issued warnings about the use of genetically-modified crops.
Not a new concept, proponents of bold climate action and experts on the geopolitics of global warming have long noted that the rise of neoliberalism as the dominant political force in the United States, Europe, and elsewhere correlates in troubling ways with the rise in greenhouse gas emissions.
In 2015, as Common Dreams reported at the time, the model of neoliberal capitalism was blamed for the looming destruction of the world's natural systems in a pair of groundbreaking studies.
"It is difficult to overestimate the scale and speed of change," said Professor Will Steffen, a researcher at the Stockholm Resilience Centre who was involved with both studies. "In a single lifetime humanity has become a geological force at the planetary-scale."
And as journalist Naomi Klein wrote in her 2014 book, This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate, humanity over the last 30 years has "not done the things that are necessary to lower emissions because those things fundamentally conflict with deregulated capitalism, the reigning ideology for the entire period we have been struggling to find a way out of this crisis."
"We are stuck," Klein writes in the book, "because the actions that would give us the best chance of averting catastrophe--and would benefit the vast majority--are extremely threatening to an elite minority that has a stranglehold over our economy, our political process, and most of our major media outlets."