One questionable technological �fix� for this crisis is carbon sequestration, under which carbon dioxide in the air would be captured and buried deep underground. One problem with sequestration is the high cost of the process. Other problems are the possibility that at some point in the future an earthquake could lead to the CO2 being released into the atmosphere or the possibility of contamination of underground water aquifers. Although the severity of the crisis is an argument for continued research into the potential of this process, it should certainly not be a central part of the solution.
This entire transition from an inefficient and wasteful dirty energy economy to one which is about conservation and clean and efficient use of energy must be done in a just way. In the words of the Environmental Justice and Climate Change Initiative (www.ejcc.org), �Low-income workers, people of color and Indigenous Peoples will suffer the most from climate change�s impact. We need to provide opportunities to adapt and thrive in a changing world. No group should have to shoulder alone the burdens caused by the transition from a fossil fuel-based economy to a renewable energy-based economy. A just transition would create opportunities for displaced workers and communities to participate in the new economic order through compensation for job loss, loss of tax base and other negative effects.�
Can nuclear power be part of the answer? Most environmental activists don�t think so. In a statement released earlier this summer and signed by a significant number of the major national enviro groups (e.g., Friends of the Earth, Sierra Club, Greenpeace, Public Citizen, U.S. PIRG and others), it was stated: �We flatly reject the argument that increased investment in nuclear capacity is an acceptable or necessary solution. Instead we can significantly reduce global warming pollution and save consumers money by increasing energy efficiency and shifting to clean renewable sources of energy. . . Nuclear power still remains the least attractive, least economic, and least safe avenue to pursue.� It is unnecessary, too expensive, too dangerous and too polluting. �We believe that the financial and safety risks associated with nuclear power are so grave that nuclear power should not be a part of any solution to address global warming. There is no need to jeopardize our health, safety and economy with increased nuclear power when we have cleaner, cheaper solutions to reduce global warming pollution.�
The Requirements for Success
However, the battle to slow global warming and stabilize our climate will not be won on the basis of logical, rational arguments. Those are important, but given the economic forces we are up against, what is needed is a political and social movement the likes of which this country and world have never seen. We need an early 21st century mobilization for global survival that is massive, visible, multi-faceted, creative, and determined. It must also be willing to use non-violent civil disobedience in a strategic way to underline the urgency of this crisis.
We need individuals who are willing to make personal sacrifices for this most fundamental of causes, the cause of global survival. In the words of Donella and Dennis Meadows and Jorgen Randers in �Limits to Growth: The 30-Year Update,� �How to bring into being a world that is not only sustainable, functional, and equitable but also deeply desirable is a question of leadership and ethics and vision and courage, properties not of computer models but of the human heart and soul.�
If we truly believe that the clock is ticking toward midnight, that we�re minutes away from it and that at midnight the flood gates will almost literally be opened, we need a growing number of people who are prepared both for the daily sacrifices of hard work on the details and the less frequent dramatic actions of demonstrating, fasting, sitting-in, being prepared to risk arrest or go to jail.
What we really need in this country is something like a Tiananmen Square action on the mall in Washington, D.C.
In the spring of 1989 hundreds of thousands of students and workers non-violently took over the government plaza in Beijing, China demanding democratic reforms, adherence to socialist principles of equality and protesting government corruption. For a month this occupation continued. A number of the participating students went on a hunger strike to press their demands. Although the demonstration was broken up by military force on June 4th, the example of these young people was felt throughout the world.
For the last several months a coalition of environmental, student, people of color, religious, labor, peace, community-based, women�s and other groups has been discussing the idea of a massive national march on Washington sometime in 2006. It has not yet been decided upon. Instead, many of the groups which participated in those discussions are working together to organize local actions all around the country and, indeed, around the world on December 3rd. This is at the time that a major international conference is being held in Montreal of all the countries which signed the Kyoto Protocol, as well as some that have not, like the United States. It is hoped that a successful organizing campaign leading up to December 3rd will provide a springboard into a stepped-up 2006 campaign which will include a decision to organize a massive D.C. action.
There are reasons to believe that such a 2006 campaign is possible. One key reason is the emergence over the last few years of a growing movement for clean energy among students. In the fall of 2004 close to 300 college campuses experienced local actions on this issue and an important national network, Energy Action, which brings together over 20 mainly youth and student groups, is continuing to grow and build.
Without the energy and fresh perspectives of young people, no movement for global justice has a chance of success.
Another reason is the growing understanding within the peace movement of the connection between the war on Iraq, fought for oil and control of the oil-rich Middle East, and global warming. Momentum is building for a major demonstration against that war on September 24th in Washington, D.C. and elsewhere. The major national peace coalition, United for Peace and Justice, supports the call for actions on December 3rd so that it is reasonable to expect that many of those who demonstrate on September 24th will be �likely suspects� for visible action on this issue.
And within the environmental movement a debate was re-opened in late 2004, having been raised over a decade ago by people of color activists, as to how it can become more effective, less policy-wonkish, more diverse, less white middle-class. Some of the large, more established environmental groups were part of the discussions about a national march on Washington and are connected with the organizing efforts toward December 3rd.
There are many localities, and some states, which are taking action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and replace dirty energy with clean energy alternatives. Just recently the U.S. Conference of Mayors went on record as in support of these efforts.
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