There is an influential school of thought that says if someone knows the truth, he will accept it. The environmental group subscribes to this, and thus the tremendous focus on events that raise awareness, from candlelight vigils to An Inconvenient Truth.

However, it is certainly also true that you cannot change someone, he can only change himself. He can change, but he must choose to change. Unfortunately, many deniers are not open to change, and they reject any “truth” that you try and force-feed them. You can lead a horse to water, but if he wants to die of thirst there’s not much you can do. Continue reading →

Copenhagen has failed to produce a realistic plan to combat the climate crisis. Two degrees is too much; the current heating of 0.8C is already cooking the world, melting practically every glacier on the planet, causing deserts to spread and wildfires to be much more damaging, and ocean acidification is destroying the entire marine food web. Tens of millions will be driven from their land, their homes, and their livelihoods to become displaced climate refugees within the next forty years.

This is unacceptable. It is greed hiding behind diplomacy. It is mass murder.

If what is considered “politically feasible” is inadequate to meet the threat, then politics and politicians must change or be changed. The crooked and foolish lobbyists who sabotaged a realistic agreement must be held accountable: They must be tried for crimes against humanity immediately.

We are the Climate Justice League, and we are climate realists. We accept that we face a climate emergency and must respond appropriately. The agreement at Copenhagen leads us to climate disaster; billions will ultimately die. No more talk. The time has come to do what must be done, no matter the vested interests who will make a few millions less. We must go green or die. Continue reading →

Bill McKibben, famed environmentalist and founder of 350.org, is shocked that Copenhagen was a sham in which the developed countries never intended to even attempt the carbon cuts we realistically need. The leaders of these countries are willing to commit us to 3C+, which means the end of us; once 2C is exceeded, irreversible and uncontrollable feedbacks will kick in and global temperatures will shoot up by 6C or more. Agriculture is impossible at those temperatures, meaning civilisation and most of humanity are finished.

Bill McKibben is a dedicated soul, and has done more about the climate crisis than most people – but did he really think candlelight vigils were going to persuade people who have been disseminating lies about global warming for years? These people are neither wise nor good. They care only about themselves and their cronies, and seem wilfully blind to anything that impedes the flow of lucre. Continue reading →

Will these schemes enrich a connected few and leave the planet worse off? Like many other things about climate change, yes, no, and it’s complicated.

These things have to be very transparent, or there is enormous potential for gaming the system or fraud. Given that enormous potential, you can bet that certain groups have been exerting pressure since the idea of carbon credits and offsets was first floated seriously. And they ain’t pushing for openness and fairness.

This is what set the European Union cap-and-trade system back years; the polluters wangled for so many carbon credits to be issued that their value plummeted. They then ceased to be much of an incentive to stop dumping carbon into the atmosphere. Continue reading →