This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate Paperback – August 4, 2015

This is an interesting topic. I've just finished Naomi Klein's This Changes Everything and was struck by it. Mostly, it reminded me that I'm old. A lot of what she writes about in the history to combat climate change are things I lived through, and was active in.Case and point: The World Trade Organization (WTO) rules allow countries to sue if regional laws are enacted to protect local renewable businesses. Ever wonder what happened to cheap solar panels from China? These are the PV panels that were available at places in the US like Harbor Freight Tools for rock-bottom prices. And China had been flooding the market with them. The EU and US decided that it didn't like this economic challenge to their own fledgling solar industries, and sued successfully in the World Court, to impose sanctions against China for subsidizing its industry. The same thing is detailed in Klein's book, with high-quality PV industry in Ontario, set up to meet a "local only" law for PV production. It was struck down. The end result of this is pretty clear. Solar (or any innovative industry) can't be protected by local governments, but must compete on the global marketplace. Likewise, there are no provisions for environmental nor social concerns in the WTOs laws. The only consideration is price. It is a "level playing field" with no room for planning to meet more human needs.This, of course, is not news. The WTO has been around for a decade and a half, and in that time, the World Court has made several rulings, strictly following its provisions.The WTO didn't have to be like this: I know. I was there. In 1999 I had read in a leftie throwaway paper called Change Links that a protest of the WTO had been planned in Seattle. I was a student at the time, at Pasadena City College, and made arrangements to be away for the week. I took a train to Seattle, and had free accommodation via a phone number I'd called in the paper. It wasn't rocket science. Why not have a provision for protecting environmental and social concerns written in?Much of the demonstration was amazing. It was one of the first times Indy Media was well-established and very active. I was interviewed for an article (See "Labor joins enviros in march for Mother Earth" on page two of this newsletter — http://www.holisticnetworker.com/wto/blindspot2.pdf). There were free lectures and seminars. The mood was very loving and I learned a lot. The last two days or so was a bit tougher: a group of anarchists had smashed some windows during the largest demo, and the police were very vigorous. There was the establishment of what were termed "no protest zones" and I had a button confiscated by a policeman who would have arrested me for walking in a public street with the pin. It read: "Dolphins oppose the WTO. So do I." He took my pin.It was disappointing that our efforts made no effect on the laws that quickly became the WTO. It is very distressing presently. It's not enough to say "Oh, yes, I tried. I was there." Klein's book brings home the very real assessment that nothing substantial has been accomplished in this time, and we will all fry. Of course, she ends on a high note, but the urgency is there. It's definitely worth reading, whether you are young or old.

This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climateby Naomi KleinThe economic catastrophe of the 1930s reshaped the excesses of the Guilded Age into the more egalitarian era ushered in by The New Deal. The transformation continued after WW II, as enthusiastic voters supported sweeping social programs like Social Security, subsidized housing, public funding for the arts and, in the rest of the developed world, health care. The global warming and climate change caused by mankind’s use of fossil fuels is rapidly developing into a crisis of much greater magnitude, and the thesis of This Changes Everything is that successfully adapting to the resulting environmental changes will require a correspondingly, even grander metamorphosis of human culture.However, a redesign of the social order that protects humanity from both a savagely unjust economic system and a destabilized climate system is not the only possible outcome.Ms. Klein understands how corporate interests capitalize on the fear and uncertainty that accompany catastrophe. This provides the perfect climate for instituting policies designed to enrich a small elite, as demonstrated by the US response to 911 and the banking crisis of 2008. Times of turmoil provide opportunities for “lifting regulations, cutting social spending and forcing large-scale privatizations of the public sphere. They have also been the excuse for extreme crackdowns on civil liberties and chilling human rights violations.”Humanity is failing to respond as the climate crisis rapidly gains momentum. The book explains how this is one symptom of a global economy dominated by deregulated capitalism. Privatization is rapidly dismantling and selling off the public resources needed for massive investment in low carbon infrastructure, like public transportation. As corporate control metastasizes into all levels of government, it is able to insure that deregulation and reduced taxation continue to subsidize the extraction of coal, oil and gas by the fossil fuel industry. In addition, although enormous losses in corporate tax revenue place a heavier burden on the poor and middle class, continuing growth in government subsidies for business requires additional revenue. This is extracted from the budgets of programs identified by the those on the political Right as remnants of the failed socialist model, like public school and social services programs. Meanwhile, global trade deals like NAFTA, CAFTA and the Transpacific Partnership (TPP) are insuring a global governance system designed for and assembled by transnational corporate interests.She notes that, unfortunately for mankind, there was an effective corporate grip on world governance and the economy by the time that scientists like James Hansen had determined the importance of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to prevent global warming. The immediate response of fossil fuel interests was to discredit these findings by following the tobacco industry model of sowing public doubt about the dangers of climate change, a strategy that has successfully blunted any attempt to limit fossil fuel use for about four decades. As a result, the global atmospheric and oceanic systems responsible for maintaining a viable world are rapidly approaching a point where the human capacity for change will no longer be able to avert a devastating climate catastrophe.Any serious reader will find this book fascinating, frightening, and informative. Extensive notations and references are found in the back of the book, along with a fine index. These features also make it an excellent general reference for climate-related issues.Naomi Klein is a new mother who knows that dealing with the coming climate catastrophe and assuring the future for all children requires cooperation on a global scale. Although there is no guarantee of a favorable outcome, she is optimistic about the potential for our success. Her book explains the reasons for this hopeful outlook, including how each of us can best contribute to the likelihood of our common success.Understanding Ms Klein’s optimism may be the best possible motivation for reading the book. Everyone can benefit from understanding how This Changes Everything.