...from the journal The New Republic which asks, in its lead article the question of the day ... Has the Green Movement been a Miserable Flop ?What the hell went wrong? For months now, environmentalists have been asking themselves that question, and it’s easy to see why. After Barack Obama vaulted into the White House in 2008, it really did look like the United States was, at long last, going to do something about global warming. Scientists were united on the causes and perils of climate change. (Interjection. Loud raspberry from stage right.) Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth had stoked public concern. Green groups in D.C. had rallied around a consensus solution—a cap-and-trade program for carbon emissions—and had garnered support from a few major companies like BP and Duke Energy. Both Obama and his opponent, John McCain, were on board. And, so, environmental advocates prepared a frontal assault on Congress. May as well order the victory confetti, right ? Instead, the climate push was a total flop... more of this exquisite lefty hand wringing here...
...with self-hating comments to brighten your day like this ...
The failure of greens (not Greens) to accomplish anything is horribly despressing, but not at all surprising. It's a never-ending slow-motion trainwreck that demands decisive and forceful leadership from people who have shown time and again to be utterly devoid of any leaderly qualities. It's like watching the debacle over the debt, except worse, since at least everyone recognizes that a problem exists there. Particularly bad is that leadership on this issue must come from Americans, whose primary qualities are greed, individualism and anti-intellectualism. It does not inspire much hope...
For my money, the failure of the green political movement has come about because of blatant green anti-capitalism- served up with green hypocrisy, dishonesty and patronising faux-concern for the planet. (As an example see Maurice Strong's statement below this blog's masthead and follow this link.) Rather than a true environmental movement, the green political machine has been shown to simply be the present day vehicle of the political left. Since Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, green tactics have been to arouse fear and guilt among the gullible. Green fear mongering and green double talk has finally been discredited and dispersed by public opinion and debate. More blood-letting of course is still to to come, probably with an imminent metamorphisis of the defeated green left into a modified political vehicle. I bet the tactics stay the same though.
Where will they go ? ...the anarcho-animal rights/anti-globalisation loonies are all that's left these days. What will the green gasbags do ?
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