Rally for Science: Follow-up

When your Uncle Roy tells you that 9/11 was a conspiracy between the Colorado militia and New York African American Muslims, you pretty much figure that he's had a little too much of the moonshine he's been brewing out behind the barn. But when Andrew Weaver tells you that the current high Arctic search for the Franklin Expedition is so much bullshit, you kind of have to sit up and take notice. Weaver points out that the expedition now under-way is mapping the sea floor--not for Franklin's ships, but to prepare the way for the exploratory oil drilling planned for the area. And this, he points out, "In a year with a record reduction in Arctic sea ice. A reduction in area that, ironically, happens to be about the size of the province of Alberta."

Arctic sea ice extent on 12 September 2012, in white,
compared with the 1979-2000 median, marked with a red line.
Photograph: NSIDC

Let me tell you, the crowd I was in yesterday was not unappreciative of that particular irony. Andrew Weaver was the opening speaker at the lunch hour Rally for Science in Victoria. Attended by a committed crowd pushing up towards a hundred people, the rally lasted about 25 minutes and featured four speakers: Dr. Andrew Weaver, MP Elizabeth May, performer and long-time enviro activist Raffi, and "Dr. X," a senior scientist from the Institute of Ocean Sciences in Sidney appearing incognito (as speaking to the public is now an offence for federal scientists).


 
Courtesy of the CHEK tv website

Dr. Weaver was clearly angry, as he spoke about the censoring of science that is much worse in Canada than it was under the Bush regime in the US. When James Hansen was silenced in the US, scientists could still speak with people, they just couldn't do it without a media handler. In Canada today, they are not allowed to speak at all--the only people allowed to communicate with the public are media spokespeople. For which, there is no excuse. It is censorship by a fascist-leaning government lead by a crazed ideologue.
Green MP Elizabeth May was short and to the point--and spoke better than I've ever heard her speak before. She communicated well, sharing emotion with the audience and showing that she has the capability of being a great rabble-rouser. Her line “Why do citizens across this country have to rally for science? We have to rally against ignorance,” hearkened back to the great orators of Canadian political history.
Raffi was...well, Raffi. His focus was, as always, on the ocean and the cutting of programs that mean Canada no longer collects any data on the bio-accumulation of toxins in the marine food chain. If we experience an outbreak of Minimata disease, we'll never know how, where, or why. Which would suit the Harper government just fine. If we did know, we might hold a corporation or corporations responsible, and that will no longer be possible at the end of Harper's regime.
The rally was MC'd by Ken Wu of the AFA, a group I've supported financially in the past, and will probably give money to again.
So, to sum up: 25 minutes, four speakers, rising outrage, email follow-up. Well planned, well executed. Kudos to all!

A Liberal and a Conservative

The old joke is that a conservative is a liberal who's been mugged, while a liberal is a conservative who's been arrested. Well, America's top climate change scientist, James Hansen (about whom I've blogged before) is a conservative Republican. But he's also one of these people who, having seen the evidence for climate change, understands the implications and the actions necessary. He knows we're fucked, he's just hoping we can limit the damage. So in today's Guardian:

Protest and direct action could be the only way to tackle soaring carbon emissions, a leading climate scientist has said.

James Hansen, a climate modeller with Nasa, told the Guardian today that corporate lobbying has undermined democratic attempts to curb carbon pollution. "The democratic process doesn't quite seem to be working," he said.

Speaking on the eve of joining a protest against the headquarters of power firm E.ON in Coventry, Hansen said: "The first action that people should take is to use the democratic process. What is frustrating people, me included, is that democratic action affects elections but what we get then from political leaders is greenwash.

"The democratic process is supposed to be one person one vote, but it turns out that money is talking louder than the votes. So, I'm not surprised that people are getting frustrated. I think that peaceful demonstration is not out of order, because we're running out of time."

Hansen is a conservative who's been mugged by the world of realpolitik. Personally, my political leanings are socialist, but my commitment is to democracy. I remain convinced that if we further democracy, we get the world we ask for--sane, safe, reasonably sensible. With, of course, periods and moments of stupidity and madness. But overall, a decent world, because by arguing together, we can make reasonable decisions. (I know, in theory, theory and practicum are the same thing, but in practise, they're not). We don't realize just how broken our democracy is and yet all indications are that we're hungry for a more democratic world. Honestly, we should have dealt with global warming 40 years back, but then, as now, we keep running into the wall of entrenched interests between us and democratic control of our political world. We don't live in a democracy, we live in an oligarchy. Republican conservative James Hansen has run into that wall, just like all the tree-huggers before him.

Look what's happening on the street
Got to revolution, Got to revolution

Marty Balin/Jefferson Airplane


When I mention the "R" word, that's what I'm talking about--a revolution against oligarchy and for greater democratic control over our lives. I watch the world going backwards, fleeing democracy wherever possible, embracing fascism, oligarchy, totalitarian control, and the people yearning towards democracy like a plant yearning towards the light. Got to revolution indeed.

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