We are surrounded by failure.

The climate mov't should be having a scathing self-examination about whether the strategic assumptions, organizational cultures and ideological assertions guiding climate activism work — or are part of the problem.

I see 0% chance that will happen.
We'll see how many people have the courage to even retweet this idea.
I'm hearing/seeing/reading so many urgent demands that the climate movement be exactly what it's always been, but more so!

It's like the old generals saying, after the Somme—after a million dead—that all we need is the right *kind* of frontal assault, with the proper spirit...
The main difference being that these failures will end up killing many times that many people, and ruining the lives of an order of magnitude more people than that...

Botching the Great War was child's play next to fucking up on the planetary crisis.
A movement that defines its goals only by what it finds unsustainable or unjust, and seeks to end—much less by a set of agreeable proposals for reducing harm if we fail—is incapable of meeting a civilization-altering discontinuity.

It can't even form a strategy for doing so.

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Alex Steffen

Alex Steffen Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @AlexSteffen

15 Nov
In foresight circles, there is much discussion of general-purpose technologies.

These are techs that change everything: Printing, steam, computation.

Much effort is spent anticipating what's next.

I think, tho, that the planetary discontinuity is what will next fill that role. Image
It's orthogonal, uncomfortable to imagine.

We like to think of game-changers as being either events in the world that happen to us, or technologies we create that let to change the world.

The idea shifts in our physical relationship to the world can have similar impacts is new.
But the physical world is not just the environment in which our actions play out, it is deeply interconnected with every action we can or could take.

A physical-world discontinuity of this magnitude, then, is also a massive social, cultural and technological discontinuity...
Read 6 tweets
15 Nov
The central error in thinking about the planetary crisis is believing if we tackle the climate and ecological destruction that hurled us into this new era, then we'll return to a world that works the way it worked before (or the way we thought it worked).

alexsteffen.substack.com/p/were-not-yet…
Discontinuity is a one-way trip.

The forces unleashed by the climate/ecological crisis are even stronger than the climate chaos and ecological collapses we rightly fear.

If we "solve" the climate/ecological crisis, we'll still live in a planetary crisis for generations to come.
Belief we can "reverse" climate change, "regenerate" nature & *thereby restore continuity* absolutely undermine the urgency we should feel as we face the scope, scale and speed of the changes we need to make to live sustainably on the planet we've now permanently transformed.
Read 5 tweets
13 Nov
I'm inclined to think that the biggest ratcheting up we've seen at #COP26 is the increased pace of NDC submissions, which at least carries the possibility of a stronger debate about accelerating progress.

Convince me something else in #glasgowclimatepact was a big win.
This part
"requests Parties to revisit and strengthen the 2030 targets in their nationally determined contributions as necessary to align with the Paris Agreement temperature goal by the end of 2022"

unfccc.int/sites/default/…
Public discussions of targets, timelines, curves and the tempo of needed actions are themselves disruptive, as I've discussed before.

alexsteffen.substack.com/p/all-real-sus…
Read 6 tweets
13 Nov
City climate plans that do not involve massive and rapid building — tons of new housing for all incomes and household types, low-carbon infrastructure, streetscape investments, and real ruggedization measures — are just urban planning triangulation.
They allow planners and their constituencies to feel virtuous about embracing the big goal of climate action (or climate justice), then make small steps into evidence of commitment.

They defend rent-seeking and opportunity-hoarding behaviors from demands for disruptive change.
Climate triangulation, in another context:

Read 4 tweets
11 Nov
New podcast for supporters: the decade after COP 26.

[Quick thoughts about the strategic landscape, now.]

alexsteffen.substack.com/p/climate-stra…
The "real progress" vs. "blah blah blah" debate is pointless.

The structures we have to pursue climate policy and diplomacy are incapable of delivering rapid and bold action.

Most of those working within them to deliver change are not to blame for the structures themselves.
There is no movement that can be built that is going to pressure those within these systems to move fast enough, in part because these systems are designed to facilitate delay.

Mass movement --> government action/international agreements --> an orderly transition won't happen.
Read 4 tweets
3 Nov
We need to do a much better job at communicating that all good climate futures now involve an absolute fuck-ton of new buildings and major infrastructure investments.

A giant building boom is what successful climate action looks like on the ground.
I mean, I'm a lifetime fan of electrification and demand reduction, and the one billion machines frame is great.

But decarbonizing energy is only one part of the job we face; ruggedizing ourselves will be a bigger and just as pressing task as cutting CO2.
saulgriffith.medium.com/one-billion-ma…
Then in the U.S., there's rebuilding all the degraded systems around us, paying off technical debt and deferred maintenance, building out of the current housing shortage, preparing to accommodate millions of new refugees and welcoming 10s of millions of internal climate migrants.
Read 4 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

:(