Thread by @SteB777

I'll briefly explain why I have had to stick my head into the murky sewer of politics. I actually despise politics, and I would not spend one second thinking about it, if it wasn't putting us in such mortal danger.
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Both the populist right, and the neoliberal centre are trying to undo what small advances had been made in advancing the cause of climate action, and action on the nature crisis.

It's no use campaigning for climate and biodiversity action, without addressing what's happening.
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It is no use campaigning for climate and biodiversity action without addressing the elephant in the room, being ignored, and that is the 2 big political forces in our society today, are actively trying to block the necessary action.
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The populist right, are absolute climate change deniers trying suppress climate science, promote fossil fuel use, and to lift nature protection legislation.

However, the neoliberal centre, as typified by Keir Starmer is not much better.
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Keir Starmer, has already gone back on Labour's already limp and inadequate climate action, and is actively promoting and funding greenwash nonsense pushed by the fossil fuel industry.
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Even worse, the neoliberal centre is pushing growth, growth, growth, and ripping up all environmental protection that gets in the way. Pushing the commercial AI agenda, which will create far greater energy demand.
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The old model, was that NGOs etc, would campaign for politicians to take climate and other ecological concerns more seriously, which was totally inadequate, and leaves us facing a full scale planetary emergency.
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Of much greater concern, is who in politics do those campaigning, using the old model, do they think'll persuade, to take the environment, more seriously. Certainly not the populist right, and nor the neoliberal centre.
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Absolutely, the only political forces worth appealing to are Green parties, and more radical forces, like @jeremycorbyn in the UK, and @BernieSanders and @AOC in the US. But in the present system, they are going to have a real uphill struggle getting into power.
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The old environmental campaign style was to not take sides, in the hope that both sides of the political divide would listen. This is long gone with the new political reality, because both these sides, are against environmentalists.
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The whole problem is most NGOs, environmental journalists, and those in the conservation sector, have not woken up to this. They are all desperate to remain neutral, to avoid offending either side, when both sides look down on this campaigning with contempt.
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In the UK I went on the very well attended Restore Nature Now march in London on 22 June 2024, where speaker after speaker, naively assumed that once the Conservative Party was out of power, we'd start making progress. I came back thoroughly despondent.
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I have a penpal, who will confirm what I thought about the total unreality, where it was naively, and falsely assumed that if Labour got into power, everything would change. I was very uncomplimentary about the delusion on show.
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When Starmer got in, everything I said was proven right. I really don't like being right. I don't feel smug about it, it is actually seriously depressing, just how detached from reality people with platforms are. Had they not been listening to what Starmer was saying?
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“There are now no non-radical futures. The choice is between immediate and profound social change or waiting a little longer for chaotic and violent social change. In 2023 the window for this choice is rapidly closing.” @KevinClimate

15/bellacaledonia.org.uk/2023/04/18/no-…

How many times do I have to state, we face a radically changed future, in the near future, not the end of century, like deluded techno-optimists thing. Either we get our shit together, or our civilization is on course for collapse, and mass starvation.
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People say, climate change is an existential threat to our civilization. No, what is an existential threat to our civilization, is right wing populism and neoliberalism.

As I keep explaining, the climate crisis is not the same as climate change described by science.
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Anthropogenic climate change, is caused by human CO2 emission, producing profound changes to our climate and ecosystems. The climate crisis is the process of being presented with the scientific evidence, and totally ignoring it.
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I can sum up the problem, with my disputes with climate scientist @MichaelEMann. Great scientist, but a totally unrealistic grasp of political reality. He thought climate activism was a hindrance. Leave it to him to persuade the politicians.
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@MichaelEMann thought Biden and the Dems were going to fix it. Well, Michael, how's that one going (he's blocked me for the 5th time)? Because Trump is closing down climate science, and the Democrats have destroyed themselves as a political force. The activists were right.
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This is what we are up against, big egos, who got it completely wrong, but who are in denial, who carry on flogging the same old dead horse, and expect it to get up and start galloping again.

Either we get politically savvy, and realistic, or we are dead.
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