Why it matters:
Because climate change doesn’t care how rich you are.
Recap:
According to a recent report by the Center for Public Integrity, corporations around the world are lobbying hard to curb climate action.
The report follows a four-month, eight-nation investigation that included hundreds of interviews, reviews of lobbying and campaign contribution records, and good old-fashioned, dirty-hands reporting.
The result? The corporate world is desperate to keep the status quo. The number of corporate climate lobbyists has jumped 400% in the past six years to nearly 3000. In Washington this growing army of glad-handers has abandoned its pre-Kyoto Protocol approach of denouncing the very existence of climate change, preferring instead to acknowledge the problem but downplay its significance.
Meanwhile in Appalachia (MTR anyone?), coal magnate Don Blankenship (Massey Energy) was busy hosting the “Friends of America” country-music rally to illustrate to the locals how he understands their plight while “environmental extremists and corporate America are both trying to destroy [their] jobs.” Apparently big coal does not fall under the “corporate America” label. I smell a new Toby Keith song, “Treehuggers Hate America (And Want You to Get Fired)”.
And the problem is not exclusive to developed nations. In China, which recently pledged ambitious advancements in renewable energy, the old guard still has enormous political clout. Lu Qizhou (the government appointed head of China’s power industry group – holy conflict of interests, Batman!) assures the switch from coal to renewables will not “outpace the market’s ability to cope.”
Commentary:
It’s no surprise that corporations are fighting worldwide mandates for strict environmental policy (unless you still operate under the delusion that most corporations are interested in anything other than black ink). But the depth and breadth of the effort is troubling.
Check that, there’s nothing corporations won’t do to stay on top – short of murder, and even that’s debatable to some. A quick, but painful peek at Blankenship’s “Friends of America” rally website confirms that, yes indeed, Sean Hannity, Hank Williams Jr., and Ted Nugent were in attendance. Its not surprising that Massey Energy and their sponsor Verizon Wireless are selling patriotism and fear to keep this country addicted to coal, but it is surprising that people are buying it.
Maybe Blankenship was just trying to show people a good time. Maybe, and they certainly deserve one. The real problem is when he and his industry cronies take their act to Washington and use the fear-mongering to render impotent any climate legislation. Average Joes can be forgiven for not having all the details on climate change, but when it comes to our reps in Washington, denying the significance of climate change amounts to willful ignorance, and failing to act, a wanton dismissal of our best interests.
For all their P&L reports and budget forecasts, the corporate world is notoriously short-sighted… Sub-Prime mortgages spring to mind. But some of those clever little devils made money on our recent economic collapse by passing the buck. Unfortunately for them, there’s no way to securitize climate change, no way to capitalize on the coming disaster.
When circumstances become dire enough, the only true currencies will be food and water. It sounds crazy, but if the concentration of CO2 in our atmosphere is allowed to reach 1000 PPM (as it’s on track to do by 2100) we’re talking about the collapse of life as we know it. That’s not that far away. Hell, with enough green tea you or I might even see the day. So what’s the plan here Wall Street? Live in Bio-Domes?
Actually… Have you seen “Bio-Dome”? Maybe a few weeks trapped in a glass ball with Pauly Shore and Stephen Baldwin is just what these corporate types need to understand that climate change doesn’t care how rich you are.
Creative Solutions:
- Join 350.org
- Green Your Business
- Go see “No Impact Man”
- Understand Climate Change through Interactive Simulations
- Write a letter
- Support the Center for Public Integrity
- Become a Member of the Rainforest Action Network, Krypotinite to Big Business
We vote with our dollars every day. Every dollar every one of us spends is a vote for a future. Choose carefully when you shop, and which corporations get your money.