As Fossil Fuel Interests Sway Politicians, The Political Will To Act On Climate Change Disappears As Fast As Arctic Ice

This excellent interview with Patrick Bond, Director of the Centre for Civil Society University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban, South Africa, discusses the huge influence that the fossil fuel industry, with its deep pockets and bought-and-paid for politicians, has on the climate change debate. This industry is at the root of the inaction we are currently seeing on this issue of human survival. He specifically singles out the Koch brothers (capitalization is mine):

“The main thing is, if you’ve got denialists, it is a bit of a distraction, a waste of time, because we really need to be putting all our efforts into building the coalitions and finding the confluence of interest that will begin to fight against the Koch brothers, those other big oil guys, who are really funding the denialists and all of the sort of carbon trading gimmicks. And those are the big enemies we have, the politicians, the negotiators, and it’s a formidable force. BUT DON’T FORGET WE’VE TAKEN DOWN SUCH FORCES IN HISTORY AND WE MUST AGAIN.“

So, gird your loins for the fight of your lives in 2012, folks! These are heroic times, that call for all women and men of good will to put their energy and actions into opposing the forces that put corporate greed above our children`s need for a stable climate, clean air, and clean water.  It`s time to gather together and confront the fossil fuel industry which is manipulating the rest of us for its own gain, creating a wasteland wherever it goes, from  Canada`s boreal forest to the Gulf of Mexico to the Niger Delta, to our common atmosphere.  Enough already!!

To read the full transcript of the interview, go to RealNews.com

Knowledge without action is useless and leads only to apathy and despair, which unfortunately is widespread these days (and that suits the politicians and the corporations just fine). If you are ready to join with other citizens who are putting time and energy into building the political will for a sustainable climate, check out Citizens Climate Lobby. Dr James Hansen from NASA, whom Dr. Bond mentions in the interview, has this to say about CCL:

Most impressive is the work of the Citizens Climate Lobby, a relatively new, fastgrowing, nonpartisan, nonprofit group with 35 chapters across the United States and Canada. If you want to join the fight to save the planet, to save creation for your grandchildren, there is no more effective step you could take than becoming an active member of this group.

CCL has since grown to 50 chapters. To find out if there is a chapter near you, or to start your own, go to CitizensClimateLobby.org (International) or Citizens Climate Lobby.ca (Canada). You can also find Citizens Climate Lobby on Facebook.  I look forward to traveling the path to a sustainable future with you!