Climate Convergence Moves Us Forward, But Challenges Us to Create a Strategy
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- Published on Monday, 29 September 2014 21:40
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A Socialist Project e-bulletin .... No. 1041 .... September 30, 2014
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Climate Convergence Moves Us Forward,
But Challenges Us to Create a Strategy
Dan La Botz
The Global Climate Convergence with its more than one hundred workshops, its large plenary sessions, and its miles-long mass march of more than 300,000 people, the largest climate protest in American history, represents a turning point for the environmental movement. The gigantic and passionate parade of indigenous people, ethnic groups of all sorts from everywhere in the country, students by the tens of thousands, neighborhood organizations by the dozens, several major national labour unions, and every conceivable sort of ecological cause tramping through New York City carrying huge banners and giant puppets, striding and dancing to the tunes of 29 marching bands, put the issue of the environment and climate... change on the national agenda as never before. The national climate movement has arrived – now what will it do?
The Convergence march was as broad politically as it was long. In the march were U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, former U.S. Vice-President Al Gore, and New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, New York State legislators and several New York City council members, their presence signifying that climate change had gone main stream.
At the same time, bringing up the rear were those of us in the anti-capitalist contingent of a few thousand socialists, anarchists, and others who know capitalism is the cause of the problem and believe in a democratic socialist society, even if we don't know or agree about what to put in its place. And who can blame us, for it's not clear how we get from here to the new democratic, egalitarian, socially just and environmentally sound society that we know we need. Most folks were marching in the middle somewhere, not trusting the corporations, dubious about government, wanting to get rid of fossil fuels but without a clear political vision of where we're going. That is perhaps the biggest thing missing from the movement right now, a unifying strategy for the majority if not a strategy for all.