WHAT WOULD MARTIN DO?

Martin Luther King And The Call To Direct Action On Climate Change

Joe Romm and Van Jones, January 18, 2016 (ClimateProgress)

"…[Martin Luther King Jr.] viewed civil rights through a moral lens…The greater the moral crisis, the more his words apply. The greatest moral crisis of our time is the threat posed to billions — and generations yet unborn — from unrestricted carbon pollution…We think there has been far too little direct action, given the staggering scale of the threat. As the International Energy Agency has explained, we must leave the vast majority of fossil fuels in the ground if we are to preserve a livable climate…King explained that any nonviolent campaign has] four basic steps: collection of the facts to determine whether injustices exist; negotiation; self purification; and direct action…Every major scientific body and international group has taken to begging and pleading for [climate] action…

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“It has taken a quarter century of international climate [negotiation] to get the world to finally act together…We understand why the fossil fuel industry works to block Congressional action and funds what has become the most effective disinformation campaign in history. We are bewildered by those who claim to accept climate science, but feel no urgency to act…[N]othing compares to the centuries of racial injustice King was impatient about. But each year brings an ever-worsening array of megadroughts and superstorms juiced by global warming…We know we’re fast approaching climatic tipping points — the loss of Arctic sea ice, the disintegration of the great ice sheets, the release of vast amounts of carbon from the permafrost, Dust-Bowlification of much of the world’s arable land — that are irreversible and catastrophic…It is past time for many more to speak out, and for many more to join direct action…” click here for more

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