“… and everyone needs to know it was us.” Finally JunkScience.com can agree with an alarmist — even one in jail.
In “Letter from an imprisoned activist: Time to ‘play dirty’ for the climate’s sake“, jailed climate activist Tim DeChristopher writes:
Kicking the Keystone can down the road does not redeem Obama’s failure to take advantage of his unprecedented opportunity and responsibility to turn the tide of climate change. Take a look at Rolling Stone’s recent article about 10 things Obama can do for the climate. If you really expect him to do many of those things, here’s some cat videos while you wait. The question is: How does the movement gain power?…
The climate movement could also rock the boat by campaigning for Jon Huntsman right now. Aside from playing dirty, I genuinely believe that Jon Huntsman would make a better president than Obama. While Huntsman was my governor, I saw him show integrity in the face of a Utah state legislature that makes the U.S. House look sane. Huntsman took very public steps to address climate change even while the legislature passed a bill that literally said the science of climate change was a U.N. conspiracy to limit human population. He has guts, which is more than anyone can say for Obama, who has demonstrated the wisdom of Edward Abbey’s words, “Without courage, all other virtues are worthless.” If Huntsman wanted an endorsement from a lefty activist felon in prison, he would have it…
But come 2012, the climate movement will still face that arrogant taunt, “Whaddaya gonna do? Let a Republican win?” If this movement is ever going to get serious political power, the answer needs to be yes. This is where things get dirty. Like any abusive relationship, this movement will always be taken for granted if it’s not willing to turn its back on Obama. He needs to lose, and everyone needs to know it was us. Instead of making phone calls for Obama, those who helped him get elected should make phone calls to Obama explaining why they turned. Much of the youth climate movement has already announced that it won’t actively campaign for Obama as it did in 2008, and logically this is no different than voting for his opponent. By not knocking on doors anymore, each activist affects dozens of votes, whereas voting for someone else is just one vote. But emotionally it feels like a much bigger leap. It almost feels dirty…
So the Huntsman endorsement is a further than we would go (check out our anti-Huntsman effort), but we can agree that the Obama presidency needs to be made history.
BTW, according to a letter from Peter Yarrow in the Los Angeles Times,
Tim DeChristopher was recently convicted of two felony counts for a nonviolent act of civil disobedience. Acting out of his deepest convictions and his abiding concern for the survival of humankind, Tim bid on oil and gas leases on federal land that he didn’t have the means to pay for..