Progress?

According to reports in the Guardian, President Obama is 'seriously considering' hosting climate summit in hopes of launching a national climate action strategy. Will this be another photo-op moment by a President who has overseen the expansion of oil drilling, fracking, shale oil mining and who has all but approved the Tarsands Keystone XL pipeline?


Now that the record is clear that 2012 was the hottest year on record and with the memory and lingering destruction of superstorm "Sandy" still fresh, the climate consciousness of the public is turning. It is vital that we flood the Whitehouse demanding real action on the climate issue including the disapproval of the XL pipeline, an end to fracking and subsidies to big oil, and funding for research and conversion to ecologically sustainable public utilities.


What can we really expect from a corporate oligarchy? Honestly, very little. I am not naive enough to think that capitalists and the governments they own and control will sacrifice profits and control even to save life on earth. What is vitally important here is the building of a strong unified movement stripped of illusions and aware of the obstacles we face to our continued survival. That is what it will take to move beyond the destructive juggernaut of corporate dictatorship to a sustainable, democratic post capitalist system. As the history of political movements demonstrates, that awareness and unity can only be forged in the struggle.