We are allowing ourselves to brightside ourselves. FFS This is no better than the fucking gaslighting by those who would have us sleep through the apocalpyse. [Sweariness warning. I am trying to be more Omar - not the killing people bit, but the not cussing. Today, I'm failing. If that means you can't fucking share... Continue Reading →
about abeyance – when your group death spirals, and the broader movement with it…
With the planet on fire, it seems odd to be having to write about the decline of the climate "movement" - but given what is going on in the UK and Australia, the countries I know best - it seems reasonable to do so. The point has been made to me well, that the existing academic work... Continue Reading →
Of #terrafurie, energy policy and groundhog day – #auspol #failedtransitions
I guess I have a millionth of an inkling of what it must be like to be a person of colour anywhere, but especially in the US, UK or Australia. Given that I am as whitebread as it comes, that needs an explanation. One thing that comes through in reading people of colour, listening to... Continue Reading →
After the Goldrush: 11 theses (and 15 songs) about Extinction Rebellion and “what next?” #oldfartclimateadvice
Preamble The numbers tell the story, or a story. The numbers attending the latest Extinction Rebellion rebellion were far lower than a) last years two efforts and b) their private hopes. The emissions reductions are far higher than we would have thought this time last year, but that’s a) not enough to hit this year’s target... Continue Reading →
Thoughts on lunching out
It's interesting about lunching out, isn't it? Because if the reason that you're lunching out, is that you're having a mental health crisis - anxiety, depression, etc - all of which are entirely rational response to the shitstorm that we're in, then you're probably not able to stomach having to admit to someone else that... Continue Reading →
Climate scientists attacked for 30 plus years. Sure, so what is to be done? #action #climate
So, as per my recent Conversation article, the climate scientists have been attacked for (more than) thirty years. The UNFCCC is a hopeless case (see slightly-less recent Conversation article). It is easy to talk about how everything is fubarred, and what am I against. This below expands on the theme of attacks on climate scientists,... Continue Reading →
14 years ago today… #Climate Camp and what is (not) remembered #history #academics #power
"The struggle of man (sic) against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting." Milan Kundera On 26th August 2006 the first "Camp for Climate Action" began, in the shadow of Drax power station in Yorkshire, then the biggest single point source of carbon dioxide in Europe. The camp (and the shorter name, "Climate Camp",... Continue Reading →
Black Lives Matter to Fossil Fuel incumbents and #climate denialists – as a cloak and stabvest
People of Colour are gonna be shocked - SHOCKED - to learn that rich white people are sock-puppeting them in an effort to stay rich. Because, you know, it's so unusual for powerful interests to totally disregard the actual long-term health of everyone else, and to claim to be benevolent while continuing to despoil and... Continue Reading →
Building whose capacity to do what? How?
This is a direct follow on from an initial rant about "social innovation". At the end of that I went on a rant about how social change is a marathon not a sprint and that the 'load' has to be shared. There's an article, very astute, by a Development Aid specialist that I read as... Continue Reading →
“Social innovation” acceleration and the belling of cats
So, my intellectual energies have been mostly devoted to the Active Citizenship Toolkit, which is a project of the group I am part of - Climate Emergency Manchester. I've researched and written a couple of novice's guides - to Manchester City Council's budget process, and to the thorny question of allyship. Other two page guides... Continue Reading →