We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Thursday, November 22, 2012

World Bank’s call for slowing global warming ignores own role

Click here to access article by Pete Dolack from his blog Systemic Disorder.

Apparently Hurricane Sandy has finally got the attention of the world's One Percents judging by their recently released "New Report Examines Risks of 4 Degree Hotter World by End of Century". 

Although they don't offer much in the way of new recommendations, at least they recognize that global warming is definitely man-made. 
The report states that the science is unequivocal that humans are the cause of global warming, and major changes are already being observed. The global mean temperature has continued to increase and is now about 0.8°C above pre-industrial levels.
However, as this perceptive author points out, there is a bit of a contradiction in the World Bank's actions:
Environmental laws are frequently the target of corporate assaults under free-trade rules, and the most frequent initiators of these assaults are energy and chemical corporations. Tribunals controlled by the World Bank or other institutions that promote corporate globalization ensure that environmental, labor and other legal protections are eviscerated, thereby accelerating the destructive activities that fuel global warming.  
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