Gas pipeline resistance in Westchester County.
I am in a deep and dark funk on this gray Monday. I’m not sure if it is the unseasonable warm weather that has me off kilter, or if it is just a funk about the future of life on our biosphere. Climate change, fracked gas pipelines and aging nuke plants often occupy my mind, and today is no exception. I’m not prone to worry, that is a circular energy that gets us no where. Today’s funk is more of an existential despair for our future, now that COP21, the UN climate change conference is finished. I’m starting to wonder if we are all finished as well.
Paris climate talks were an epic fail on a planetary scale. And business as usual for corporations.
While it can be a wonderful feel good adventure to travel to Paris, meet like minded climate activists and participate in inspiring actions with red lines and roses, lets not kid ourselves about what COP21 is and was: a PR stunt to make everyone feel a little better about the mess we’ve made and continue to make on our planet. The world’s leaders have no adequate solution to the climate crisis.
The corporations continue to run the show. We continue to think that our current industrial civilization will somehow be OK in the future if we just start taking small steps. The reality is just too hard for most people to ponder: our biosphere is in deep, deep trouble. And there is no Planet B.
When a building is on fire, do you make baby steps towards the exit? Or do you get the f*&k out of there ASAP? All the cheerful pieces on COP21 say how it is a step in the right direction, but they neglect to mention that we are already in serious shape when it comes to climate chaos. What is the point in sugar coating the reality?
Will COP21 all be forgotten by next week?
When last minute holiday shopping mania takes hold?
Or the next idiot with a gun grabs the headlines?
Indian Point Protest
Over the weekend, a group of anti-nuclear protestors staged a short march and act of non violent civil disobedience at the entrance to the Indian Point nuclear facility to alert the world to the fact that this aging plant is now operating without a license. A handful got arrested, handcuffed and were marched into a police van and driven away. It made a small splash of news nearby. One TV station mixed up the “pipeline protesters” with the Indian Point protesters in their headline.
The Indian Point gang made little or no mention of the gas pipeline construction that was taking place just 100 feet down the street from their action. Trucks loaded with pipes drove right by the protesters more than once that morning.
The close Indian Point groups have been organizing for decades. Their members have an encyclopedia-like knowledge of the plant and all facets of nuclear power. I always learn something new when I chat with them. They are a tight group that have been meeting on a regular basis for years. I admire their tenacity, but question their impact.
I question my own impact as well. I have yet to find the answer, the magic key that will ignite community concern and create meaningful action.
Our little movie about nuclear evacuation
Can making short movies change the world? My filmmaking buddy, Andrea G and I spent a year researching and filming “The Plan(?)” Even though this short little film has made it all the way to Rio and Berlin via the Uranium Film Festival, most folks within 20 miles of the plant remain uninformed and/or unconcerned about the folly of nuclear evacuation.
Our latest short film adventure “A Risky Business” has gotten us directly involved with Spectra Energy’s AIM pipeline fight. Andrea and I are now working with ResistAIM, a group of local and regional pipeline fighters and are video documenting their journey.
Perhaps one day, one of our little films will spread like wildfire. And maybe they will inspire more people to get more deeply involved. That would clear up my funk for sure.
