Stop Throwing Oil On the Wildfire That Is Earth

Photo by Eelco Böhtlingk on Unsplash

Mitigation and adaptation is a cruel joke until and unless we quit fossil fuels.

We either need to accept climate collapse and die passively or work to mitigate the worst effects. Those are the parameters of the discussion.

What’s absolutely prohibited, and not even contemplated, is doing what scientists warned us decades ago to do: sharply and quickly slash fossil fuel use, and stop producing gigatons of deadly CO2 emissions. There are dozens of excuses why this is impossible or undesirable—which are trotted out on the rare occasions when a sane person calls for genuine emergency action. But usually, the subject of emergency action does not even come up.

It’s taboo.

Every “Solution” On the Table Is Actually A Diversion to Continue our Planet-Wide Death March

All of the climate actions seriously being discussed are ridiculous. My “favorite” is carbon capture. While we continue to spout gigatons of toxins into the biosphere, we are told that grabbing and sequestering a tiny, tiny bit of it is an important step in fixing the crisis.

This is like someone who is blasting a giant hole in the hull of a cruise ship telling all the passengers to bail faster. It’s ridiculous, futile and insulting.

Other nonsense includes “agreements” that only exist on paper and, if carried out, would still be too little, too late. And a market-based transition to clean energy—which wouldn’t work. We do not have time for that anymore. But the idea is even more ridiculous because we continue to subsidize fossil fuels.

Meanwhile, everywhere there is a concerted effort to discover, extract and burn more and more fossil fuels. We are going in the wrong direction, intentionally, and with no indication of an end.

All of this is happening as we watch the climate collapse right now in real time.

We Must Defy Those Who Are Too Stupid To Care

Yes, this is greed and selfishness and power lust—by a “powerful” few. But more than all of that, it is colossal stupidity. When the climate is destroyed, we all suffer and billions die. Nobody really escapes, least of all the privileged elites who engineered this catastrophe.

They will have no friends, and nobody will serve them. They will suffer and die like the rest of us. They will have “won” absolutely nothing, except for the eternal contempt of the survivors.

The petty arguments and crocodile tears over the Los Angeles fires are case and point. Who is saying anything about addressing the cause of the increasingly frequent and severe wildfires? And flooding? And droughts? And crop failures? And fatal heat domes? And the coming collapse of the entire ecosphere that sustains us?

WE are talking about it. And WE propose a solution. And WE don’t merely propose a solution—we intend to save the population of a planet that is intent on self-destruction.

We are The Saners. We are plotting a non-negotiable course of benevolence. We will blunt climate collapse by not cooperating with the destruction. We will wield people power to withdraw our consent and support from the deadly actions and systems that threaten us.

In stages, we will withdraw from all destructive labor. We will stop extracting, refining, shipping, buying and burning fossil fuels. We will stop all unnecessary production because it is the massive overproduction which is ruining the biosphere.
We won’t produce luxuries for our exploiters—whether they are plutocrats, communist parties, or dictators—nor will we produce shiny knick-knacks as foolish consumers of disposable crap. We are done raping the Earth; we will show Mother Earth the love she deserves.

Our planet is not raw materials for greedy profiteers. Nor are WE simply “human resources.” We will not tolerate abuse of either our planet or ourselves. We are done.

We are The Saners.

Can This Really Work?

Yes. It has worked many, many times before. People power is a proven effective force of history. Ordinary people, fed up with injustice and abuse, shut down countries and empires. “Powerful” leaders and systems prove to be powerless when they are not actively respected and supported.

Strongmen are revealed to be weak, helpless old codgers who need obedient fools to exercise power. The same can be said of economies that depend on people who quietly accept and even support their own abuse. When cooperation with evil systems end, those systems no longer exist.

Oh, and we don’t need everyone to unite behind this common cause. Every single successful application of people power in history began with a small number of people. Then, when others see the possibility of a better world, there is an explosion of activism. Or more accurately, inactivism.

Nonviolent noncooperation—properly applied—is a nearly unbeatable force. Read about The Saners at WeAreSaners.org. Sign up and join the growing worldwide community of sane, caring and determined people.