Franklin Matters: 2014 from the Climate Hawk’s Perspective

Friday, January 2, 2015

2014 from the Climate Hawk’s Perspective – The Climate Minute Podcast

New post on Mass Climate Action Network (MCAN)

2014 from the Climate Hawk's Perspective – The Climate Minute Podcast

by massclimateaction

The year 2014 was hot, the climate movement became conscious of itself and saw new dimensions in a big world.

This year is likely to be the hottest year on record and one where climate change undeniably arrived in clear force.

The year will also be remembered as one where climate activism took center stage with lots of rabble-rousing. The President said "Our citizens keep marching. We cannot pretend we do not hear them." From EPA regulations to the Climate March, Climate Hawks were out in force. The KXL pipeline is in deep Presidential trouble because of activism. In NY, fracking was banned, and the polls approve. On top of all that, Kinder Morgan blinked in the face of local opposition.

The climate movement's conception of itself changed in 2014 as well, not the least due to Naomi Klein's book "This Changes Everything". Rebecca Solnit is getting lots of mileage out of a comparison of our times to the French Revolution. She says: "…physics is inevitable…Politics, on the other hand, is not inevitable." In the same way, the #BlackLivesMatter movement is a big one for Climate Hawks. From a convergence of interests, to environmental justice to a simple realization that cities are a locus of climate opportunity, a new way of thinking was born.

The year also saw hopeful signs of an independent media as well as price parity for renewables, and a great window of opportunity for a carbon tax.

Because we recognize the necessity of personal accountability for our actions, because we accept responsibility for building a durable future and because we believe it is our patriotic duty as citizens to speak out, we must insist that the United States put a price on carbon.

Thanks for listening.

…Ted McIntyre