State of the Movement

An online conference coming up on the 1st of Sept. will feature Bill McKibben discussing "the state of the movement". If we assume they are talking about the climate movement you would have to ask: what movement? If we judge the strength of "the movement" by the latest "Inflation Reduction Act" (they couldn't even put climate in the title!) you would have to admit sclerotic decrepitude. It was all backroom dealing, no street action whatsoever. The rose colored glasses crowd praises "the movement" for having got anything at all, but clearly Green Capitalism is the big winner and will lead us to the precipice. So how will McKibben spin it? How about: don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good? Yeah. How about: This unleashes the power of private investment to create innovative new technologies? Yeah. How about: this is just the beginning, now we really have to push! Yeah. Bill, Greta, AOC, Blockadia; the silence is deafening. The quick retort is Covid, but that doesn't really satisfy. Did the Green New Deal include billions for carbon capture and sequestration, new oil and gas leases, new gas pipelines? We are supposed to look at the bright side: electric cars for the masses, fire-resistant forests (?) more solar panels, etc.. but it is hard not to be cynical, given the hard numbers.