Up until about six years ago (2015-ish), most Americans didn’t believe they’d see extreme impacts of climate change in their lifetime. Back then, mainstream (corporate) news outlets mostly framed climate change as a distant threat that would occur “…by 2100”.
But around three years ago (2018-ish), a more urgent framing began to emerge. More and more mainstream outlets began predicting extreme climate impacts “…by 2050” (instead of 2100). And with an even more urgent caveat: a sharp decline in greenhouse gas emissions is needed “…by 2030” to avoid “the worst impacts of the climate crisis.”
Then last year (2020) capped a 7-yr streak where the 7 hottest years on record all happened in the last 7 years (2014-2020). Now in 2021, it’s looking like that streak will most definitely continue. Indeed, we’ve been inundated this year with compounding, seemingly paradoxical natural disasters worldwide. For example:
Record droughts and record heatwaves have led to record wildfires this year; even as extreme rainfall and “massive ice melt” have caused record global flooding this year…
Massive swarms of locusts and grasshoppers have devastated farmlands this year across Africa, India, the Middle East and several states in the U.S.
Yet, despite the record insect swarms, Earth’s insect populations are actually plummeting– by 75% over the past half century.
Worse– this massive decline of insect populations is part of a larger event that scientists are calling ”The 6th Great Mass Extinction of Species”:
Thousands of vertebrate animal species have also been lost over the past 100 years, and thousands more are now facing extinction.
Plus, up to half of all wild tree species are now facing extinction…
More and more scientists (and economists) are seeing now that this mass extinction crisis poses as great a risk to humanity as climate change…
In fact, earlier this year a group of prominent scientists issued an unprecedented joint statement saying “this rapid, catastrophic loss of biodiversity is accelerating” and may be “…a tipping point for..ecosystems collapse and [ultimately] the collapse of civilization…”
That quote is worth repeating: “…a tipping point for ecosystems collapse and [ultimately] the collapse of civilization…” It’s a bold, terrifying prediction but it got nary a mention by the corporate mainstream media, much less either major political party…
The scientists anticipated such a response from the corporate establishment. In their joint statement they remind us: the “Political Impotence” of politicians and the mainstream media– bought and paid for by “corporate lobbying” and “well-financed disinformation campaigns” – has been a “colossal challenge” to progress…
Youth climate activist Greta Thunberg calls this collusion among corporate media and political elites a “betrayal”. She says, “the people in power..pretend to have ambitious climate policies [all the] while granting new oil licenses and expanding offshore drilling…
And “the media doesn’t hold [them] accountable..The media reports only what the leaders say they are going to do instead of what they are actually doing..It is a betrayal to all present and future generations…Our hopes and dreams drown in their empty words and promises,” says Thunberg.
In fact, according to a troubling new study, “two-thirds of young people (aged 16-25 years) believe that their governments are lying, failing, and betraying them and future generations.”
More than half of the young people surveyed believe that “humanity is doomed”.
It’s the first study to suggest that young people’s emotional distress is strongly linked to their governments’ failure to respond to climate change. According to researchers, the anger and distrust comes from knowing the long history of deception and inaction on climate by governments and industry.
It’s worth a reminder here that this article traces two distinct global crises: climate change and the mass extinction of species. Both are well documented in scientific literature since at least the 1970s. Therefore government and industry have been fully apprised of these crises since at least the 1970s.
Also well documented is the corporate capture of US government since the 1970s. For example, a Princeton Study found that over the past 50 years, average Americans (the bottom 90% of earners) have had a “…near-zero, statistically non-significant impact on US public policy.” But…
Corporate financial elites have had a “near-ideal impact on US public policy”, according to the study. And when corporate elites want to stop a new policy there’s a near-100% chance they get their way. This includes, of course, the massive deregulation of industry over the past 50 years.
Especially the Meat and Dairy industry (BigMEAT). BigMEAT is the #1 driver of environmental destruction including groundwater pollution, soils degradation, ocean dead zones and global deforestation. And global deforestation is the #1 driver of the mass extinction of species mentioned above.
Connecting the dots: it means that BigMEAT is the #1 driver of the “rapid, catastrophic loss of biodiversity” that scientists now say is “accelerating” and may be “…a tipping point for..ecosystems collapse and [ultimately] the collapse of civilization…”
Further, the Global deforestation and soils degradation caused by BigMEAT are also primary contributors to heat waves and drought. Plus BigMEAT is a leading contributor to GHG emissions and the loss of carbon sequestration. Altogether, it means that BigMEAT is also a leading driver of Climate Change as well.
In fact, “BigMEAT corporations are on track to surpass BigOIL companies as the world’s biggest climate polluters…” And yet, the USDA funnels $38B in taxpayer “subsidies” every year to BigMEAT corporations. That’s more corporate welfare than any other industry.
On its current trajectory, BigMEAT will account for 80% of the planet’s annual greenhouse gas budgetby 2050.
It’s why we’re petitioning the USDA to defund BigMEAT corporations and reallocate funds for community-based food production. Investment in local food economies would empower communities to reduce their own carbon footprint through sustainable farming and equitable food production and distribution.
And it would also empower communities to improve the health of their citizens. Research shows that subsidizing fruits and vegetables would increase healthy outcomes for millions of people and save $BILLIONS in health care costs.
Further- such empowered communities could directly engage their young people in the work of climate and community resilience including sustainable farming, equitable food production and distribution, and projects to restore local ecology and biodiversity and improve carbon sequestration.
So please join us. Click Here to Sign the Petition to #DefundBigMEAT Corporations. Tell the USDA to stop using our taxpayer dollars to subsidize toxic meat and dairy foods that make people sick and destroy our environment; and instead, reallocate funds to expand local sustainable farming and farm-to-table programs that both restore local ecology and ensure fresh fruits and vegetables are accessible and affordable for all citizens, regardless of our race or income. Thank you.
