Environment

Naomi Klein is perhaps the leading North American intellectual of the anti-corporate globalization generation. Her evolution from writer-activist and documentarian to public intellectual of social democratic stripes housed at the The Nation marked a coming of age for that generation. Her decision to join the board of 350.org in the midst of their important campaign challenging the US Chamber of Commerce may signal another important and welcome transition for her generation and for the climate change movement. Klein sees the Chamber of Commerce campaign as signalling the climate movement's recognition that the "struggles for economic justice, real democracy and a livable climate are interconnected." 

The October 2, 2010 “One Nation Working Together” rally at the Lincoln Memorial was a successful expression of the working class and multiracial foundation of the progressive majority. The large turnout of labor unions, African Americans and other communities of color provided a solid start for building a broadly based national coalition to urgently address the crisis of unemployment and inseparably related crises in education, health care, housing, militarism and the environment. While the imperative issue of peace and the ending of Washington's wars was not insistently stressed (except for Harry Belafonte's inspired speech and the strong words of Bob King of the UAW), the peace movement was a large, highly visible and indispensable presence whose major role in the coalition cannot be questioned.

By Sandy LeonVest 
Common Dreams, August 18, 2010 

The most recent tally of the cost of war by the non-profit National Priorities Project (NPP) puts total military-related expenditures (through September, 2010) at a mind-numbing $1.09 trillion.

That's 'Trillion'- with a 'T' -- $749.9 billion for Iraq and $337.8 billion for Afghanistan since 2001.

In a less Orwellian world, such stunning numbers would be taken up as a mantra by those agitating for change of any sort. Yet, as relevant as they are to our "national well-being," the trillions of US dollars funneled into the war machine in the past decade are rarely (if ever) cited in the ongoing climate change narrative.

August 30, 2010–One Nation Working Together released a powerful and lyrical vision statement today: For Jobs, Justice and Education for All! Speaking to "peace abroad and jobs at home" and the need for a green economy, it quickly drew many "likes" on Facebook but also prompted one supportive but cautionary comment: "You know, we really need many nations working together." Here's the full text:

$7.13 trillion! Trillion! New York Times Magazine columnist Peter Maass cites new studies for the non-war costs of US carrier groups along major oil routes: over three decades, the cost of patrolling the Persian Gulf, in purely economic terms, amounted to $7.13 trillion. Of course, these costs are not figured into the price you pay at the pump, but you can be sure that's where your tax dollars go. Here's Maass' full essay from Foreign Policy magazine.