On August 9th, the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a report showing how dire the climate catastrophe is. The worst part is that our elected politicians are actively working to put roadblocks in the way of the global climate justice movement. Biden said in an announcement that “the cost of inaction keeps mounting”, yet his inaction as part of the Obama administration and his current term as President shows how empty these words are. Biden has remained silent on the Line 3 oil pipeline, which will carry the dirtiest fossil fuels, and he has continually supported expanding the world’s largest institutional polluter, the US military. The report clearly shows that with decisive, collective action, we can mitigate this climate catastrophe.
The IPCC’s 6th report is the most dire yet. The most severe climate effects will take place once we cross the 1.5 degrees Celsius average warming threshold above the pre-industrial era, and currently we are at 1.1 degrees. These effects include rising sea levels that will displace billions of people, massive migration crises from climate events, major ramifications to agriculture and food sovereignty, mass extinction events, and ocean acidification. The people most affected by climate crises are the most vulnerable and oppressed people in society since they have the fewest resources to adapt and adjust. This is the best case scenario for if we are able to limit the effects to 1.5 degrees Celsius. If we continue on the path that Biden has us on, we will be headed towards a 4 degrees Celsius warming level, which will amplify all of the above scenarios.
Biden’s policies call for a highly militarized US response to secure natural resources at home and abroad. Rather than transformational change, he is doubling down on the policies of exploitation, invasions, domestic repression, and inaction. The US military under Biden is being used as a way to ensure the continued flow of fossil fuels into the United States and to protect multinational corporate profits. The US military isn’t only used as a tool to keep this system in place, by itself it is the largest institutional polluter in the world with a network of over 800 military bases that leave behind environmental catastrophes all on their own.
The domestic militarization is seen in the struggle against the Line 3 oil pipeline. The militarization of the border has been used to harass water defenders in Minnesota, who are fighting for clean water and indigenous sovereignty. The Border Patrol helicopters are used to hover right above the heads of water defenders and spy on people putting their bodies on the line to stop Line 3.
President Biden can make immediate, easy changes that would help reverse the course we are on. He can stop Line 3’s construction with an executive order, the last thing we need is to put money into more fossil fuel infrastructure. We can implement the transformative changes the IPCC calls for: drastic reduction in emissions, expanding development of renewables, expanding tree cover and natural ecosystems, implementing ecological agricultural practices, and quickly phasing out fossil fuels.
With the movements for immigrant rights, climate justice, anti-war, racial justice, indigenous rights, and others combined into a force for radical change, we can not only limit the effects of climate catastrophe but create a better society where decisions are based on human needs and not multinational profit margins.
