Are climate activists putting all their eggs in one basket?

by Krystofer Penner | Published 26th October 2013 in Ways of Seeing

Are the climate change movements of North America putting all their eggs in one basket? Authors Arielle Klagsbrun, David Osborn, Maryam Adrangi, and Kirby Spangler think so.

In this short article they argue that the current climate movement is constructed like an arch, and that the Keystone XL and Northern Gateway pipelines are the keystone of this arch. When the future of these pipelines are decided, either positive or negative, the movements will end. And this is a very bad thing.

“Putting Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper at the keystone of the archway creates a flawed narrative that if we, as grassroots groups, work hard enough to stack the building blocks correctly to support them, then elected officials will do what we want. Social change happens when local communities lead, and only then will politicians follow.”