The Climate Cult Is Changing Tactics Because Trump

The NY Times is super excited about this. Let’s see what the doomsday cultists are doing. It must be that they’re all going to stop using fossil fuels, go meatless, stop buying fast fashion, and make their lives carbon neutral, right?

How the Climate Movement Is Changing Tactics After Trump’s Win

With about a month and a half left until the Trump administration takes over the White House, I called Bill McKibben, a journalist, author and activist, to ask where the climate movement goes next.

The outlook for the movement that McKibben has helped lead for more than three decades may seem grim. Donald Trump, who has called global warming a “scam,” is likely to reverse many of President Biden’s climate policies. Trump is expected to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, dismantle regulations and target Biden’s signature climate bill, the Inflation Reduction Act.

But the climate movement also plans to spend the next four years hunkering down at the local level. McKibben’s newest organization, Third Act, a nonprofit group for climate activists older than 60 that he started about three years ago, is highlighting the push for change at the community and state level. Over the past 18 months, they’ve begun a new strategy: attending the meetings of obscure state agencies or commissions that hold a lot of power over the energy transition.

Um, how does that have anything to do with Trump? Did they know he was going to win 18 months ago? #TDS

Youth climate groups have also said they’re pivoting from a national to a local stage, pushing for state-level laws like the Climate Change Superfund Act in New York, which could hold polluters accountable for climate change.

Well, really, that’s where it should be. All powers not directly assigned to the federal government are reserved to the States and The People. And, hey, we need experimental groups for every experiment. Though, we have the People’s Republik Of California already. But, there needs to be more than one.

It’s still too early to tell how Trump’s win will affect the climate movement, but McKibben said these were “uncharted waters.” While some parts of the movement are refining their economic arguments, other climate leaders hope to center their message on people that have been disproportionately affected by environmental harms or climate disasters. As I reported today, the youth climate movement has largely reframed itself as the youth climate justice movement.

They’ve been doing that for the last 15 years, so, nothing new. So, what, exactly, are the plans? Seems like a lot of ado over nothing. No need for an article except that the climate cult requires a certain amount of space in every NY Times edition.

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