Shut Up, Barack Obama—America Is the Worst Thing That Has Ever Happened to the Environment

May 4, 2016 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us

 

On Earth Day, President Obama sent out an email celebrating the signing of the Paris climate treaty, and hailing the work of his administration in saving the environment. He said: “Today is Earth Day—the last one I’ll celebrate as President. Looking back over the past seven years, I’m hopeful that the work we’ve done will allow my daughters and all of our children to inherit a cleaner, healthier, and safer planet.”

We say:

Shut the fuck up, Barack Obama. Every word in your email is shameful, and makes things WORSE for the environment and the people.

America is NOT taking the lead in making the world safe for your daughters and all the children.

America is #1 in world history in sending greenhouse gases that cause global warming into the atmosphere.

America’s capitalist economy is #1 in dumping toxic waste of all kinds on the poorest countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America—and #1 in blaming them for failing to care for the environment.

The American ruling class is #1 in denying the science of climate change—and it is not just a few nut cases—these people control much of the government.

The truth: America is the worst thing that has ever happened to the environment.

And your administration has not stopped all of this, but instead your administration has continued and gone further:

» You announced your intention to open up the Atlantic coast to oil drilling after decades of government blocking that dangerous drilling. Only the worst oil drilling disaster in recent history, the Gulf oil disaster, made you back off for public relations reasons.

» You granted leases for Shell to explore drilling in the dangerous and pristine waters of the Arctic.

» You boasted about and claimed credit for the huge increase in U.S. oil and gas production during your time as commander in chief.

Special Issue of Revolution on the Environmental Emergency

This Revolution special issue focuses on the environmental emergency that now faces humanity and Earth’s ecosystems. In this issue we show:

  • the dimensions of the emergency...
  • the source of its causes in the capitalist system, and the impossibility of that system solving this crisis...
  • a way out and way forward for humanity—a revolutionary society in which we could actually live as custodians of nature, rather than as its plunderers.

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In short, you have worked to inject even more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

And signing the Paris climate agreement makes all this WORSE: The Paris agreement does nothing real to STOP the climate crisis—it is about managing and seeking control of the process of environmental catastrophe, and telling lies about it to the people.

Your real “environmental legacy” is to light the planet on fire—while claiming to be taking care of the planet for the children.

And why do you have to drag your own daughters into your lies? Are you so completely an instrument of this patriarchal imperialist system that you can’t stop using your own daughters as a thing to serve the empire’s objectives? Just as you use everything else?

In all this you truly walk in the footsteps of the slave masters and Indian killers who were the first presidents of this country, and the imperialists and genocidal war criminals of the 20th century who ran this empire and carried on their work.

 

 

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