Stichting Laka

Publicatie Laka-bibliotheek:
Greenhouse Gangsters v. Climate Justice (1999)

Auteur	TRAC
Datum	november 1999
Classificatie	6.01.2.15/29 (KE & BROEIKAS - ALGEMEEN KLIMAAT & CO2 REDUCTIE)
Voorkant

Introduction 

Oil has meant mastery throughout the twentieth century."
-Daniel Yergin,
The Prize

As we hurtle into the twenty-first century, oil is still King. But it does not rule 
benevolently. Rather, the reign of those who control the politics of petroleum 
continues to undermine democracy while fostering human rights violations 
and environmental disasters across the Earth.

Now, by making a major contribution to a global problem that looms larger than 
perhaps any before it, big oil may well have met its match. Indeed, climate 
change (often referred to as global warming or the greenhouse effect) has the 
potential to radically damage entire ecosystems, agriculture, and the inhabitability 
of whole countries. Changing the climate affects everyone and everything.

Despite the efforts of a few transnational oil corporations (as well as their cohorts 
in the coal, chemical and car businesses) to dupe the public into thinking that global 
warming is not a real threat, the vast majority of the world's climate scientists and 
a growing body of evidence say it is. No longer does the scientific debate focus on 
if global warming will happen, but rather on how soon it will occur and on how bad it 
will be. And if the extraordinary number of extreme weather events the world has 
recently been experiencing-killer hurricanes, floods and heat waves in places as far 
flung as Central America, Bangladesh and the East Coast of the United States-are a 
harbinger of what is to come, the greenhouse world will be harsh indeed.

The common wisdom is that the modem consumer is at fault; excessive driving, 
homes packed with appliances, central heating and cooling, and failure to turn off 
the lights when leaving the house are what's ailing us. This is partly true. But the 
ability of individual consumers to radically change their lifestyle while participating 
in mainstream society is severely limited. U.S. residents cannot easily buy a solar-
powered house or low emission car, many cannot take public transport to work, and 
economic incentives for conservation and efficiency are practically non-existent.

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