Climate Crisis: Scientists Hit the Streets

Robert Hunziker

A revolutionary slogan by climate scientists “1.5C is Dead – Climate Revolution Now!” emblazoned the streets of the world on April 6th spawned by the Sixth Assessment Report, Mitigation of Climate Change, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released April 4th.

Overnight, civil disobedience by climate scientists erupted in 25 countries on every continent enraged that the IPCC report was “watered down” at the behest of governments that are “unwilling to phase out fossil fuels.”

Wednesday, April 6th will go down in history, as Global Warming Bastille Day marked by the world’s largest ever protests by scientists sick and tired of mealy-mouthed responses by governments that cater to the fossil fuel wealth syndrome that intentionally misled the public and pays off politicians to keep pumping oil regardless of massive ecological destruction.

Scientists have had enough. They are fighting mad and striking back by hitting the streets, chaining themselves to government and private industry buildings, gates, bridges, and entryways in bold demonstrations to stop fossil fuel dead in its tracks.

Scientists chained themselves to the front door of the JP Morgan Chase building in downtown LA. The bank is the world’s leading funder of oil and gas projects.

Climate scientists chained themselves to the White House fence demanded that President Biden declare a “climate emergency.”

Scientists splashed red paint on the steps of the Congress of Deputies in Madrid and blocked a bridge near Germany’s parliament building… calling out “political mismanagement” and “lies” and “business as usual” destroying the planet’s ecosystems.

An op-ed in The Guardian declared: “Earth breakdown is much worse than most people realize.”

And, that is a primary issue and major catalyst for rebellion by scientists throughout the world. They see the breakdown; they measure it; they live with data that shows rapid deterioration of the planet’s life-giving ecosystems. Deterioration is pronounced and advanced beyond climate models. The survival of the planet is at stake.

In a letter to President Joe Biden 275 scientists demanded: “Follow the Science, Stop Fossil Fuels.” Food & Water Watch, along with the group of climate scientists, coordinated this effort, including scientists Peter Kalmus (NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory), Sandra Steingraber (American biologist), Robert Howarth (Cornell University), Mark Jacobson (Stanford University), and Michael Mann (Penn State).

President Biden was urged to “build a renewable energy economy” by exercising his “executive authority to redirect these massive investments, mobilize the country, and rally the global community around a program of energy security through a rapid transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy.”

“We urge you to lead boldly, take on the fossil fuel titans, and rally the country towards a renewable energy future,”

At Shell’s London headquarters scientists used modified fire extinguishers to spray biodegradable fake oil on the building’s façade.

Microbiologist Abi Perrin, taking part in the London action, said: “I’m here today because I’m so frightened by seeing the stark warnings of the world’s scientists being ignored and suppressed by governments and powerful corporations who are putting economic growth and short-term profit above the survival of life on Earth. I am joining hundreds of scientists across the globe taking similar actions today, in the hope that this will help in some small way to change the course that we are on. Shell has known about the harm their products and activities cause since before I was born, yet throughout my lifetime they have kept expanding their fossil fuel operations, wrecking lives, communities, ecosystems, the world’s climate and our prospects for the future in the process.” (Source: Breaking: Scientists and Academics Throw Fake Oil Over Shell Hq, Extinction Rebellion.uk, April 5, 2022)

Extinction Rebellion is the world leader via civil disobedience holding governments responsible for fossil fuel destruction.

Extinction Rebellion’s key demands are:

• Government must tell the truth by declaring a climate and ecological emergency, working with other institutions to communicate the urgency for change.
• Government must act now to halt biodiversity loss and reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2025.
• Government must create and be led by the decisions of a Citizens’ Assembly on climate and ecological justice.

Net zero by 2025!

(Robert Hunziker is a freelance writer and environmental journalist whose articles have appeared in over 50 magazines and sites worldwide. Courtesy: CounterPunch.)

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Following the protest on April 6, Common Dreams reported on April 11: “’We Won’t Stop’ – Climate Scientists Vow to Keep Fighting After Global Mobilization”:

After wrapping up a worldwide civil disobedience campaign to call for a “climate revolution,” scientists on April 11 pledged to keep fighting for the ambitious action they warn is necessary to prevent the most catastrophic impacts of the fossil-fueled global emergency.

“Listen to the scientists. Hear the voices of activists. Climate justice now.”

“Scientists do not know how to shout or stain walls or stop traffic. But we know how to do one thing well: learn. And we are studying the new language to communicate the gravity of climate change,” said Fernando Valladares, a professor and Scientist Rebellion member from Spain, in a statement.

From April 3 to last Saturday, scientists across the globe participated in over 60 nonviolent direct actions in at least 26 countries. As Common Dreams reported last week, some protests led to arrests. Other scientists joined a weeklong strike from their academic work.

Peter Kalmus, a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) scientist and Scientist Rebellion member who was among those arrested, shared a video of the actions on Twitter Monday along with some reflections on the campaign.

“We won’t stop,” pledged Kalmus, who also helped lead an open letter sent to U.S. President Joe Biden last week urging him to “follow the science” and ditch fossil fuels in favor of renewable energy.

Kalmus warned Monday that “Earth breakdown will only get worse and worse, horrifyingly, until we end the fossil fuel industry and end enclosure capitalism, and transition to a system that puts the Earth and people first.”

Scientist Rebellion also circulated the roundup video on social media and explained that the experts took to the streets because their warnings about the climate emergency have been largely ignored by decision-makers.

The scientists’ week of action coincided with the release of the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, which led activists to declare that “a warming planet is humanity’s biggest emergency” and “it is a disgrace that decades of cowardly decisions by rich industrial nations have led us here.”

Scientist Rebellion’s official response to the IPCC report stated that “the science has never been clearer: To have any chance of retaining a habitable planet, greenhouse gas emissions must be cut radically now.”

Referencing the bolder temperature goal of the 2015 Paris climate agreement, the group added that “limiting warming to 1.5°C and responding to the climate emergency requires an immediate transformation across all sectors and strata of society, a mobilization of historic proportions: a climate revolution.”

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, in his remarks responding to the report, said that “climate activists are sometimes depicted as dangerous radicals. But the truly dangerous radicals are the countries that are increasing the production of fossil fuels.”

Climate scientist Rose Abramoff, who was arrested twice in Washington, D.C., said last week that “I think scientists need to be out here with our children, with our Indigenous, with our old and our young, every race and generation.”

Kalmus suggested that “if everyone could see what I see coming, society would switch into climate emergency mode and end fossil fuels in just a few years.”

“We need a billion climate activists,” he said. “I encourage everyone to consider where we are heading as a species and to engage in civil disobedience. The time is now.”

Amwanika Sharon, a Scientist Rebellion member protesting oil exploration and refinery construction in Uganda, delivered a concise message for policymakers: “Listen to the scientists. Hear the voices of activists. Climate justice now.”

Scientist Rebellion member Blessed Chidhoni also emphasized the importance of justice.

“The needs of the poorest countries must be addressed swiftly,” Chidhoni said. “Unless we have social justice, there are not going to be more accelerated greenhouse gas reductions. These issues are inseparable.”

(Courtesy: Common Dreams, a US non-profit news portal.)