Truthout is an indispensable resource for activists, movement leaders and workers everywhere. Please make this work possible with a quick donation.
It seems an odd time for environment policy wonks to throw a party. The level of carbon dioxide in the earth’s atmosphere is higher than it has been in three million years, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the US.
That sobering news hasn’t stopped the organisers of Carbon Expo in Barcelona from promising a celebration when the annual event is held for the tenth time at the end of this month. Ardent defenders of the polar ice caps like Shell and Statoil will spend the day gazing at mathematical models about the ideal price of pollution. After all those cerebral chinwags, they will surely have worked up an appetite for tapas and sangria.
On second thoughts, maybe it is apt for the oil industry and its chums in the world of finance to kick up the high life as the climate breaks down. For they have been dexterous enough both to cause that breakdown and to present themselves as the cure to it.
The big “green” story here in Brussels lately hasn’t been the perilous state of the planet but the problems befalling the EU’s emissions trading scheme. Although the scheme has proven to be disastrous in terms of mitigating climate change, it has helped entrench the idea that heat-trapping Truthout relies on individual donations to publish independent journalism, free from political and corporate influence. In fact, we’re almost entirely funded by readers like you. Unfortunately, donations are down. At a moment when independent journalism is urgently needed, we are struggling to meet our operational costs due to increasing political censorship. Truthout may end this month in the red without additional help, so we’ve launched a fundraiser. We have 10 days to hit our $50,000 goal. Please make a tax-deductible one-time or monthly donation if you can.
An urgent appeal for your support: 10 Days to raise $50,000