Protesters Condemn NY Carbon Trading Conference

Carbon trading is not only utter bullshit, it is also a morally reprehensible lie that is helping to rapidly kill life on our planet. Scores of activists, citizens and religious leaders gathered outside of the 2nd Annual Carbon Trading Conference in New York yesterday to raise their voices in opposition to this deadly shell game. The crowd rallied against the market-based trading of greenhouse gas emissions, and called for real solutions to our devastating climate crisis.

Rev. Billy and the Church of Life after Shopping Choir enthusiastically protest at the 2nd Annual Carbon Trading Summit in Manhattan yesterday.

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Cap and Trade Is a Lie

The entire cap and trade scheme is fundamentally flawed. The whole ruse was never designed to directly tackle the vital task of a rapidly transitioning away from polluting fossil fuel, over-production and over-consumption. It instead seeks to merely quantify existing pollution as a commodity that can be traded; and the “trade” component does not actually reduce any emissions. It simply allows companies to just buy cheap “carbon credits”, instead of lowering their own toxic emission levels.

Father Paul Mayer, co-founder of the Climate Crisis Coalition, spoke to the crowd.

Father Paul Mayer, one of the many leaders who spoke to the protesters yesterday, explained the situation this way:

“Carbon trading is something very evil. It is out of control consumerism that has caused this crisis. As Jesus fasted in the desert, our society must begin fasting from consumerism. We must build a powerful citizen’s movement. By 2100 the water will rise six feet and submerge the very land where we are standing here today, and the earth will be scorched.”

Climate “pirates” fought over who could steal more of our sky.

“The same Wall Street bankers who gave us the global climate crisis are trying to own the sky,” stated Brian Tokar, director of the Institute for Social Ecology. “Carbon trading is unjust, it will not work, and it is a false solution. It is a dangerous distraction from the urgent measures needed to prevent an ever-worsening destabilization of the climate.”

I overheard one of my fellow protesters saying how impressed they were with how many NYPD officers showed up to lend their support to our climate justice cause.

NYPD officers loitered around the Embassy Suites Hotel, where the carbon trading conference was held this week. (To give you an idea of what sort of place this is, on their website directions page, there are no instructions whatsoever explaining how to get to the hotel by mass transit; but I suppose they are doing their bit to fight global warming by charging $75 to park your SUV, as opposed to the normal $60.)

Sustainability Is the Answer

Rev. Billy calls for an “Earthalleujah” and a resounding “Amen” to sustainability.

Many of the speakers challenged the flawed notion of continued unfettered growth. We must create local sustainable economies. Instead of constantly pushing to expand markets within a system of finite resources, we must find ways to live smaller and consume less. There is no other option.

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