Sunny Hundal (London, Pickled Politics): Much of the talk in the press this week has been about how these "hippies" who attended Climate Camp were so smug and preachy, and probably flew to Heathrow to attend the camp. Are environmentalists full of contradictions? Do they not practice what they preach?
Well, who isn't? You show me a person without contradiction and I'll show you a robot. We all have contradictions between how we want to behave and how we end up behaving. Environmentalists are no different, though when I got there last week they were extremely serious about practising what they preached. Did they suffer from feeling smug or superior to others? I suspect that is more likely to be the case with those who keep announcing that these 'enviro-nazis’ should get a job.
There is a real issue for democracy here about how to organise an independent and influential politics in the face of the media without being pilloried. Ironically, we live in a society where a constantly hypocritical tabloid press take very seriously and often at face value a highly hypocritical and evasive political class. The same people who lecture us on spreading peace and democracy while selling weaponry to dictatorships, dropping cluster bombs and using chemical weapons. And they're accusing the greenies of preaching?
I'm still waiting for the Evening Standard's prediction of "hoax suspect packages" to come true. I suspect it won't.
Environmentalists constitute a very broad church. Some may want to ban aviation travel completely. Others see capitalism as the inherent problem. I don't have a problem with either. I would like to see air travel reflect its true market prices. The government could get rid of the subsidy on aviation fuel, let airlines compete for slots at Heathrow and factor in a cost for the air and noise pollution. The problem is that economic incentives are skewed towards perpetuating and encouraging further pollution without cost.
To this extent events such as Climate Camp are important because the goal is not only to get people to think of their own actions, but continue putting pressure on our government and businesses to change their behaviour. Plus, of course, helping build networks across this important movement.
I say bring on direct action, this country has a glorious history of it.
Moderator Sunny has two reports from the camp - plus pics! - on Pickled Politics, on the 16th and on the 20th.
