ike all things lately, environmental policies are considered highly divisive issues; environmental regulation and climate policies are overwhelmingly championed by the left, while support for fossil fuel and the coal industry continues to be a fundamental issue on the right. While these two perspectives aren’t necessarily incompatible - as long as there is a fair transition … [Read more...]
A Bipartisan Climate Policy
How the Paris Agreement Aligns with Conservative Values
The real goal is to get the government to stop tipping scales in favor of specific industry. Climate change is a manifestation of government failure to be a fair referee of the free market. We have a bunch of regulations and a bunch of subsidies that support one industry over the other. Climate change is a failure of government. Instead of trying to achieve a free market so … [Read more...]
Violence, Oil, & Lightsabers + Other Perilous Intersections
How boyhood violence and fossil fuel capital contribute to violence against women
I. Boyhood Violence ome of my earliest memories involve shoving, hitting, being hit by, being choked by, scratching, biting, kicking, being kicked by, and being held to the ground by other boys. Though siblingless, I grew up next door to two best friends who were like older brothers, both larger than me. Being the runt, I resorted to aggressive overreactions of physical … [Read more...]
Crime of the 21st Century
Perpetrators of Apocalypse, or, The Seven Circles of Hell
ime to have a talk / it will not be fun / buckle up. Feel free to skip to the end at any point for pleasant pictures of adorable animals. You and I are witnessing the twenty-first century’s great crime: a global holocaust whose first victims have already perished. And I mean holocaust, from Greek holókaustos, translated as “whole” and “burnt” – the whole enormity of life … [Read more...]
iii. Fall of the Oil Oligarchy
We will only topple American oligarchy if we overthrow the reign of oil
rogress is not inevitable. Democracy is not preordained. Throughout our history, organized labor, active citizens, journalists, academics, and political and cultural leaders have made progress in pushing back oligarchic rule. Although elites have at times reclaimed ground, as in the past forty years, many of the foundational policies of the New Deal and Progressive eras remain … [Read more...]