Why the Climate Justice Movement Must Support the Black Lives Matter Movement

By Mike Hembury — SOAPBOX

Maybe it’s old age creeping on, but I’m having a little trouble with my digestion these days.

Specifically, I’m having trouble digesting the fact that we are facing the most serious threat to the continued existence of the human species that we have ever had to deal with, on a timeline that is rapidly running out, and are doing next to nothing about it.

I find that difficult to comprehend, to put it mildly.

To be fair, I believe that the majority of the world’s population is in favour of concerted action to avoid climate catastrophe. And I also believe that the majority of those currently not in favour of planet-saving action can be convinced of its necessity.

There is a die-hard minority, a clique, if you will, of climate deniers. Those are the representatives of fossil-fuel, extractivist capitalism, who are fighting a rearguard action to defend the indefensible, to preserve an economic model that is literally killing the world, regardless of the cost in terms of human life.

But it’s not just the fossil fuel industries. Capitalism’s neo-liberal wing long ago decided that the “market” must be “free”, that nothing can be more important than money, and that no…