Excuse me for anyone who has already seen this. It is a very good insight into the eco-politico-left agenda. I am not certain I want the age of neoliberalism to end so soon! Very interesting perspective. AN AMERICAN GREEN IN LONDON: REPORT FROM EUROPEAN GREENS CLIMATE CONFERENCE AND COUNCIL MEETING NOV. 6-8, 1998 By Patrick Mazza (The following is a report to the Coordinating Committee of the Association of State Green Parties - U.S. It is also being sent to various other lists and publications. Permission to reprint and adopt for publication in part or whole is granted.) At the invitation of the European Federation of Green Parties (EFGP) and the Heinrich Boell Foundation, I attended a Greens Climate Conference they co-sponsored in London Nov. 6. I was there in the capacity as coordinator of "A Global Statement to Climate Change," presented by World Green Parties at the recently completed Buenos Aires Climate Conference. I also attended as Association of State Green Parties Climate Change Policy Representative. The Climate Conference preceded a weekend meeting of the EFGP Council, for which I stayed over. Based on those discussions, following is a briefing on the status of the Euro Greens, and on Green responses to climate change and disruption. EURO GREENS: A MOMENT OF UNPRECEDENTED OPPORTUNITY AND DANGER The London meeting represented a hugely exciting, even intoxicating moment, to visit with European Greens. Greens on the continent have reached a level of power and influence of which U.S. Greens can still only dream. A week before the meeting, German Greens completed their coalition negotiations with the SPD, giving them several cabinet posts including Foreign and Environment ministries. They also hold cabinet-level environment positions in France, Italy, Finland, Georgia and Slovakia. Active in 30 European nations, Greens have over 200 seats in 16 national legislatures, and are part of the ruling coalition in seven of those nations -- those mentioned above plus Portugal and Bulgaria. In addition, they possess the balance of power in the Swedish Parliament -- The Social Democrats cannot govern without them. Greens also hold 28 seats in the European Parliament. Formerly protest parties, Euro Greens have in many nations over just the past few years joined governments. The changed situation represents a whole new set of possibilities and problems. For Euro Greens this is a moment of unprecedented opportunities and dangers. Not being the senior partner in any national coalition, they must nonetheless demonstrate they can produce results. They must make compromises which might erode their base. And they are subject to negative shifts in public opinion that might occur due to actions by coalition partners that they cannot entirely control. Greens are in a vulnerable position, and they know it. Greens actually lost half a percent in recent German and Swedish elections. In both cases, advocacy for higher prices on fossil fuels --eco-taxes -- was the reason. (This sends a message to people discussing tax shifts in the U.S. -- The message up front has to be that taxes on "bads" such as overconsumption of resources will be used to cut taxes on "goods" such as income.) For Euro Greens, this might be a brief moment in the sun, or the foundation for long-term influence and growth. So they are moving quickly in an effort to secure the latter outcome. One sign of that was the "Common Ground Manifesto for the 1999 European Elections." (If you have not received this 10-page document and are interested, I'll send it to you.) It places priority on dealing with structural unemployment by creating socially and ecologically useful new jobs, shutting down nuclear power, building renewable energy, and democratizing the European Union (EU). THE END OF THE NEOLIBERAL ERA The manifesto makes a valuable contribution to understanding the agenda of corporate neoliberalism -- Its advocacy of unlimited "free" markets amounts to depoliticization. Neoliberalism strips away political power, which is possessed by people, in favor of economic power, in which corporations hold the advantage. This "worldwide process of economic globalization (is) presented as natural and inevitable," the manifesto says. "In reality, this particular globalization is a political program reflecting the hegemony of transnational financial capital." With economic troubles now haunting "emerging markets" in Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe, and EU structural unemployment ranging as high as 30 million, corporate neoliberalism is already receding. The defeat of conservative governments and ascendancy of center-left coalitions throughout Europe, culminating in recent German elections, clearly indicates the tide is turning, Euro Greens believe. "This is the end of the era of deregulation," Magda Aelvoet, president of the Green Group in the Euro Parliament, told the EFGP Council. "People feel erosion of political power is very dangerous to them.' Fritjof Schmidt, a German Green representative at the meeting, said the challenge of Greens is to articulate a social ecological position with this context. Greens in Europe are actively seeking to leverage their power to have influence on the world. They have already had at least one crucial impact. The French Greens made their continued participation in the coalition government, which is vital to its continuation, contingent on France's withdrawal from negotiations on the Multilateral Agreement on Investments. For the time being, that effectively torpedoed MAI, which has been the next step in the neoliberal agenda beyond GATT. IMPLICATIONS FOR U.S. POLITICS The U.S. situation is roughly parallel to the European. Recent elections signified the end of the Republican Revolution. Gains in midterm elections for the party holding the White House has not been seen since 1934. A party six years into a presidential term has not made gains since 1822. While the surface interpretation was, "People are disgusted by sexgate," the underlying reality could be seen in polls showing voters' primary concerns are education and healthcare. In essence, people want some social buffering against the batterings of the market economy. They want to make sure their kids are prepared, that families will be taken care of if they get sick. Now these agendas will come to the fore, while resurgent labor will have the clout to keep fast-track trade negotiating authority sidelined. Education, health and job security are questions of the social environment. Greens in the U.S. would do well to take account of these concerns, and develop political agendas and campaigns that join the themes of preserving both social and natural environments. One more point must be noted. Green vote totals in Europe are in the same ballpark as in many U.S. states. The top performers in Europe in recent elections were Luxembourg, 10.3 percent; Netherlands, 7.3 percent; Germany, 6.7 percent, and Finland 6.5 By comparison, Maine Green gubernatorial candidate Pat LaMarche this November won a higher percentage than the Germans. Our New Mexico party, with 10 percent in one congressional race, and 15 and 29 percent in two statewide races, is stronger in vote percentages than any Green Party in Western Europe Pennsylvania 5th Congressional Candidate Bill Belitskus with 15 percent of the votes also outpaced any Green party in Western Europe. Where winner-take-all politics do not prevail, parties similar to ours can gain real power. Small percentages can represent the crucial balance of power. Reporting on U.S. election results to the EFGP Council (who by the way roundly cheered the demise of Newt which had just taken place), I noted the flak we are catching from many progressives and environmentalists about being "spoilers" in places such as New Mexico. Afterwards, Magda Aelvoet made a point of coming up to me and encouraging us to continue. This is what we must do to gain electoral reform in the U.S., she said. GREENS AND CLIMATE The Climate Conference was attended by Greens and environmentalists from a wide range of nations including Germany, the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Poland, Brazil, Australia and India. We discussed common ground based on the Global Statement. (Write me if you want a copy.) People agreed that the emissions trading schemes that were discussed in Buenos Aires have huge loopholes, and talked about ways to close them. (More on that later.) My message to the conference, aimed particularly at the Europeans, was that Europe should embark on a continent-wide clean energy initiative. Here are brief excerpts from my message; "The United States, the world's leading source of greenhouse gases, is also the de facto leader in resistance to making a serious response to global climate change. No nation has more at stake in the status quo. Our sprawling land use and transportation patterns, regrettable taste for back country exploration vehicles that never leave suburban highways, and generally wasteful energy system, give the US a competitive interest in keeping energy prices low. "The US bases much of its global power on having its hands on the taps of the world's petroleum pipelines, economically, politically and militarily. US-based corporations still have most of the world's fossil fuel business. "My country amounts to the dominant species struggling to preserve its niche in a time biologists would describe as punctuated equilibrium -- when sharp discontinuities result in systemic changes. After the break, the dominant often finds its position changed. So my country struggles against change. What can you do with such a country? "Well, there's moral persuasion. The world's largest greenhouse source can be asked to behave responsibly and reduce its emissions. But moral persuasion has often proven rather ineffective in dealing with my thickheaded country. You could try self-interest. After all, of all the continents, North America is most subject to extreme weather. It certainly has been coming home there in recent months in the form of record-breaking droughts, floods and fires. "But perhaps the most effective route will be economic. I think the United States will have to be dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century. Europe will have to do a lot of the dragging, and the means will be industrial policy. "European governments have already gone far in that direction. Denmark is the major producer of wind turbines and Germany the major generator of wind power, positions once held by the US. Only one of the five top solar photovoltaic companies is predominantly owned by American interests. Both European and Japanese governments more consistently and better supported their infant clean energy industries. Europe has the potential to drive the clean energy industry to mass-market levels by scaling up its support. "As it becomes clearer that clean energy will become one of the major industries of the 21st century, and that industry will most likely be dominated by Japanese and European firms unless the US undertakes more concerted support of its clean energy technology producers, it will be easier to move political dialogue in the US away from its current low level -- with political reactionaries decrying climate change as a hoax perpetrated by the UN and clever Europeans to destroy American economic advantages. We can turn this on its head, showing that the US is really threatened by sticking with an outdated economy based on fossil fuels and energy waste while the rest of the world is moving to clean energy efficiently used. The more Greens in other countries successfully push these changes, the stronger the arguments Greens and NGOs in the US will be able to make. Ò"In the October 29 issue of Nature, 11 scientists took the unusual step for that magazine of recommending a policy initiative. They predicted that global warming will soon take on the gravity and seriousness once held by the Cold War. The 11 scientists called for a mobilization of resources comparable to the Manhattan Project that built the first atomic bomb or the Apollo mission to the moon, to research and develop clean energy sources. "The United States undertook those efforts. But the erstwhile leader of the free world has become bloated and stiff with its fossil fuel empire. With Greens coming to prominence across the continent, now is time for Europe to take the lead. Let Europe start the Manhattan Project, the Apollo Project, the Mission to Planet Earth, the Green Global Marshall Plan, to rapidly move to clean energy. Invite the US and the rest of the world to join in. But take the lead and undertake the initiative, no matter what the US says or does." The message drew a receptive response. CLIMATE AND GLOBAL EQUITY While the London conference was underway the horrifying pictures of Central America in the wake of Hurricane Mitch were hitting the press. It was just such as a stunning "message from the universe" -- it seems --for this tragedy to occur just as a climate conference was taking place in another part of Latin America. The worst storm to hit Central America in 200 years, Mitch was a clear indication of the kind of extreme weather event that can be expected as the world warms. More heat = more evaporation = more drenching rainstorms = more floods. This intensified hydrological cycle might be the single most devastating outcome of global warming. Just a few weeks before, record floods had hit Wales and Southwest England. They've also recently ravaged Texas, the US South and Midwest. The Central America storm underscored the global equity aspects of climate change. Poorer nations of the south are far more vulnerable to the climatic disruption caused mostly by the north in its process of wealth accumulation. They are in the "hot zone" where storms and droughts strike more frequently and have fewer resources to recover from such disasters. For Greens in the U.S., the message is clear: We must become a voice for global justice, for the people in the south who cannot speak for themselves in U.S. politics. And justice entails serious response to climate change. One such response is Contraction and Convergence. Endorsed by groups including the European Greens, European Parliament and South Asian Atmospheric Equity Group, C&C would assign each person on earth equal atmospheric rights. Unlike other emissions trading schemes, which essentially parcel out greenhouse emissions rights based on current very unequal levels, C&C would give an equal apportionment of greenhouse gases (GHG) to every person. (A good resource to find out more is the India-based Centre for Science and the Environment -- www.cseindia.org. Look for their excellent paper, "The Atmospheric Rights of All People on Earth.") Of course, one U.S. citizen puts out greenhouse gases equal to 25 Indians or 125 Bangladeshis. C&C would have to be implemented in a phased way. And as it was phased in, the U.S. would have to make increasing payments to southern nations to continue its high GHG emissions. This would give the U.S. and other industrial nations an incentive to reduce GHGs. It would also provide southern nations with an incentive to develop on a low-carbon emissions paths, as well as a funding source to do so. Contraction and Convergence makes solid sense. Of all the ideas on the table for a serious global response to climate change, it is one of the best. I call on an ASGP member state or states to introduce a resolution endorsing C&C, on ASGP to pass it, and for the parties to educate their members on the idea and advocate it in the politics of their states. This is an issue of environmental justice, the kind of position on which Greens in the U.S. should be taking the lead. Cheers pmoore@rogers.wave.ca Patrick Moore, Greenspirit Please visit www.greenspirit.com "May the forest be with you"
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