Environmental and social activist Tim DeChristopher is adamant that if real change is to be effected to deal with the threats to our planet, the whole approach to activism needs to be rethought.
The noted activist, who spent two years in jail for disruption a land auction to oil and gas companies, says hard truths need to be embraced and that a new type of movement is necessary in order for society to satisfactorily transition.
He admits this is not something that some people will want to hear.
See DeChristopher’s talk below.
As DeChristopher said: “I think that the mainstream climate movement needs to needs to collapse. It needs to end. And that the very comfortable organizers within that mainstream climate movement working in those NGO jobs – they need to fail. I think they need to be brought down. I think they need to have a little bit of hardship and a bit of suffering, and they need to create space for those historically oppressed groups.”
On February 14th and 15th, the Spring Creek Project sponsored a symposium entitled “Transformation Without Apocalypse: How to Live Well on an Altered Planet.”
As they said in their introduction to the talks: Whether you are inspired by alternative visions of the future, or haunted by scenarios of climate chaos, or simply motivated to live with compassion and awareness, we need your help in imagining and creating a saner future. This symposium brought together a diverse, energetic, engaged community to celebrate and create tangible visions of new/old ways to prosper without exhausting the planet.
The sixth keynote presentation was given by Tim DeChristopher.
The symposium says DeChristopher was arrested for sabotaging a 2008 auction of Utah public lands by registering and bidding without the intention to pay. His action became an inspiration to others concerned about the environmental crisis, as well as the story for a documentary, Bidder 70. Together with other activists, he formed Peaceful Uprising, a volunteer-based climate action group committed to defending a livable future from the fossil fuel industry. Tim was released from prison in April 2013 and currently attends Harvard Divinity School. http://www.peacefuluprising.org
