eco shenanigans

I know exactly what you’re thinking. Well I don’t know, but I can guess. “WTF? You’re expecting me, the highly intelligent reader, to buy into a bunch of bollocks linking climate change to the Coalition cuts and to the tuition fee rise? Haven’t we heard enough about climate change already? And anyway, what has it got to do with education?” It’s a great question. Thank you for asking these questions, fictionalized reader created for literary purposes. What I’m going to do in this blog post is discuss the links between the two movements and to evaluate the Climate Justice movement and its relevance to the biggest youth movement in Britain of my generation. The student occupation at UCL is, in many ways, a mini Climate Camp, with consensus-based decision making and several working groups to keep the site running (media, security, outreach, kitchens, process, etc.). As one girl put it, the only difference is that the students at UCL don't have to use compost toilets. And I ...

When it comes to climate change, the 'doing our bit' approach to saving the planet has more in common with medieval theology than it does with any kind of progress in reducing global emissions. As a response to manmade climate change, the 'Cult of Self Sustainability' is ineffective, self indulgent and downright dangerous. Like our more pious ancestors who struggled to adhere to the rules of Christian morality, it is virtually impossible for the majority of us to live a carbon free lifestyle. Eat meat? A kilogram of beef has the same footprint as a three hour car journey. Vegetarian? You might eat a lot of cheese and yogurt and many these products have a larger footprint than eating poultry. Drink alcohol? It's produced from crops grown on land that could otherwise be used for food or that could have been preserved as forest. Own a pet? The carbon footprint of a dog can nullify whatever efforts you've made to live sustainably. And wherever you are, it's pre...