Writings
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“Adversity is the first path to truth”: How climate grief could be the making of us
Gone is the age of natural disasters. The climate disasters of today are of a profoundly unnatural character. They are the product of pumping the atmosphere full of carbon dioxide, methane, and a litany of other greenhouse gases. The dire wildfires, droughts, and flash flooding we have seen in the past few years are only a taste of things to come.
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Time’s up! Green surge in the East alarms the old parties
A Green activist savours the party’s recent electoral success, looks at some reasons for it, and looks forward to the next general election.
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Time to access our superpower
In the wake of 4 May’s breakthrough Council results, truthfulness from us on the mismatch with incipient climate breakdown will be more powerful than ever. Rupert Read from GreensCAN explores.
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The Former Extinction Rebellion Campaigners Rallying A Climate Majority
Governments show time and again they won’t deliver adequate climate solutions of their own accord. If the world is ever going to get serious on climate, it will be because a mass movement of citizen action insists on it.
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50 successful years of the Green Party, but the planet can’t wait 50 more
Green Party activists RUPERT READ and JOSEPH EASTOE argue there is not enough time left for the parliamentary road, and telling the public the terrifying truth of the deepening ecological crisis is the best way forward
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When time is not on our side, can we afford to keep the same strategy?
As the Green Party turns 50 and Party co-founder Michael Benfield tells the BBC that he thinks the game is up, Rupert Read and Joe Eastoe argue that it is time for the Green Party to take a long, hard, honest look at itself.
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Avatar 2 should make us completely rethink our relationship with the planet
The Way of Water is a movie for our times – a rallying cry to make us cherish and protect the oceans that are so vital to life on Earth
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Mourn and organise: On the power of truth in a world awash with lies
This article first appeared on ABC Religion and Ethics. Upon learning that he was about to die, the Swedish-American labour activist and songwriter Joe Hill wrote a telegram to Bill Haywood, the founder of the Industrial Workers of the World. It read: “Goodbye, Bill. I die like a true blue rebel. Don’t waste any time mourning. Organize!” The (para)phrase “don’t mourn, organise” received a boost in popularity when a collection of Hill’s songs were released under the title “Don’t Mourn — Organize!: Songs of the Labour Songwriter Joe Hill”. The phrase was subsequently used by the Boston Globe as the title of an article honouring the American playwright, philosopher, and socialist thinker Howard Zinn when he…
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Biodiversity: Targets, Optimism, and Lies
This piece, with Victor Anderson, was originally featured in Green World here. Great rejoicing has followed the biodiversity agreement recently arrived at, just in time for Christmas. For example, ‘The Times’ editorial began: “The agreement in Montreal by 195 countries to protect wildlife and ecosystems, with 30 per cent of Earth’s lands and oceans protected by 2030, is a rare piece of good news in gloomy times.” The Environment section of the European Commission tweeted: “The new global #Biodiversity Agreement will ensure that nature keeps sustaining communities & economies for the next decades.” The nub of our claim here today is: this “ensure” is a lie. Target-setting is very different from implementation and achievement.…
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The King’s Speech
This article first appeared on Brave New Europe. An alternative to the Queen’s traditional Christmas message has been broadcast since 1993 which, more often than not, gives insight into a serious issue. What if in 2022 it wasn’t needed? Eco-philosopher Dr. Rupert Read, urges King Charles to use his massive platform to highlight a critical issue close to his heart. What follows. Drawing frequently on words that he has already publicly spoken, is the speech that Charles III ought to give, in his address to the nation on December 25th. Good afternoon, on this, Christmas Day. Sadly, as many of us have experienced especially in the last few years, there…
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