Alison Oatman

Literature Will Save The Planet!

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I Wrote A Novel!

Be Bold!

November 13, 2014 by Alison Oatman Leave a Comment

“…these economic demands–for basic public services that work, for decent housing, for land distribution–represent nothing less than the unfinished business of the most powerful liberation movements of the past two centuries, from civil rights to feminism to Indigenous sovereignty. The massive global investments required to respond to the climate threat–to adapt humanely and equitably to the heavy weather we have already locked in, and to avert the truly catastrophic warming we can still avoid–is a chance to change all that; and to get it right this time. It could deliver the equitable redistribution of agricultural lands that was supposed to follow independence from colonial rule and dictatorship; it could bring jobs and clean water to Native communities; it could at last turn on the lights and running water in every South African township. Such is the promise of a Marshall Plan for the Earth.”

–From This Changes Everything by Naomi Klein

Does this beautiful vision for a brave new world of clean air and fairness and social cohesion and cooperation and shared abundance sound like the perfect Hollywood ending many of us have been dreaming of?

Today House Speaker Boehner denounced the new climate agreement between the US and China as “the latest example of the president’s crusade against affordable, reliable energy that is already hurting jobs and squeezing middle-class families.”

Crocodile tears!

What does Boehner care about “middle-class families”? This is code for “my big oil buddies.” (Such as the Brothers Koch.)

Most environmental groups have been of two minds about the new climate accord. On the one hand, it’s a small step and it isn’t nearly binding enough. On the other hand, it is the direct result of the recent kickass global climate demonstrations.

And this is just the beginning.

As my favorite quote by Goethe goes, “Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it!”

 

 

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Alison Oatman attended Wellesley College and N.Y.U., where she majored in Italian Language and Literature. She obtained her M.A. in Medieval Studies at Columbia University.

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