A political meeting combining the issues of impending ecological collapse, endless wars and global poverty drew 167 people—over half of them students—to an auditorium on the campus of the State University of New York in the Hudson River Valley town of New Paltz, N.Y.
The Oct. 27 event was titled “The Perfect Storm” because the three issues in concert constitute a serious danger to the existence of life on Earth.
The meeting was organized by the Hudson Valley Activist Newsletter, a monthly publication circulated by email to 3,500 people in the region, and the local group Peace and Social Progress Now, both of which are connected to the New Paltz PSL branch. The event was endorsed by over a dozen local organizations, including such campus groups as Environmental Task Force, Students for Sustainable Agriculture, Students for Fresh Water and the SUNY Recycling Club.
“The environment is the main issue for liberal student activists on this otherwise politically subdued campus without any left student groups,” said event organizer Jack A. Smith. “This was our first foray into the environmental movement, and we felt it would be effective to show the connection between Washington’s abominable ecological record, its penchant for continual warfare and indifference to poverty.”
Co-organizer Donna Goodman added, “The objective was to broaden the student and community environmental orientation from a local to a national and international perspective, to identify the U.S. as the principal culprit in this entire affair, and to come as close as possible to identifying capitalism as the principal contradiction underlying the impending ecological catastrophe.”
The meeting was addressed by four SUNY professors, two students and three community activists, including the organizers.
In his speech, Smith noted: “The environmental problem goes beyond our personal actions. It involves the policies of powerful advanced industrialized countries, all of which adhere to a global economic structure openly driven by profit and inherently compelled to expand production by inducing ever-increasing individual and societal consumption while exploiting and depleting our planet’s natural resources….
“Our country is largely responsible for this crisis because on a per capita basis America is by far the greatest producer of errant greenhouse gases. And despite a large majority in Congress, the Obama Administration’s environmental program—tepid to begin with—is getting nowhere except for two of its biggest, and worst initiatives: extended offshore oil drilling and more nuclear power plants, even though there is no safe means to dispose of deadly radioactive wastes….
“On the key issues that confront the world—to restore ecological balance, end the wars, and launch an audacious effort to overcome poverty, hunger and inequality—Washington’s efforts are either nonexistent, inadequate or counterproductive. To move forward, millions of people must band together in an independent nationwide movement with steadfast leadership demanding decisive action from the political system. Ultimately, what’s required will be an historic reconfiguration of society to accommodate a new ‘grand compact’ between human society and the natural world—a condition where social needs take precedence over individual or corporate profits, and where balance is restored between society and nature.”
Goodman concentrated on poverty and war. “Please count with me to six seconds,” she began. “One, two, three, four, five, six. During that brief time, two important things took place.
“First, one child somewhere in our world, probably a child of color in Africa or Asia or Latin America, died of starvation or malnutrition. In one full day, that’s 14,400 dead children. “During that same 6 seconds, the U.S. government will have spent $38,000 fighting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In one full day that’s $548,000,000. Does anyone doubt that just a relative fraction of what the United States spends on these two fruitless wars in one day could have prevented the starvation of those 14,400 children, plus a lot more? Do the math.”
Goodman then went into detail about Washington’s addiction to military spending instead of investment in halting climate change, or reducing domestic and global poverty, concluding:
“Inattention to global warming, indifference to poverty, and infatuation with war is swiftly developing into a perfect storm that threatens the very existence of life on earth. And our wealthy, industrialized society—the powerful country that insists on leading the world—is the principal malefactor. The facts are known. The issue is what are we going to do about it?”
The meeting was quite successful, judging by comments from participants and leaders of the several campus environment groups that took part. The organizers decided to follow up in the future, possibly with a “rally to save the environment” in the spring.
