There is some pretty powerful self-interest in wanting a future that is not just running storm-to-storm. The argument that I make is not that we aren’t competitive and selfish and greedy. We are. We’re all of these things. We’re complicated, competitive, greedy and nasty, and kind and generous and compassionate. Naomi Klein Read Quote
Since the 1980s, we’ve been living in this era, really, of corporate rule, based on this idea that the role of government is to liberate the power of capital so that they can have as much economic growth as quickly as possible, and then all good things will flow from that. Naomi Klein Read Quote
If you look at the polling around climate change in this country before ‘Sandy’, that was kind of the low point in terms of Americans believing that climate change was real and that humans were causing it. Naomi Klein Read Quote
We have a structural problem because you can simultaneously understand the medium to long-term risks of climate change and also come to the conclusion that it is in your short-term economic interest to invest in oil and gas. Which is why, you know, anybody who tells you that the market is going to fix this on its own is lying to you. Naomi Klein Read Quote
We need to invest in healthcare, in education, in the sciences. And in so doing, we will tackle one of the most intractable problems we face, which is gross wealth inequality. We can’t fight climate change without dealing with inequality in our countries and between our countries. Naomi Klein Read Quote
Governments started negotiating towards emission reduction in 1990. That’s when the official negotiations started. Naomi Klein Read Quote
Fossil fuels are – they’re inherently centralized. And you need a lot of infrastructure to get them out, and you need a lot of infrastructure to transport it, as Obama was explaining in front of all that pipe, right? Whereas renewable energy is everywhere. Naomi Klein Read Quote
Throughout U.S. history, national crises have been used to suspend constitutional protections and attack basic rights. After the Civil War, with the nation in crisis, the promise of 40 acres and a mule to freed slaves was promptly betrayed. Naomi Klein Read Quote
In the midst of the pain and panic of the Great Depression, as many as 2 million people of Mexican descent were expelled from the United States. Naomi Klein Read Quote
