The Unsuitablog

Yet again Friends Of The Earth are asking their members (I don’t know why they keep sending me these, I’m not a member) to carry out world-changing actions on their behalf. I say this with a hint of sarcasm, because both you and I know that Friends Of The Earth have not achieved anything significant in their history and, in fact, may well have slowed down the pace of environmental action. It is well known that wherever there are established “environmental” organisations, individuals tend to delegate responsibility for action to these organisations. They give money, they write letters, they sign petitions – and they assume that the organisation will get the job done. This places a lot of pressure on the organisation to make the changes happen, but then again, why purport to be a membership organisation if you aren’t prepared to act for your members.

Unions call for strikes because they know that withdrawing labour is an effective means of forcing change. When was the last time Friends Of The Earth orchestrated a mass withdrawal of cooperation from their members: refusing to pay electricity bills unless the electric companies switched to all renewables (one of their big campaigns) would be a start, yet you will never see this happen because it may upset the status quo.

To show you what FoE mean by “action”, here is part of the e-mail I received this morning:

“What is your MPs new year’s resolution?…Let’s make sure it’s taking action on climate change.”

“After massive progress, 2008 is the year the Climate Change Bill becomes law. We’ve come a long way but we still need to ensure MPs will vote for the changes we need to make it tough enough.”

“Whether or not you’ve already contacted your MP, there’s a new and urgent action we’d like you to take. Please email your MP – to ask them to sign a new parliamentary petition demonstrating their commitment to a strong Bill.”

Let’s break this down.

1) “Taking action on climate change”. What is this action exactly? I have a quote from Tony Juniper saying that a 30% reductions in carbon emissions is sufficient to halt climate change. Whether this is by 2050, 2030 or even 2020, it is totally inadequate, so even if FoE achieve their aims, climate change will continue.

2) “After massive progress”. What progress? Greenhouse gas emissions are up, and still climbing, even in the UK where this campaign is based. Claiming progress requires tangible evidence – unless you can demonstrate that your actions have altered the level of emissions, or whatever you want to achieve, then you cannot claim you have made progress.

3) “Sign a new parliamentary petition”. Oh great! Another petition. Another hopeful document that will go the same way as all the rest. Don’t they get it? Symbolic actions change nothing – they make things worse by keeping up the pretence that something is happening when nothing really is.

Please, don’t trust your future to Friends Of The Earth, or any other symbolic organisation. Make the changes yourself : try these for a start.