The timing of Rupert Murdoch’s / Fox takeover of National Geographic had Climate Activists on high alert that he would
‘dumb down’ the Science department of the historic Magazine.
Or as James Cooper put it:
Rupert Murdoch owning National Geographic is like putting Dr. Kevorkian in charge of a hospice.
The most recent National Geographic is a special edition, called the Climate Issue
and in my opinion it is the most comprehensive series of stories on the challenges we face, potential solutions, and the undeniable signs of Climate Change in the Arctic.
However, the story that jumped off the page for me was
“Rising Seas threaten these Pacific Islands, but not their Culture”
As someone who has been writing about Islanders and Sea Level rise for 7 years, this is the story the International Oil cabal wants to keep out of the Public’s attention. As I have said in the past, when people realize that Islands and the Islanders and animals that live on them, will soon be disappearing from our Planet, then they would wake up for the need for an Energy Revolution.
At that time, I was the first person to widely use the phrase “Environmental Refugee” and “Environmental Genocide”, often drawing a comparison to what happened to Native Americans, and what is about to happen to the Indigenous Islanders.
But first, let me take you back to 2008, when I started this advocacy campaign.
I was working on the SEIU Obama campaign and I took leave in Sept 2008 to go
the United Nations to meet with representatives from the Islands. As luck would have it, many of the representatives were at an Island conference in Cuba. I was fortunate enough to meet with an aide to the Ambassador of Palau who took me to meet the ambassadors in the U.N. — specifically though, Micronesia, which is full of low lying Atolls.
Chris, the aide from Palau introduced me to her (forgot her name) and assured her that this white guy in a suit was ‘cool’ to talk to.
Then she opened up with
“The Ocean used to be several hundred feet from our school when I was a child, now the Ocean is in the front yard of the school”
I looked for more information upon my return, and also snagged a list of the contacts for various Island Political leaders.
In my own research, one Island chain Kiribati (pronounced Kiri-bosh)
was obviously some of the lowest and most vulnerable atolls in the world, the other was Maldives. Here is where the story gets interesting.
I called the Prime Minister of Kiribati, President Anote Tong, in the Fall of 2008. We had a friendly talk about his Island, then I got to the real questions.
Are you seeing any changes, from Sea Level rise?
He asked what was my organization.
“PRAER”
The Program to Relocate and Assist Environmental Refugees.
He was shocked at this.
“Relocation? We are not seeing the need for anything like that.”
I also said it is for Assisting people also. But he found that it was time for the conversation to end.
The other person I did not personally communicate with, but followed in the news was Mohammed Nasheed- the President of Maldives- also known as the Nelson Mandela of the Islands — featured in the Documentary “The Island President”
After President Obama took office, I called President Tong back in February 2009.
This time, he was very open to talking to me about the state of his Island Nation.
“Yes, we are definitely seeing Sea level rise”
You see, the Island nations depend on tourism for their Economy, the rest comes in the form of Developed nations’ funding, like the US AID department.
Putting 2 and 2 together, I realized President Tong was uncertain if US policy would be favorable to them if he was outspoken on Sea Level rise and Climate Change if there was a McCain Presidency.
If our government cuts off aid or a Corporation cancels a contract, a small Island President or Prime Minister may find his economy collapsed and his people turning against him and ousting them from office.
An example that comes to mind of such a contract, consider that the BP Horizon that caused the Gulf Oil Disaster, was flying under the flag of the Marshall Islands.
The Pacific small island nation has less stringent requirements than the United States, but still follows international safety standards. Transocean, the owner of the Deepwater Horizon rig, is particularly fond of flying the Marshall Islands' flag on its vessels, with 35 registered with the country.
So why would an English Oil company drilling
in the Gulf of Mexico be registered to a tiny island half a world away?
follow the $$$$...
Since that time Prime Minister Anote Tong has become more vocal and active, even going as far as purchasing land 1000 miles south on the Island of Fiji to relocate people as his islands become engulfed. From the Guardian UK
The people of Kiribati, a group of islands in the Pacific ocean particularly exposed to climate change, now own a possible refuge elsewhere. President Anote Tong has recently finalised the purchase of 20 sq km on Vanua Levu, one of the Fiji islands, about 2,000km away.
Kiribati has a population of about 110,000 scattered over 33 small, low-lying islands extending over a total area of 3.5m sq km.
Thankfully, Tong has managed to stay politically stable.
President Mohammed Nasheed, who ended a political puppet Dictator’s rule through a fair democratic election, toured the World raising awareness about the need for developed countries to begin planning for evacuation.
His advocacy was met with a different response.
After Nasheed stepped down as President in February 2012, Shenk said that he hoped his film could help convince the world that Nasheed was deposed in a coup that was orchestrated by loyalists to the former dictator, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom. “That might be the single most important thing that the movie can do. It’s now clear that this new government is not democratic, that the people who run the ministries are the same people who were there under the dictator.”
And I'd bet you that the International Fossil Fuel lobby and fellow political operatives were happy with this outcome.
A president wrongly sentenced the 13 years in Prison for a trumped up charge?
But what are the Kardashian’s doing?
Squirrel!
The most ‘famous’ person to take up his cause is Amal Clooney
Amal Clooney has won the support of the United Nations in her fight to free the imprisoned former Maldivian president, after a working group said Mohamed Nasheed’s rights were violated and called for his immediate release.
The UN working group on arbitrary detention said Mr Nasheed did not receive a fair trial from the Maldivian authorities when he was given a 13-year sentence earlier this year
Because of this I started a hashtag I hope you will retweet:
#Nasheedmustbefreed
and hope it goes viral.
The move by Rupert Murdoch to take over the National Geographic is not just about dumbing down the Science and information we can have, it is about eliminating the information about the Human Rights violations that are happening and will continue to happen to the Islanders.
The truth is that the relocation for Kiribati’s resident’s to Fiji should be paid for by the Fossil Fuel industry, as well as the other islands. They caused this.
When I was invited to speak on Environmental Refugees at the University of Oregon Environmental Conference in 2009 — the JELL conference
one of the other speakers on the panel I was on, Professor Maxine Burkett, suggested we adopt South Africa’s reparations model for Environmental Refugees:
Most importantly, however, reparations efforts can engage the globe — particularly those in the developed world — in the great ethical challenge posed by climate change and the developed world’s lack luster response. For example, public outrage in the United States at the collapse in livelihood of hundreds of millions is virtually non‑existent.
For any reparative scheme to be truly successful, however, the remedy must introduce mechanisms that limit the ability of the perpetrator to repeat the offending act. In the case of climate change, the developed world needs to rapidly abandon its use of fossil fuels and replace that usage with materials that are inexhaustible and, at the same time, do not produce life‑endangering externalities. The reparations effort, beyond the tangible remedies that result, emerges as a valuable avenue for truly grappling with the profound moral problems that climate change has introduced. If done effectively, reparations, unlike the existing remedial mechanisms, can foster social solidarity and a just state of affairs — an outcome desperately needed as humanity faces its greatest challenge.
Do you see what that says? This is why the World Media Cabal wants to squash this discussion. Just as the white South African Govenment had to promise to stop the offending act of State Apartheid,
the developed world would have to stop the offending act of Pollution — read again:
“limit the ability of the perpetrator to repeat the offending act. In the case of climate change, the developed world needs to rapidly abandon its use of fossil fuels”
And since there are several historical precedents for this type of Legal remedy, South Africa, Post Nazi Germany, etc. the only thing in the way is mobilizing Public opinion.
And Reality TV replacing real news is the way to prevent that — and now you know why National Geographic will be limiting stories on the need for Island relocation.
It’s about protecting Oil interests.
But I see hope when a major party candidate, Bernie Sanders, says that Climate Change is our #1 National Security threat.
And students and activists calling for divestment from fossil fuels in their University portfolios just like they did when they forced them to Divest from Apartheid South African investment.
I have said it before, this issue will be our number 1 humanitarian crisis of this century.
And the Polluters are the ones who need to pony up for this.
If you don’t mind, please tell me in the comments how you feel about making the polluting companies pay, and where you get your news from that might be a good replacement for
National Geographic.
If you could see me now, I’m dropping the Mic...