Thomas Friedman, a prominent “liberal” columnist for the New York Times who has defended the US occupation of Iraq and aggressively supported neoliberal globalization, was “pied” earlier this week by environmental activists who charged that “green capitalists”–like Friedman–are not aggressively dealing with the danger of global warming.
A video of the Friedman being “pied” and a press release explaining the action:
“Greenwash Guerrillas Pie Thomas Friedman on Earth Day …and challenge him to a debate duel!
Providence, RI – April 23, 2008 – On Earth Day, we pied Thomas Friedman at the start of his keynote speech: “Green is the New Red White and Blue.” The goal was not simply to disrupt his talk and stain his ego, but to disrupt and expose all that he stands for and the university’s corporate greenwashing of its image.
In the spirit of true debate and free speech: We hereby challenge Thomas Friedman and all other green capitalists to a duel.
This duel is about the debate over the future of life on this planet, and the ways in which corporate powers have hijacked this debate to make it the realm of “experts”, policymakers, and consumers. In exposing what Friedman supports, we open this debate to the public by questioning certain key elements.
Carbon Trading and Carbon Markets, enshrined in the Kyoto Protocol and the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act of 2007, is the foundation behind green capitalism. In privatizing the atmosphere, the earth’s carbon cycling capacity is handed over as property to the same corporate criminals that caused the problem.
“Biofuels,” the much-touted alternative to oil, not only increase petroleum dependence, but are themselves a global humanitarian and environmental disaster in the making. Biofuels come at the expense of land for food, and from Indonesia to Columbia, traditional populations are being forced off their land for destructive plantations that are dependent on toxic chemicals, biotech seeds, and large petroleum-burning machinery.
The list of false solutions goes on, while the planetary clock is ticking. If there are to be truly real solutions to the many problems we face, it will come out of transformative social movements and not corporate boardrooms. For these reasons, we challenge Thomas Friedman and all other green capitalists to a duel, in which we will continue to expose their shams while pointing towards the social movements that are already creating solutions and transforming society towards a liveable, healthy, and non-corporate future.”
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