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Guest essay by Eric Worrall
Extinction Rebellion has demanded the citizens assembly offered by the British Government be given real authority, the power to override Democratically elected politicians, so Britain can properly address the climate crisis.
It’s Time The Public Had A Say On How We Fight Our Climate Crisis
By failing to act right now, we’re condemning our children to a bleak or even non-existent future. The public has a right to respond to this crisis, writes Extinction Rebellion’s Linda Doyle
30-08-2019 By Linda Doyle…
As an event that challenges established politics and offers new ways of doing things, it is the perfect place to highlight our third manifesto demand: that government “must create and be led by the decisions of a citizens’ assembly on climate and ecological justice”.
In short, what we want to see is something called a citizens’ assembly which will give a representative sample of the UK population the opportunity to debate and decide how we tackle the climate and ecological emergency.
Decades of inadequate political action have led to a climate and ecological emergency that poses an unprecedented threat to humanity and all life on Earth — “politics as usual” will not meet the challenge we face.
In June the Select Committees announced plans for a citizens’ assembly aiming to reduce greenhouse gases to net-zero by 2050, but these plans lack the scale and scope that we desperately need. 2050 is way too late; we have 17 monthsnot 31 years.
The assembly has no teeth, so the select committees are free to ignore their recommendations and the government is free to ignore the select committees.
Parliamentary democracy cannot solve long-term problems. Politicians focus on getting re-elected, so short-term policies are prioritised. A citizens’ assembly is an upgrade to democracy that fixes its flaws. People in citizens’ assemblies can think long-term about what they want for themselves, their families, and their communities. There’s no tactical voting or influential lobbyists behind the scenes.
Read more: https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/climate-crisis_uk_5d68d836e4b0488c0d127f74
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Extinction Rebellion is not the first group to demand a citizens assembly because they are dissatisfied with the representatives voters choose.
President Maduro created a citizens assembly, when Venezuelan elections failed to deliver the elected politicians and policies he wanted.
Venezuela’s President Maduro calls for new constituent body
2 May 2017Amid continuing anti-government protests, Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro has called for a new constitution.
Speaking at a May Day rally, Mr Maduro said a new constitution was needed “to restore peace” and stop the opposition from carrying out a “coup d’etat”.
He decreed that a citizens’ assembly be convened to write the new document.
Opposition leaders said the move was aimed at neutralising the opposition-led legislature, the National Assembly.
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National Assembly leader Julio Borges called it “a scam to deceive the Venezuelan people with a mechanism that is nothing more than a tightening of the coup in Venezuela”.
“It is Nicolas Maduro dissolving democracy and dissolving the Republic.”
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Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-39775092
You might think it odd that Britain, the birthplace of modern democracy, would be seriously considering the idea of establishing a Venezuelan style citizens assembly which can dictate to elected politicians what they can and cannot do.
But in my opinion the concept of an undemocratic citizens’ assembly which can override the will of elected politicians fits quite neatly into the political procedural vacuum which will appear when Britain leaves the EU.
For decades elected British politicians have been accused of hiding behind EU rules dictated by the unelected European Commission, when they want to refuse the demands of voters.
If you accept this charge, the creation of a new and powerful unelected citizens climate assembly makes perfect sense. The new assembly, whose claim to legitimacy would be drawn from the perceived urgent need to address the climate “crisis”, which would have the power to dictate policy to elected politicians, would provide ample cover for politicians who want an excuse for not fulfilling voters’ wishes; politicians could use rulings from the new citizens climate assembly as a drop in replacement for the political cover they used to receive from being subject to EU directives.
Alaska village gives suspected drug dealer the boot with a one-way plane ticket out of town
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.adn.com/alaska-news/rural-alaska/2019/08/31/galena-boots-out-suspected-dealer-buying-her-ticket-out-of-town/%3foutputType=amp-type
A crowd of about 40 protesters fed up with illegal drug use in their Alaska village gathered along the Galena airport runway on Wednesday and presented a choice to a suspected methamphetamine dealer who had just landed, residents said.
Young and old showed up for the demonstration. A woman held a written sign: “NO DRUG DEALERS ALLOWED.” A man threw on black clothes and led a black dog by a tight leash, to look the part of a drug agent ready to board the small plane.
A village resident chosen as a spokesperson climbed aboard and discreetly delivered the message: Stay in the village and have every move scrutinized. Or, leave town and we’ll cover your ticket home.
The woman chose option two, and never left the plane.
Here’s something for the Extinction Rebellion lunatics to chew on:
https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2019/08/23/climate_alarmists_foiled_no_us_warming_since_2005.html
Climate Alarmists Foiled: No US Warming Since 2005
“When American climate alarmists claim to have witnessed the effects of global warming, they must be referring to a time beyond 14 years ago. That is because there has been no warming in the United States since at least 2005, according to updated data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).” . . .
“There is also good reason to believe U.S. temperatures have not warmed at all since the 1930s. Raw temperature readings at the preexisting stations indicate temperatures are the same now as 80 years ago. All of the asserted U.S. warming since 1930 is the product of the controversial adjustments made to the raw data.”
end excerpts
Much ado about nothing.
Extinction Rebellion ought to be out demonstrating against the lies of the Climategate Data Manipulators, who have inflicted mental stress on all the poor folks who have been fooled into wasting their time marching and demonstrating about CAGW.
This organisation is seriously dangerous and must be challenged in a robust manner. Is there no such thing as an anti-extinction rebellion protest group? There should be.
Where in the hell do the stoned minions of a failed organic farmer get off demanding anything? FOAD, hippies!
” democracy cannot solve long-term problems”
Dictators across time all agree.
“Extinction Rebellion Demands a “Citizens Assembly” to Oversee Climate Policy”
And if their demands aren’t met, they will throw tantrums, glue themselves to things, and otherwise annoy people. Then we’ll be sorry.
Barking mad and, given that every official body from the UN to your local council is behind them, dangerous as hell. They are attempting a coup.
I wondered how long it would be before an organisation invoked the U.K. government prevent policy against Extinction Rebellion: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/sep/01/nhs-reports-protester-to-prevent-extinction-rebellion