Guest essay by Eric Worrall
Extinction Rebellion has finally responded to repeated accusations of climate hypocrisy – by blaming “the system” for their personal carbon excesses.
Dear journalists who have called us hypocrites,
You’re right.
We live high carbon lives and the industries that we are part of have huge carbon footprints. Like you – and everyone else – we are stuck in this fossil-fuel economy and without systemic change, our lifestyles will keep on causing climate and ecological harm.
There is, however, a more urgent story that our profiles and platforms can draw attention to.
Life on earth is dying. We are living in the midst of the 6th mass extinction. For those who still doubt the severity of our situation, here is the International Monetary Fund on 10th October 2019 :
“Global warming causes major damage to the global economy and the natural world and engenders risks of catastrophic and irreversible outcomes”
And here is Sir David Attenborough on 3rd December 2018 :
“Right now, we are facing a man-made disaster of global scale. Our greatest threat in thousands of years. Climate change. If we don’t take action, the collapse of our civilisations and the extinction of much of the natural world is on the horizon.”
Climate change is happening faster and more furiously than was predicted; millions of people are suffering, leaving their homes and arriving on our borders as refugees.
Alongside these people who are already paying the price for our fossil fuelled economy, there are millions of children – called to action by Greta Thunberg – who are begging us, the people with power and influence, to stand up and fight for their already devastated future.
We cannot ignore their call. Even if by answering them we put ourselves in your firing line.
The stories that you write calling us climate hypocrites will not silence us.
The media exists to tell the public the truth. Right now there has never been a more urgent need for you to educate yourselves on the CEE (Climate and Ecological Emergency) and to use your voices to reach new audiences with the truth.
We invite all people with platforms and profiles to join us and move beyond fear, to use your voices fearlessly to amplify the real story.
Thousands of ordinary people are risking their freedom by taking part in non-violent civil disobedience. We’ve been inspired by their courage to speak out and join them. We beg you to do the same.With love,
Riz Ahmed (actor), Simon Amstell (comedien), Mel B – Spice Girls (musician), Matt Berry (actor), Melanie Blatt – All Saints (musician), Baroness Rosie Boycott, Rory Bremner (comedien), Tom Burke (actor), David Byrne – Talking Heads (musician), Peter Capaldi (actor), Jake Chapman (artist), Mary Charteris (model / musician/ DJ), Grace Chatto – Clean Bandit (musician), Adam Clayton – U2 (musician), Jarvis Cocker (musician), Lily Cole (actor & model), Steve Coogan (actor), Laura Crane (pro surfer & model), Alfonso Cuaron (director), Benedict Cumberbatch (actor), Stephen Daldry (director), Poppy Delevingne (actor / model), Jeremy Deller (artist), Emily Eavis (Glastonbury Festival), Katy England (fashion stylist), Brian Eno (musician), Paapa Essiedu (actor), Livia Firth (Eco Age – founder), Jerome Flynn (actor), Stephen Frears (director), Bella Freud (designer), Sonia Friedman OBE (producer), Neil Gaiman (writer), Bob Geldof (musician and campaigner), Aileen Getty (activist and philanthropist), Simon Green – Bonobo (musician), Natalie Imbruglia (singer), Helena Kennedy QC, Idris Khan OBE (artist), Vanessa Kirby (actor), Nan Goldin (artist), Antony Gormley (artist), Jack and Finn Harries (film-makers and influencers), MJ Harper (dancer), Paul and Phil Hartnoll – Orbital (musicians), Lena Headly (actor), Imogen Heap (musician), Dr. Pam Hogg (fashion designer), Jon Hopkins (musician), Nick Hornby (writer), Julietthe Larthe (producer), Jude Law (actor), Howard and Guy Lawrence – Disclosure (musicians), Daisy Lowe (model), Phil Manzanera – Roxy Music (musician), Simon McBurney OBE (theatre maker), Ian McEwan (writer), Fernando Meirelles (director), Sienna Miller (actor), George Monbiot (journalist), David Morrissey (actor), Sir Michael and Lady Clare Morpurgo (writer), Sophie Muller (director), Robert Del Naja – Massive Attack (musician), Andrea (Andi) Oliver (TV chef), Chris Packham (conservationist), Amanda Palmer (musician), Cornelia Ann Parker OBE (artist), Bill Paterson (actor), Caius Pawson (Young Turks – Founder and XL Recordings – A&R Director), Grayson Perry (artist & broadcaster), Gilles Peterson (DJ & broadcaster), Yannis Philippakis and Edwin Congreave – Foals (musicians), Jason Pierce – Spiritualized (musician), Heydon Prowse (writer and director), Jonathan Pryce (actor), Gareth Pugh (designer), Sir Mark Rylance (actor), Nitin Sawney (musician), Tracey Seaward (film producer), Wilf Scolding (actor), Alison Steadman (actor), Juliet Stevenson (actor), Justin Thornton and Thea Bregazzi (Preen by Thornton Bregazzi, designers), Geoff Travis (Rough Trade, founder), Gavin Turk (artist), Mark Wallinger (artist), Ruby Wax (writer, performer and comedian), Rowan Williams (theologian), Jaime Winstone (actor), Ray Winstone (actor), Jeanette Winterstone (writer), Thom Yorke (musician), Dan Haggis, Matthew Murphy & Tord Øverland Knudsen – The Wombats (musicians), Deborah Curtis (artist), and Lady Clare Morpurgo, Geoff Jukes (music manager), Joe Murphy (playwright), David Lan (theatre writer and producer), Alice Aedy (photographer), Kate Fahy (actor), Fay Milton – Savages (musician), Johnny Flynn (actor and musician), William Rees – Mystery Jets (musician), Flora Starkey (floral artist), MJ Delaney (director), Brian Ogle (architect),James Suckling (fashion consultant), Miquita Oliver (presenter), A Fletcher Cowan (presenter), Eliza Caird (musician), Lee Sharrock (PR and curator), Joe Robertson (playwright), Olivia Calverley (TV producer), Tia Grazette (creative director), Sam Conniff (author and pirate), Stefan Bartlett (designer), Matt Lambert (artist), J. Doyne Farmer (Baillie Gifford Professor, Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford), Carolyn Benson (Benson Studios Interior Design), Georgina Goodwin (broadcaster), Jon McClure – Reverend and the Makers (musician), Ruth Daniel (cultural producer), David Graeber (anthropologist and writer), George Hencken (film maker), Ebe Oke (musician), Evgeny Morozov (writer), Anthony Barnett, (Co-Founder, openDemocracy), Henry Porter (novelist), Warren Ellis – Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds (musician), Jonathan Reekie (Somerset House, director), Theresa Boden (actor/writer), Nick Welsh (designer/producer), Louis Savage (A&R rep), Guy Standing (economist), Pippa Small MBE (designer), Peter Marston (designer), Richard Sennett OBE FBA, Clare Kenny (musician), Ginevra Elkann (director), John Reynolds (music producer), Laurence Bell (Domino Records, founder), Margy Fenwick (landscape gardener), Seb Rochford (musician), Nick Laird-Clowes (musician), Roman Krznaric (philosopher), Will McEwan (scientist), Beth Orton (musician), Dawn Starin (anthropologist), Charlotte Trench (actor and director), Jonathan Glazer (director), Iain Forsyth (artist), Jane Pollard (artist), Ian Rickson (director),Sam Lee (musician), David Lan – DL (producer and writer), Liz Jensen (author), Michael Pawlyn (architect), Simon Stephens (playwrite), Kobi Prempeh (curator), Steve Tompkins (architect), Annie Morris (artist), Conrad Shawcross (artist), Mira Calix (artist), Andy Holden (artist), Andrew O’Hagan (writer), David Lan – DL (producer and writer), Alison Brooks (architect), Prof Sadie Morgan (architect), Ackroyd & Harvey (Artists), Eva Wiseman (editor), Mark Wallinger (artist), Carson McCol (artist), Ivan Harbour (architect), Angharad Cooper (producer), Jem Finer (musician and artist), Rauol Martinez (writer and filmmaker), Francesca Martinez (comedien and writer), Glen Hansard (musician), Frances Stoner Saunders (writer), Geeta Dayal (writer), Amanda Levete (architect) Jack Penate (singer) and Ted Cullinan MBE RDI RA (architect)
What a beautiful piece of sophistry – climate activists including jetset celebrities are not responsible for their gigantic personal carbon footprints, its not their fault their private jets guzzle so much kerosene, because they’re trapped in the system.
Bunch of wankers.
The 1%, as usual need the 99% to bail them out.
After 9/11 was turned into a world terrorist crisis who were spied upon? Were the security authorities ever questioned or sacked?
Remember the economic crisis of 2008; who paid? Where the financial authorities ever questioned or sacked?
Next is the CO2 ‘crisis’, let the plebs live on fire wood with horse carts. The IPCC & co will keep on truck’n nor will they be questioned, as there will be crisis (which they created themselves).
Overwhelmingly, they are B-list celebs who have to include their claims to fame to be identified – and even then they are not much chop.
Besides, why should I listen to an artist or writer on any subject?
Blaming the system is what I would expect from opportunist anarchists. Anyone else?
The old ‘you made me do it’ line, ‘you bought my records!!!’. Anarchists? MOre like desperately ignorant.
Anyway, at least there are now, officially, more celebs who support CAGW than scientists.
Right now there has never been a more urgent need for you to educate yourselves on the CEE (Climate and Ecological Emergency)
So says: an artist, singer, play-write, film director, musician, designer, author, curator , TV producer …….
So 100% bunch of liberal artistic types who probably do not know the difference between an atom and a molecule are out to lecture us about “the truth”.
They would do well to follow their own advice:
there has never been a more urgent need for you to educate yourselves
Not to mention: Sam Conniff (author and pirate)
My bold.
Well, shiver me timbers.
I was going to ask what the Spice Girls thought, but then I see Mel B signed. All these climate scientists, like Jane Fonda, are like 97% sure.
Look, these are very important people. Some of them I have even heard of. I am sure everyone on this board would gladly give up their own carbon heavy lifestyle so our beloved celebs can carry on doing what they are doing, whatever that may be.
tonyb
Did you meet any of them on the Tube?
OK , so far we are in perfect agreement, let’s stop while we’re ahead.
No, please go ahead:
Give the list of the names to the airlines of the world. Declare those people as members of the “No-Tickets-Please”-Initiative, who strictly dont want to fly anymore. Because they are addicts, someone else has to keep them away from buying tickets.
Or they should wear a “Send-Me-Away” Sticker (with a crossed out airplane), so they could easily be identified as non-flyers at an airline counter.
At least they didn’t blame LBJ.
Reminiscent of the man who when viewing a series of ink blots reported seeing one vile image after another.
The psychologist had to stop and tell him he had never before treated someone with such a filthy mind.
“Me!?” exclaimed the patient, “Those are YOUR dirty pictures!”
Blaming others is the modus operandi of the left because indicting others is political power (according to their playbook). Accusation is the sine qua non of identity politics: 1) make social division by framing fake oppressor and victim classes, 2) identify with the victim, 2) accuse and condemn the oppressor (anyone who opposes their framing). Stupid, gullible people fall for it and vote the demons into office.
Devil would probably be a more accurate term. Devil derives from the Greek διάβολος (diabolos), which means to slander, accuse, defame. In most (all?) bibles the noun form is translated devil.
In the old Testament, the Devil is often referred to as the accuser.
While it is true that we live in a fossil fuel powered economy, it is also true that everyone has choices.
You can take the train instead of flying.
You can fly commercial instead of private jet.
You can drive around in a small car instead of a limo.
You can live in a small house rather than a mansion.
And that’s just off the top of my head.
They are hypocrites, not because someone forced them to be, but because they made the choice to not cut down where they could.
I don’t care if they live in a mansion…
Just turn off the f***ng lights in the rooms that you’re not using !
They could live like the Amish, but noooo…
I wonder how many of these artists had to pay to get on this list?
Cripes who are some of these people….
George Orwell: „All animals are equal , but some animals are more equal than the others“ (Animal Farm). The pigs were those „more equal“. Any questions?
Total hypocrites. But all those writers listed there and they still misspell comedian as comedien (Simon Amstell and Rory Bremner).
No, that’s the right spelling. It means ‘person [m.] similar to a comedian except more ROFL than LOL funny; failed comedian; substance, esp. unguent, tending to cause blackheads.’
No problem, as long as they don’t cause the heartbreak of psoriasis I can deal with a blackhead or two.
👌
Of course they don’t cause heartbreak, Pop. They’re comedogenic, not tragedogenic.
“Pop Piasa October 17, 2019 at 10:48 pm
…heartbreak of psoriasis…”
It truly is.
Look up The Singing Detective.
A very long list of morons! We need to bookmark this so we can heap prodigious amounts of ridicule on them when the time comes. There will be nowhere to hide.
Exactly what I was thinking!
Their statement is so full of BS propaganda, where to even begin? How can you even debate people who are so clueless?
Well, the Arts are certainly well represented in the list of people who ‘signed’ this bit of entertainment. I saw one person who claimed they were from Oxford and an architect. The rest are entertainers. So much credibility here… Not.
I saw one who claims to be a scientist but no specialisation, just generic.
Must have got his Jack of All Trades then gone on to do a Masters in None.
Or maybe a M.S in BS and a PhD in WTF?
Possibly, Dr Will McEwan — a neuroscientist at Cambridge.
https://www.neuroscience.cam.ac.uk/directory/profile.php?wmcewan
David Chappell
October 17, 2019 at 10:43 pm
Yes, it’s interesting isn’t it. How dare they lecture us on scientific matters!
Meh. It’s an emotional plea. Nothing to back it up. Nobody with even a shred of credentials to back up their claims. It’s an entertainment piece written by entertainers. But they seem to have forgotten on thing; opinions are like arseholes, everybody’s got one and they all stink. They need to stick to the entertainment business.
I like the fashion designer with a PhD.
Depends on your definition of ‘entertainer’ I suppose. Funny to see a former Spice Girl listed as a musician.
I don’t have a TV anymore so, I can’t comment much on what passes for entertainment and the performing entertainers. But, they list their occupations as singers, actors, producers, models, etc. so, I think it is a safe assumption they consider themselves entertainers.
Yet the same people will declare to those who disagree with them, that unless you have a degree in climate science you have no right to an opinion.
MarkW
My son tried that one on me the other day. He regretted it.
Where is the proof of observation behind the plea for monetary contribution?
I call BS here!
Your comment and others make this letter sound high-larious.
I wish I could enjoy it for myself but it’s outside the peer-reviewed scientific canon, making it physically unintelligible to me. Literature like this comes out as a solid field of grey on my monitor.
I’ve been there, ol’ boy
Every single one of them have very very high carbon foot prints, but I object to this;
Mel B – Spice Girls (musician)
Mel B a musician? Baby by Eddie Murphy now doing commercials for Jenny Craig (Dieting program).
Sir Mark Rylance, no surprise. U2, of course. But even Warren Ellis?
”Life on earth is dying. We are living in the midst of the 6th mass extinction.”
Where? Can anyone name one solitary organism which is dying or has become extinct due to the 1 degree rise over the last century? Is it a total waste of time asking these people such questions?
Solitary organisms tend to die unmourned and unnamed, so you’re asking the impossible. Ask for a social organism that’s died. Better yet, ask them for a show of hands who’s personally died at XR. Ten bucks says you could count on one hand the hands raised by rebels who’ve ever died, even once. They wouldn’t know death if He punched them in the face, dragged them to an abandoned lot and forced them to watch the one-death play he’s been shopping around off Broadway to no avail and give brutally honest notes.
I suppose the logic must be that since the diurnal temperature change is often into double figures, species must be going extinct on a daily basis.
What are the other “mass extinctions”?
The participants in the Jones Town cult went extinct….. which is where the Extinction Rebellion cult is headed.
I asked the same question here in Australia and someone pointed me to a few thousand fish that died in a choked river here in Australia.
Extinctions are bad m’kay!
A couple of years ago some German eco-chamber was atwitter with rumors that the corpses of “a few thousand pigs” had been spotted floating down an Aussie river. Turns out it was just a few sows and pigs. Gotta love accents.
They were a particular breed of pigs. They like rooting in a particular type of sand called “Thow”.
So it was a half dozen “thow sand” pigs & sows. I reckon…
“Zig Zag Wanderer October 18, 2019 at 12:10 am
They were a particular breed of pigs.”
Yeah, all located in the ACT, in Canberra, Australia.
“Yes, we climate activists, jet-set celebrities and fellow travellers are giant hypocrites but we don’t care at all and we are not responsible for our gigantic personal carbon footprints. So there! It’s not our fault, it’s the system. It’s your system, so it’s really YOUR fault! We will continue to harangue you unmercifully from our giant podium and make your life miserable so we all look better than we really are.”
Déjà puke. It’s Stephan “life has become an endless series of airline tickets” Lewandowsky all over again, rearing his ugly head around the S-bend.
Oh, but it’s not the Unflushable Lew’s fault. No. Never blame the Unflushable Lew!
Blame the cistern.
Maybe it is our fault. After all those ‘entertainers’ must have made their money from us plebs at some point. Still at least we know who they are now and can avoid their ‘work’ in future. Hit em where it hurts and they’ll just have to reduce their carbon footprint to something like the most of us have to do with.
I think that the iteration “extinction rebellion CELEBRITIES” sort of puts things into perspective for me.
These days celebrity is where you mine it.
Quit flying, quit driving, turn off their furnace, they actually have the power to significantly reduce their CO2 emissions…their bogeymen, the oil companies, won’t do that for them…government rationing in some form or other will…. but any sane government sees an unhappy end in for themselves in rationing…unless democracy is ditched for totalitarianism, and even then, who gets to set the CO2 thermostat and what should it be set at ?
They want US to do those things, not them.
This makes perfect sense!
All the signatories are from the Fine and Performing Arts. We have it all. Actors, musicians, producers, writers, and artists.
Sir David Attenborough spells out the plot for us:
The whole thing is one great big, huge theatrical production.
Of course they need actors, singers, artists, writers, and producers.
AKA professional liars.
As Clinton is reported to have said, Once you learn how to fake sincerity, the rest is easy.
They seem to be taking a bit of “artistic license” with the truth.
Unbelievable! Let’s just ignore the 500 scientists who are screaming ‘this is all BS’!
Unlike the signers of this petition, those scientists don’t have degrees in climate science. /sarc
There is a very simple way to free this bunch of clowntards from “the system” :
– just sweep them in the middle of the Amazon rainforest and bye-bye.
I’m ready to contribute – thanks to the money I earned within the system – to their last flying journey.
Ciao !
PS : they should not worry about the amazonian head hunters since they shrink only heads with something inside.
David Byrne – Talking Heads (musician)
Really, David. Did you not understand the lyrics you penned?
Water dissolving and water removing
There is water at the bottom of the ocean
Under the water, carry the water
Remove the water at the bottom of the ocean
Letting the days go by, let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by, water flowing underground
Into the blue again, into the silent water
Under the rocks and stones, there is water underground
Letting the days go by, let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by, water flowing underground
Into the blue again after the money’s gone
Once in a lifetime, water flowing underground
And you may ask yourself, “What is that beautiful house?”
And you may ask yourself, “Where does that highway go to?”
And you may ask yourself, “Am I right? Am I wrong?”
And you may tell yourself, “My God! What have I done?”
Letting the days go by, let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by, water flowing underground
Into the blue again, into the silent water
Under the rocks and stones, there is water underground
Letting the days go by, let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by, water flowing underground
Into the blue again after the money’s gone
Once in a lifetime, water flowing underground
Same as it ever was, same as it ever was
Same as it ever was and look where my hand was
Time isn’t holding up, time isn’t after us
Same as it ever was, same as it ever was
Same as it ever was, same as it ever was
Same as it ever was, same as it ever was
Letting the days go by, same as it ever was
Here a twister comes, here comes the twister
Same as it ever was, same as it ever was
Same as it ever was, same as it ever was
Once in a lifetime, let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by
Don’t know his worldviews, but I love his lyrics for sure. Very influential band.
Artists are more gulible than the population at large. Discuss.
This is one for Lewendowsky to apply his research to.
More relevant look at the lyrics for Nothing But Flowers
“Global warming causes major damage to the global economy and the natural world”
Not as much as global cooling, Bubba, just look at the dark ages.
Show me some hard evidence that a warming planet has been a detriment to humanity or the environment.
I dare you!
You and your facts.
Entertainers are about promoting fantasy-they’re actors. In some ways, it is no surprise that these purveyors of fantasy would continue their purveying of fantasy. Besides, if they do not tow the line of promoting the apocalyptic fantasy, they will be out of Hollywood in a flash- no more private jets for them. No more of the fruits of our energy based civilization. Back to being plebs.
Maybe it is time we hit them with a dose of reality. The first estates to be liquidated and redistributed to the masses should be those of the people on this list.
Watch how fast they change their “tunes”.
Millions of people suffering and leaving their homes because of climate change? How do they get away with pushing this utter nonsense? It’s demonstrably untrue, yet they peddle it time and again and nobody calls them on it.
Saint Greta showed us what to do. These celebrities have to start crossing the ocean on sail boats. If she can do it, they can. How dare they.
Someone propped-open the Asylum door and let these XR folks out.
I thought U2 and Bonehead wanted to feed the world? Shouldn’t they be championing GMOs and nuclear power to achieve this? How would XR’s plans feed anybody? Or maybe this is just to be seen to be all cool and woke and all that……
Well, mostly Ethiopia, and they did. Some of the money they raised is still working in Ethiopia. It’s a shame to see such great humanitarian effort be wasted on the climate change scam.
Worked well in Ethiopia, population’s quadrupled since Live Aid.
And they are building the biggest hydro dam in Africa controlling water down-flows in to both Nile rivers. My first wife was from Ethiopia and she lived through that time.
“With love”, quick get a bucket!
Umm. I suppose these nobodies are somebody in there own minds. Perhaps their publicists have been letting them down and they need a free pug. But I suppose it is “our” fault they have to fly hither and yon. After all someone (but not me in a fit) buys their artistry
PS that’s plug
Not many scientists and engineers in that list