Jeremy Brecher

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Book Review for Climate Insurgency: Is Global Constitutional Insurgency the Key to Transforming the World Order and Saving the Climate?

Posted by Jamie Cantoni

Book Review

Is Global Constitutional Insurgency the Key to Transforming the World Order  and Saving the Climate?

NEW SOLUTIONS: A Journal of Environmental  and Occupational Health Policy
0(0) 1–7
Reprints and permissions: sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/1048291117693391 journals.sagepub.com/home/new

 

Jeremy Brecher.  (2015).  Climate insurgency: A strategy for survival. Cornwall, CT: Stone Soup Books. 170 pp. FREE (electronic). ISBN: 978-1-61205-821-4.

 

Reviewed by: Thomas Estabrook,  University of Massachusetts Lowell, MA, USA

 

Like a fast car headed for a cliff, humanity’s efforts to avert catastrophic climate change  have  thus far  failed.  As we attempt  to apply  the brakes,  we find that some force, some obstacle,  is preventing us from braking. This is the situation in which we find ourselves,  as we struggle to avoid  careening  off the cliff. We are fumbling for a strategy  that will save us from this existential threat. And despite the significant breakthrough of the Paris climate agreement, the temporary halt- ing of  the Keystone  XL  pipeline,  and  the Obama  administration’s executive action  halting  future  oil  exploration in the Arctic,  climate  protection  efforts have  failed  to  restrain  the  continuing  rise  in  greenhouse  gas  emissions  and global  temperatures. We need a strategy  for  ‘‘common preservation,’’ and we need it now.

Climate Insurgency: A Strategy  for Survival, by Jeremy  Brecher, provides  us with an important,  perhaps  humanity-saving, strategy.  In a nutshell, Brecher’s strategy  is to create a global, non-violent constitutional insurgency that employs the  ‘‘public   trust  doctrine’’ and  related  measures  to  build  a  massive,  global climate protection  movement  to confront  formidable  obstacles  and build a climate-safe global economy.  In Climate Insurgency, Brecher explores the problem of failed climate protection efforts—even in the face of an expanding climate movement—and   proposes   a  constitutional climate  insurgency  for  building  a climate-safe  economy  and  preserving  life  and  livelihoods   around   the  globe. At a short and dense 129 pages of narrative, Climate Insurgency explains the multiple barriers  to effective climate protection  and proposes  in very clear terms a  comprehensive   strategy   that  other  climate-action  thinkers  have  not  done. Brecher is a veteran labor and environmental activist and historian of social movements  for  more  than  40 years.  He is cofounder  of  the Labor  Network

for Sustainability and has written extensively  about  climate-action  strategy  and engaged in numerous climate actions, including civil disobedience against the Keystone  XL pipeline. Brecher states  that any earlier  notions  that an environ- mental  movement  could  impose  its  agenda  on  government  and  business  are wrong,  and  that  climate  change  demands  new forms  of  collective  action  for ‘‘common  preservation.’’

Adding to the important  climate action scholarship  of others, Brecher offers an incisive analysis  of the problem  of climate change and an elegant yet pragmatic strategy  for climate protection.  Brecher’s  contribution  is in keeping with the work  of  climate  scholars  that  identifies  the fossil  fuel  industrial  complex (Bill  McKibben   and  Naomi   Klein)   and  neoliberalism  (Klein   and  George Monbiot)  as  major  obstacles  to  climate  protection.  Brecher  also  aligns  with McKibben,  David  Roberts,  and  others  in his call  for  a  World  War  II level mobilization  of resources  as a model for achieving climate protection  and build- ing the political  will to make it happen.  While the Paris climate agreement  was reached  and  ratified  shortly  after  this book  was  published,  Brecher’s  analysis captures  the dynamics at play in the limitations of international agreements and the ways  the climate  protection  movement  could  transcend  those  limits.  The book  also  prefigures  the spirited  and  courageous resistance  by  the Standing Rock  Sioux to the Dakota  Access Pipeline. Brecher  begins  Climate  Insurgency  with the observation about  the lack  of binding  agreements  to limit greenhouse  gas  emissions  25 years  after  scientific evidence  demonstrated   already,   by  1990,  that  global  warming  was  obvious: ‘‘There  is  no  significant  limitation  on  further  emissions,  inadequate   analysis for  the reason  for  this  failure,  and  little  plausible  strategy  to  overcome  it.’’ This becomes Brecher’s  mission in Climate Insurgency, to provide  a sound analysis for the failure  of climate protection  and to provide  a plausible  strategy  to overcome  that  failure  to  protect  the climate.  Climate  Insurgency  poses  three questions  to be explored:  How could straightforward climate protection  measures be blocked  by a narrow  set of forces?  Are there deeper structural  factors that make  climate  protection  so difficult? And if so, how can these factors  be overcome?  Brecher ends his introduction  with a plea to readers  to consider  his strategy  critically  and  to offer  corrections  or  a better  alternative  strategy.  He states, ‘‘Climate protection  can’t wait for a perfect strategy; all of us have a duty to find the best strategy we can and then act on it.’’ This is an invitation to join in the collaboration of the climate protection  movement. The failure  of climate protection  gave rise to a different kind of climate protection movement  that sought to move beyond  scientists and political  officials. In its early stages, this new movement was an assemblage  of diverse ideologies, from Big Green to youth, religious, and social justice organizations. By the early 2000s,  the  climate  justice  movement  had  emerged  as  ‘‘a global  rallying  cry, shifting from technocratic  policies and negotiation  toward  a more anti-systemic approach, critical  of  developed  countries,  the  UNFCCC,  global  governance and neoliberal  capitalism.’’ Rooted  in deep ecology,  ecofeminism,  and ecosocialism, the climate justice frame guided the movement  to direct action  and civil disobedience,  with particular attention to vulnerable countries  and populations.

Brecher explains  that despite the climate justice movement’s  strong criticism of mainstream  proposals for climate protection,  it has fallen  short  of creating climate protection  programs,  due to steadfast  resistance  by major  governments to  climate  protection   measures.   Government   intransigence   fueled  an  even greater commitment by climate justice organizations to direct action and civil disobedience,   as  they  adopted   climatologist   James   Hansen’s   350 ppm  safe threshold as a common frame for action, that is, to reduce carbon emissions immediately,  aiming to drop CO2 levels to 350 ppm by 2100. A new movement developed—global, decentralized,  with highly fluid organization. Brecher notes, ‘‘Climate  protection  from  below  has emerged from the failure  of climate  pro- tection from above.’’ While the rapidly  growing movement  challenged  corpor- ations  and  governments,  applying  its frame  of  climate  protection  and  social justice, it could not halt the momentum of climate destruction.  Brecher argues that the movement  must become much bigger and more powerful,  becoming  a global non-violent insurgency  involving hundreds of millions of people if it is to effectively  challenge the fossil fuel industrial  complex.

Why has climate protection failed? The answer, Brecher states, is that measures we need to take  to protect  the earth’s  climate  threaten  the power  of the most powerful  institutions:  national  governments,  corporations, militaries,  and every- day  people  resistant  to changing  their lifestyle.  Government,  corporations, and dominant  institutions  are incapable  of providing  for ‘‘either the long-term inter- ests or common interests of the world’s people,’’ but instead are focused  on fol- lowing the short-term interests of citizens, shareholders, and the elite. Brecher identifies ‘‘world order  obstacles’’  and ‘‘obstacles in human  hearts  and minds.’’ I would argue that understanding  these sets of obstacles is vital to building a more effective climate protection  movement.  World order obstacles  to climate protec- tion include the fossil fuel-producing industry and its network of support for fossil fuel corporations, neoliberalism, and the nation-state system. The nation-state system,  which  inhibits  larger  and  longer  term  interests  being  imposed  on  any nation-state, ‘‘allows corporations to destroy the atmosphere  behind a wall of national sovereignty.’’ Brecher distinguishes himself from other climate action scholars  by underscoring  the importance  of nation-state sovereignty  in undermin- ing  climate  protection.   He recognizes  obstacles   in  human  hearts  and  minds, including: denialism of climate science; incrementalism,  with many people advo- cating a go-slow approach; economic consequences  of climate protection,  such as believing that it will kill jobs; the belief that other countries  should pay first; the belief that the status  quo is legitimate; the fear of social  movements;  and hope- lessness about  being able to do anything  about  climate change.

Perhaps  the most important  contribution  of Climate Insurgency is Brecher’s proposal  for  a  global   non-violent   constitutional  insurgency   as  a  plausible strategy  for  climate  protection.  Brecher  takes  the term  ‘‘constitutional  insur- gency’’  from law professor  and historian James Gray Pope. A constitutional insurgency  is a ‘‘social movement  that  rejects  current  constitutional doctrine, but that rather than repudiating the Constitution altogether, draws on it for inspiration  and justification.’’ Brecher states that the goal of a constitutional insurgency  is to transform  the world  order,  which is chaotic  and fluid, yet in many  ways  easier  to  transform   than  the  political-social  order  of  individual nations.  In other  words,  a global  insurgent  movement  is needed to transform the world order.

Brecher asserts  that the climate movement has three challenging tasks: limiting the self-interest and greed of corporations and governments,  overcoming  the greenhouse gas hegemony imposed by powerful  nations, and developing  a strategy  for  political-economic-social transformation  to  protect  climate  and  well-being. He says  that the climate  protection  movement  might have  to become a non-violent insurgency,  and does so by refusing to accept efforts by authorities to place  limits on its action  and by refusing  to cooperate, which can motivate

powerful  institutions  to change.  Brecher  contends  that this is where  constitutional  insurgency  comes in. Although engaging in civil disobedience  is a moral protest,  it does not challenge  the legal validity  of government  and institutions. A constitutional insurgency  goes  another  step  by  declaring  laws  and  policies illegal  and  seeks  to  ‘‘establish  law  through  non-violent  self-help.’’   Brecher notes that while such an insurgency  declares  some laws  and policies  illegal,  it upholds the legitimacy  of fundamental law, and seeks to enforce legal and constitutional   principles  that  state  authorities   are  violating.   In  the  case  of  the destruction  of  the atmosphere,  a  powerful  legal  argument  can  be made  that

governments    are   violating    their   most   fundamental    duty   to   protect   the atmosphere. Brecher notes that constitutional insurgency  rests on a legal argument  called the public trust doctrine, an ancient legal principle, which states that destruction of  the  earth’s  atmosphere,   and  government’s complicity  in  it,  is  illegal  and unconstitutional. Constitutional  insurgency  has roots  in the civil rights movement and anti-Vietnam War movement,  where freedom riders and war resisters were not breaking  the law, but rather upholding constitutional law (a guarantee of equal rights) or opposing  laws that forbid  war crimes. Again, constitutional insurgency  draws inspiration  from the constitution  while challenging legal institutions as unconstitutional through the use of extra-legal  assemblies,  tribunals, and  mass  protests.  Such  a  climate  insurgency  must  be  global  in scale  to  be effective because  climate destruction  requires  ‘‘global solutions  implemented in specific locations.’’ Under  the public  trust doctrine,  the state has the fiduciary right  to  protect  the commons  (air,  water,  etc.)  for  the people  and  serves  as trustee for rights held in common by the people. While the public  trust doctrine  is a principle  of U.S. law and legal doctrine elsewhere, there has been no effective way so far to assert the right of the people to  protect  the  commons.  Brecher  notes  that  currently   there  is  an  effort  in the  United   States,   beginning   in  2011,  by   the  Atmospheric   Public   Trust Litigation  project  to bring  suits by  young  people  in 50 states  and against  the federal government.  A current case is going forward  in federal court. The public trust doctrine is a social contract,  in which the government protects the common interest, and has a duty to prevent waste to the asset, seen as generational theft. The doctrine  entails two legal duties: the sovereign  duty that each government has  to  its citizens  and  the duty  each  national  government  has  toward  other sovereign  nations.  If duties are violated,  citizens can bring action  against  their own government, and their government can bring action against other govern- ments. The courts then help to apply fair remedies to carbon  pollution,  and can use  a  model  called  the  Greenhouse  Development  Rights  Framework,  which seeks  to  quantify  the fair-share  factors  and  evaluate   the fair  share  for  each country.  Brecher  notes  that  U.S. courts  will probably refuse  to force  govern- ments to fulfill these duties, underscoring  the importance  of the climate protec- tion movement in carrying  out mass civil disobedience  to force governments  to protect  the global  commons.

Climate  Insurgency  makes  the important  point  that  the climate  protection movement, in effect, can act as a global enforcer of governments’ duty to protect the public trust. Brecher considers how the climate protection movement should enforce the public trust duties. He looks at a global non-violent insurgency  as a plausible  way  to transform  the world  order  in order  to protect  the climate by enforcing ‘‘the duty of governments  to protect the public trust.’’ Brecher sees the current climate protection movement as the starting point, with its global organization and use of civil disobedience against established authorities.  As such, the movement  is already  acting  to enforce  the law to protect  the public  trust.  He argues  that  the movement  must  make  a  central  part  of  climate  campaigns  a redefinition  of climate action  to be defense of the public  trust.  Climate justice tribunals  are one such way of enforcing  public trust duties. Current citizen tribunals  draw  inspiration  from  the citizen tribunals  against  the Vietnam  War, which encouraged  tens of thousands  of people to resist it. While citizen tribunals can’t force governments  to comply with orders,  they might possess  law-making authority. A climate justice tribunal  of September 23, 2014 concluded  that governments  and corporations are violating  human  rights. Future  tribunals  could look  at evidence  in more  detail  and  issue  judgments  and  injunctions,  thereby pressuring  courts  to force  governments  and  corporations to comply  with the law. Citizen tribunals  can build legitimacy  in order  to attract  people to join in constitutional insurgency.  Brecher  explores  how to build power  to protect  the public  trust,  such as involving  citizens in monitoring  violations  of public  trust rights, for instance, monitoring  carbon  pollution,  which might involve trespassing as an act of civil disobedience.  Brecher’s  point is that an effective climate insurgency,  which would force governments  and others to do the right thing, will require the commitment of 150 million to 300 million people globally.  He states, ‘‘The climate insurgency may need to fill the jails, making societies ungovernable through sustained  disruption.’’ The insurgency  must try to isolate corporations, banks  and  governments,  in part  by  challenging  their  pillars  of  support.  The movement  must first force incremental  change, then build outward.

Climate Insurgency explicitly  calls for a transformation of the world order to enable the building of a climate-safe global economy. Brecher begins by acknowledging  the  existential   threat  climate  change  poses,  a  threat  which demands climate protection of the highest order, yet which is blocked by an entrenched  world  order.  Understanding  and  communicating   this  existential threat  is essential  for the climate protection  movement  to win new supporters and  participants. Brecher  stresses  the importance  of building  an  independent global  movement,  not beholden  to any one nation or coalition  of nations,  and that pushes human survival against  the existential  threat of climate change and drives the transformation to a climate-safe economy. Such a movement can only succeed through mass organization and mass civil disobedience. The public trust doctrine,  in  concert  with  the  Greenhouse  Development  Rights  Framework, could well become the legal underpinning to drive the transformation. These principles  clearly  define the just duties of each country  to protect  the climate. The climate  protection  movement  must hold  governments  in violation  of the duty to protect, and should do so by exercising civil disobedience as an act of law enforcement against governments that are destroying the atmosphere.  This is the global  constitutional insurgency,  which challenges  governments  to fulfill  their duty and protect the public trust. This is a major contribution  that Climate Insurgency brings to the discussion  about  climate action strategy.

It is also important  to recognize Brecher’s  argument  that a non-violent con- stitutional insurgency can help drive more conventional actions such as lobbying and a variety  of civil society  actions  in communities  to make communities  and people climate-safe.  This relationship  of inside and outside forces is enabled  by coordinating networks  that provide  a synergy  and focus on transforming insti- tutions  to  become  more  democratic  and  oriented  to  the broad  needs  of  the public.  As countries  become  aware  of fulfilling  their  public  trust  duties,  they will need to develop national climate action plans, and will need to use a com- bination of methods, including government planning and investment, local and regional civil society initiatives, and market-led incentives. Powerful government agencies will be needed to implement and manage the transformations. Legal, institutional,  and popular  power will be required  to keep the government  agen- cies on track and accountable to democratic  institutions and the people. Thus, a large scale climate Keynesian intervention in the economy is required, but unlike the military Keynesianism of the World War II mobilization,  this time it must be overseen  by democratic  institutions  and the public to ensure accountability on the path to climate safety.

The global climate protection movement is a way for people of each nation to demand  that their government  protect  the public  trust and to demand  that all nations meet their public trust duties. In his conclusion,  Brecher asserts that the changes brought  about  by fulfilling the duty of the public trust will not require the nation-state  or capitalism  to be abolished,  but that their current  form will need to be significantly  changed. I would argue that we simply don’t know this. It remains  to be seen what  the new economic  system  will look  like and  how radical  the transformation will be. At a minimum, nation-states  will no longer have  absolute  freedom,  and  the property  rights  of companies  and  other  eco- nomic actors  will be significantly  restricted.  This poses  a real  challenge  to the capitalist system, but previous periods such as the New Deal saw the business community  agree  to new regulations  and  concessions.  Yet,  history  tells us to expect significant  pushback  from corporations and governments  to restrictions on their freedoms  and property  rights.

Brecher brings a pragmatic  and thoughtful proposal to addressing  the climate crisis. Others scholars  have addressed  the multiple actions  from the local to the international  levels  to  strengthen  the  struggle  for  climate  protection  and  to mobilize the resources  needed to reduce greenhouse  gas emissions dramatically. Brecher goes further by comprehensively assessing the obstacles  and offering up a promising  strategy  for pulling together the various  climate campaigns,  initia- tives, and policies. This book  should be required  reading for all climate protec- tion activists  and should be used for discussing and planning further actions for climate protection.

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ABOUT JEREMY BRECHER

11You and I may not know each other, but I suspect there are some problems that we share -- problems like climate change, war, and injustice. For half a century I have been participating in and writing about social movements that address those problems. The purpose of this website is to share what I've learned. I hope it provides something of use to you in addressing our common problems.

For the record, I am the author of more than a dozen books on labor and social movements. I have written and/or produced more than twenty video documentaries. I have participated in movements for nuclear disarmament, civil rights, peace in Vietnam, international labor rights, global economic justice, accountability for war crimes, climate protection, and many others.

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