0:03
okay guys I got to know who's
0:05
responsible for climate change well
0:07
according to Daren Woods the CEO of
0:09
Exxon it's you because you're not voting
0:13
with your dollars we have opportunities
0:15
to make fuels with lower carbon in it
0:17
but people aren't willing to spend the
0:18
money to do that Exxon has lower carbon
0:20
fuels ready to go but consumers are
0:22
simply too cheap to pay for them but you
0:24
know the real bad guys here are uh you
0:27
guessed it activists society as a whole
0:30
hasn't been doing enough of it and
0:31
frankly uh society and I'd say the the
0:34
activists the dominant voice in this
0:36
discussion have tried to exclude the
0:39
industry that has the most capacity and
0:42
the highest potential for helping with
0:45
that some of this Technologies the oil
0:46
companies want to save us we just won't
0:48
let them as you can imagine reactions to
0:51
this were not great as climate Economist
0:54
gnet Wagner put it it's like a drug lord
0:56
blaming everyone but himself for drug
0:59
problems but in fairness the logic used
1:01
by Woods makes sense at least according
1:03
to the rationality of the free market
1:05
which liberates corporations from
1:07
government oversight facilitates
1:09
Innovations and enables consumer Freedom
1:11
by this reasoning it's up to us to
1:14
consume our way to a better world flush
1:17
with electric cars solar panels and
1:19
eco-friendly sandals under this Paradigm
1:21
a corporation's sole imperative is to
1:23
generate profits for shareholders which
1:25
is why Woods is especially critical of
1:27
exxon's activist investors who have
1:29
proposed that the company aggressively
1:31
cut back on fossil fuel production
1:33
activists that hijack that process a
1:35
legitimate process and frankly abuse it
1:38
to advance an ideology that's
1:41
inconsistent with the well-being of the
1:43
company now it's frustrating of course
1:45
to hear the CEO of a behemoth fossil
1:47
fuel company imply that the slow
1:49
response to climate change is our fault
1:51
you know especially when we know that
1:53
according to some estimates 57 companies
1:55
are linked to 80% of global greenhouse
1:57
gas emissions since 2016 but getting gas
2:00
lit by an oil Mogul isn't just annoying
2:03
when Woods shifts blame onto consumers
2:05
he distracts from the real forces behind
2:08
climate change meanwhile his framing
2:09
suggests that mitigating its effects
2:11
could be a hopeless Pursuit especially
2:13
when Solutions are framed around
2:15
consumption and profit rather than you
2:17
know a reorganizing Society to
2:18
prioritize Humanity over fossil fuel
2:21
consumption it could feel a bit like to
2:23
paraphrase the famous quote by Frederick
2:24
Jameson it's easier to imagine the end
2:26
of the world than the end of climate
2:28
change under capitalism real quick quick
2:30
note to say that there's not going to be
2:32
time for us to convince you that climate
2:33
change is real today you can check out
2:35
the recent ipcc report for that uh if
2:37
you think it's not real just watch this
2:39
video as a fun exercise guess to
2:42
yourself throughout it just go oh really
2:44
to everything I say instead today we're
2:46
going to examine why things feel so
2:48
hopeless and consider some solutions
2:50
offered by recent theorists including a
2:53
philosopher who thinks that the best
2:55
thing that you can do to save the planet
2:56
is work less uh and spend more time
2:58
hiking cooking maybe playing guitar with
3:01
your friends so let's see if it might
3:03
just be possible to imagine the end of
3:05
capitalism without the end of the world
3:08
as Florence in the machine note It's
3:10
always darkest before the dawn so before
3:12
we tell you how things are going to get
3:14
better let's start by figuring out how
3:15
things have gotten so bad now when we
3:17
listen to CEOs and politicians explain
3:20
climate change to us it can feel like
3:22
everyone is the hot dog guy from that I
3:24
think you should leave sketch we're all
3:25
trying to find the guy who did this and
3:28
give him a spanking and even wor it
3:30
feels like the guys who drove the hot
3:32
dog car through our window are now the
3:33
ones trying to offer us exciting new
3:35
solutions to fix that very window now we
3:38
discussed this in a recent video but
3:40
both the fossil fuel industry and
3:41
climate change deniers have used all the
3:43
tools of propaganda to control cultural
3:45
and media narratives and that's how we
3:47
end up in a situation where the media
3:49
treats these guys like normal business
3:51
dudes have an energy system today that
3:54
has the the mix that it has and you
3:56
can't change this overnight and this
3:58
person like a radical outlier entire
4:01
ecosystems are collapsing we are in the
4:05
beginning of a mass extinction and all
4:08
you can talk about is money and fairy
4:11
tales of Eternal economic growth CEOs
4:14
are rational agents motivated by the
4:16
principles of market economics tunberg
4:18
is irrational for claiming that Humanity
4:21
should be prioritized over profit but
4:23
even if media narratives fall in One
4:25
Direction don't we still have some
4:27
agency in what and who we vote for for
4:30
Americans are more concerned than ever
4:31
about the climate catastrophe but we
4:33
still tend to vote on more urgent issues
4:36
like the economy or healthare when your
4:38
rent is soaring and your wages are
4:39
tumbling it's hard to worry too much
4:41
about melting glaciers in Greenland and
4:43
as this current US presidential campaign
4:45
cycle heats up faster than the North
4:47
Atlantic we've barely heard any
4:49
discussion of climate policy we've
4:51
barely heard discussion of anything cuz
4:53
one guy yells and the other guy mumbles
4:55
and it's hard to really make anything
4:57
out of it even supposedly Progressive
4:59
politicians know all of this and act
5:00
accordingly like when liberal hero Diane
5:03
Feinstein scolded a bunch of child
5:05
activists for asking her to help with
5:07
climate change which is why it can feel
5:09
like the only recourse we have is our
5:12
own consumption habits but guys let me
5:14
tell you a secret um here in Los Angeles
5:16
I see so many hybrid cars and electric
5:19
cars and reusable water bottles with
5:21
cool stickers on them and eco-friendly
5:23
tote bags and yet every summer is is the
5:25
hottest summer ever so if the media is a
5:27
propaganda tool and consumer choice
5:29
aren't moving the needle and politicians
5:31
are more or less just dropping a double
5:33
decker on the planet before they die
5:35
well then maybe it's time for some
5:37
Bolder actions but when climate
5:39
activists spray paint Stonehenge or
5:41
interrupt the golf tournaments they're
5:42
largely just seen as troublemakers and
5:44
in the case of the recent golf
5:45
tournament Spectators started chanting
5:48
USA USA as police arrested the activist
5:52
which I guess implies that the opposite
5:55
of climate action is the USA now all of
5:58
this seems like it leads to one of two
6:00
things either we're so dejected by all
6:02
this that we end up feeling both
6:04
hopeless and helpless and just lie in
6:06
bed consuming content until we die or it
6:09
can push us towards more drastic action
6:11
like those outlined by scholar Andreas
6:13
mman his book how to blow up a pipeline
6:15
if you don't really like reading books
6:17
it actually got turned into a Hollywood
6:19
picture that you could watch now in one
6:20
of our recent videos we argued that
6:22
neoliberalism is so ideologically
6:25
ingrained into our culture that's
6:27
basically a sort of religion and in the
6:29
churches of neoliberalism free markets
6:31
limited government intervention and
6:33
individual Choice are like the father
6:35
Son and Holy Spirit wealthy fossil fuel
6:38
companies face little regulation and are
6:40
often aided by government subsidies
6:42
operating under cold hard Market logic
6:44
they effectively offload moral
6:46
responsibility onto consumers like how
6:48
Exxon got government subsidies to
6:49
develop energy efficient alternatives
6:51
for the future while they just continue
6:53
to pump out fossil fuels and you know
6:55
just like all the fossil fuels in our
6:57
soil this sh runs pretty deep there's t
6:59
tons of overlap between the fossil fuel
7:01
industry and our political system take
7:03
notable American Sniper and former Vice
7:05
President Dick Cheney he was the CEO of
7:08
halberton which is an oil service
7:09
company before he served our nation by
7:12
becoming George W Bush's co-pilot and
7:14
fossil fuel lobbyists work to influence
7:16
policy at basically every level of the
7:18
government at the time of filming this
7:23
294 has been spent on oil lobbying this
7:26
year with yearly averages normally
7:28
Landing closer to $125 million they also
7:32
fund studies and scientific research
7:34
which encourage scientists to greenwash
7:36
their destruction of the planet
7:38
aggressively fight against some of the
7:42
science uh yes this includes companies
7:45
like BP forming intimate relations with
7:48
universities like Princeton donating at
7:50
least $700 million over 10 years but
7:53
unlike most intimate relations were the
7:55
people getting screwed and they pay
7:57
prominent media sources to create paid
7:59
content extolling the virtues of the
8:01
fossil fuel industry and that's why I
8:03
wanted to stop and tell you really quick
8:04
about the new Chevron cares uh program
8:07
that were sponsored by Chevron wants to
8:09
let all of you that's that's not a real
8:11
thing according to a report by drilled
8:13
even the most trusted news outlets run
8:16
internal brand Studios that create
8:18
content for major companies including
8:20
the fossil fuel industry often virtually
8:22
indistinguishable from hard news this
8:25
content packages corporate narratives to
8:27
look like objective media now one
8:28
particularly Wild example is Reuters
8:30
hosting Summits for the fossil fuel
8:32
industry which aims to remove the pain
8:34
points holding back faster production of
8:36
oil and gas that's to say nothing of the
8:39
massive advertising and marketing
8:40
budgets they spend convincing you that
8:42
we really need that oil okay so check
8:44
out this commercial which straight up
8:46
says that if we didn't have oil you
8:48
wouldn't be able to go to the hospital
8:50
you and your unborn baby would probably
8:52
die without oil and gas hospitals
8:53
wouldn't have what they need to keep us
9:00
save lives and deliver little bundles of
9:03
joy we check out this one which I swear
9:05
to God tries to convince you that if the
9:07
oil industry didn't exist you would
9:09
never get to [ __ ] again that connection
9:11
was brought to by petroleum products so
9:13
is there anything left for us to do
9:15
other than hope that we can get jobs
9:16
writing funny commercials for oil
9:18
companies I'm going to tell you after
9:19
the break but I wanted to take a second
9:21
to shout out our friends over at yellow
9:24
dot Studios who are helping us make this
9:26
video today now if you haven't heard of
9:27
yellow dot they are immed company
9:30
founded by Adam McKay uh the guy who
9:32
probably made some of your favorite
9:33
movies of all time we're men okay that
9:37
means a few things we go on riverb
9:39
gambling trips we make our own beef
9:41
jerky that's what we do now what they do
9:44
is use comedy and media to spread
9:46
Awareness on the reality of climate
9:47
change hey everybody you know your house
9:51
your house is about to be part of the
9:53
ocean and they made some very funny and
9:56
good stuff featuring people you like a
9:58
lot you can definitely check out now at
10:00
the end of this video I'm going to tell
10:02
you to head over to Yellow Dot's channel
10:04
for part two where I'm going to sit down
10:05
with their director Stacy Robert Steel
10:07
and we're going to have a chat about how
10:09
we can fight back against the fossil
10:11
fuel Ghouls and we're going to learn
10:13
more about the work that yellow dot is
10:14
doing so be sure to stick around for
10:17
that once you get over there be sure to
10:19
subscribe to Yellow dos page and keep up
10:21
with what they're doing okay so let's
10:22
get back to feeling pretty bad about the
10:25
future of the planet now it might seem
10:27
like the fossil fuel industry and
10:28
capitalist is M are like the Ben and JLo
10:31
of corporate political power but the
10:32
good news is that Ben and JLo are
10:34
getting divorced and some contemporary
10:36
philosophers in academics are arguing
10:38
that there are viable alternatives to
10:40
this increasingly hot [ __ ] show I guess
10:43
increasingly hot [ __ ] show can refer
10:45
either to the boiling of the planet or
10:47
Ben and JLo having incredibly hot
10:50
breakup sex these Alternatives go Way
10:52
Beyond simply taxing corporations more
10:54
or subsidizing electric vehicles now one
10:57
option which is proposed by economic GE
10:59
rher Brett Christophers in his new book
11:01
is removing the Renewables Market from
11:03
the private sector and then making it a
11:05
state-funded Enterprise as he writes in
11:07
a recent SAA for time Western
11:09
government's renewable subsidies rarely
11:11
occasion strong profits more commonly
11:13
they allow just about sufficient profit
11:14
to keep the sector afloat he cites
11:16
Warren Buffett who admitted that his
11:18
firm Berkshire hathway only Built wind
11:20
farms for the tax credit Christopher
11:22
points out that there isn't a huge moral
11:24
component to the structure of the fossil
11:26
fuel industry simply follows the logic
11:28
of Campus as he writes the likes of
11:30
Exxon and Chevron continue predominantly
11:33
to drill for hydrocarbons instead of
11:34
investing in Renewables not because they
11:37
and their Executives especially love oil
11:39
but because they love money you know cuz
11:42
these guys like if the brains of babies
11:44
made cars go they would start an
11:45
orphanage and you'd never see the kids
11:47
again but rather than radically
11:49
overthrowing capitalism Christophers
11:51
proposes taking renewable energies out
11:53
of the market and then making them
11:54
public goods in doing so the value of
11:57
these energies wouldn't hinge on stock
11:59
value but I'm protecting the future of
12:01
humanity and as Christophers sees it
12:03
only the state has the necessary
12:05
financial and administrative capacity to
12:07
increase Global investment in solar and
12:09
wind energy at the pace needed so while
12:11
we don't need to undo capitalism as such
12:14
we got to take renewable energies out of
12:16
the capitalist market now at this point
12:18
I bet some of you are thinking oh yeah
12:20
so the same government which seems like
12:21
they can't even tie their own shoes
12:23
they're going to somehow fund and
12:25
develop renewable energy at a rapid clip
12:28
sure boss sure others of you might be
12:30
thinking that this solution doesn't push
12:33
against the dominance of the market
12:35
enough and some of you might still be
12:37
thinking about that extra hot Ben and
12:39
JLo divorce sex and to you I salute you
12:43
okay so let's consider another large
12:45
scale and controversial approach to
12:47
fighting against climate change and the
12:49
economic structures that enable it it's
12:51
called degrowth which economic
12:53
Anthropologist Jason hickle defines as a
12:55
planned reduction of energy and resource
12:57
use designed to bring the economy back
12:59
into balance with the Living World in a
13:01
way that reduces inequality and improves
13:03
human well-being while not A New Concept
13:05
de's most contemporary Advocate is
13:08
Japanese philosopher Koo author of slow
13:11
down the degrowth manifesto utilizing
13:13
some lesser-known works of Carl marks
13:15
Theo argues for a new type of degrowth
13:18
Communism in which everything from
13:20
production to labor hours slow down to
13:22
reverse the effects of climate change
13:24
Jordan Peterson you better not be
13:25
watching right now because this is all
13:27
going to make you real mad for seito the
13:29
political solutions to climate change
13:30
offered by the green New Deal along with
13:33
individual practices like driving
13:35
electric cars and using paper straws are
13:37
little more than the new opiates of the
13:40
masses he writes what kinds of measures
13:43
are you taking personally to prevent
13:44
global warming have you bought a
13:46
reusable shopping bag to reduce your
13:47
Reliance on disposable plastic ones do
13:49
you carry a thermos so you don't end up
13:51
buying drinks in plastic bottles did you
13:53
buy an electric car let me make one
13:55
thing clear from the start these Good
13:56
Deeds are meaningless in the end they
13:58
can even cause more harm than good he
14:01
argues that these policies and practices
14:03
function like Catholic indulgences
14:04
allowing us to escape the pangs of our
14:06
conscience about consumerism and look
14:08
away from the real imminent danger
14:09
around us which in turn allows the
14:12
forces of capital to swaddle our
14:14
concerns in environmental impact
14:16
statements and tuck them away beneath
14:18
the form of deception known as
14:19
greenwashing this is because these forms
14:21
of resistance are all completely
14:23
compatible with the same economic system
14:25
that benefits from the fossil fuel
14:27
industry A system that Cito argues
14:29
enables us to enjoy the Imperial mode of
14:32
living which is how he describes the way
14:33
in which the consumption focused
14:35
lifestyles of those in the global North
14:37
is dependent on the economic and
14:39
ecological exploitation of those in the
14:41
global South his lifestyle is predicated
14:43
on infinite growth that comes at a very
14:46
real cost this leads Saito to infuse his
14:48
plan for degrowth with a Marxist
14:50
analysis of class antagonisms and social
14:53
relations but unlike those who might be
14:55
scared of marks or associate his work
14:57
with Soviet Style communism and
14:59
state-led deprivation SEO argues for a
15:02
communism of abundance as he reads marks
15:06
when he talks about abundance he doesn't
15:08
mean having lots of stuff but what he
15:09
does mean is creating the conditions for
15:12
everyone to have a good life you know
15:14
stuff like Medical Care Transportation
15:16
housing food water all these things
15:18
guaranteed and free Sao opposes this to
15:20
Market environmentalism which promises
15:22
an end to climate change that will still
15:24
boost the economy now like Christopher
15:26
syo thinks that it's pretty absurd to
15:28
expect the profit centered logic of the
15:30
market to really prioritize a shift to
15:31
renewable energy and they both think
15:33
that there's no way to just capitalism
15:35
our way out of climate change and for
15:37
seito this means that we don't just need
15:39
to slow down our industrial production
15:41
but also the production and consumption
15:43
of media especially those which
15:45
perpetuate our culture of consumption so
15:47
sorry Kardashians you're not getting
15:49
renewed once Dr SEO takes over as the
15:52
Zar of all media now as he writes
15:54
production focusing on status symbols
15:56
and luxury goods on advertising and
15:58
brand in while ignoring use value spells
16:01
death in an age of climate crisis there
16:02
are so many vital issues to be addressed
16:04
guaranteeing universal access to Food
16:06
Water electricity shelter and
16:08
transportation combating Rising tithe
16:10
and flooding protecting ecology and so
16:12
on we must prioritize the production of
16:15
things necessary to respond to the
16:16
crisis not things whose worth resides
16:19
only in their capacity to produce value
16:21
I mean one upside to all this is less
16:23
ads for stuff that you don't need on
16:25
YouTube also none of those like tech
16:27
review channels things like that that a
16:29
lot less influencers I don't know it
16:30
sounds pretty good now Christophers and
16:32
syto might Inspire some hope but they
16:34
both do involve a pretty radical shift
16:36
away from our current system we might be
16:38
able to imagine a world in which
16:39
Christopher's policy suggestions were
16:41
taken on by some Western governments and
16:43
renewable energy is able to take off as
16:45
a publicly owned industry however we
16:47
might worry that even if a few major
16:49
Nations made those shifts it might not
16:51
really be enough and it could be even
16:53
harder to imagine seo's degrowth
16:55
communism in action as the seword often
16:57
makes folks imagine a violent revolution
16:59
led by angry men with beards but for
17:02
those of us not quite ready to do a
17:03
revolution SEO makes clear that what he
17:06
envisions is not a reboot of the Russian
17:08
Revolution which he doesn't think would
17:10
magically just change the economic
17:12
system instead what he advocates for is
17:14
something more gradual writing what's
17:16
more realistic is Rosa luxenberg's idea
17:19
of revolutionary real politic through
17:21
reform taxing the rich to introduce a
17:23
maximum income for example reforms and
17:25
policies can bring a lot of changes in
17:27
our daily perception and Behavior even
17:29
though it doesn't overcome capitalism
17:31
immediately but changing our
17:33
Consciousness and behavior in daily life
17:35
creates more room for demanding more
17:36
radical changes he also suggests
17:38
thinking about degrowth on a more local
17:40
scale and a lot of his favorite examples
17:42
are things that involve actions that are
17:44
communal rather than individual he cites
17:46
communities in Detroit that took
17:48
advantage of falling land values to turn
17:50
large swats of the city into urban farms
17:52
and a policy put into action in
17:53
Copenhagen to plant fruit trees all over
17:56
the city to start making food freely
17:58
available and he knows notes that
17:59
policies like this can then have
18:00
Downstream effects because you probably
18:02
don't want your Apple to taste like
18:04
engine exhaust so then you might want to
18:06
expand the already robust bicycle Lanes
18:08
in Copenhagen Theo's ideas for how we
18:10
can meaningfully make change run the
18:12
gamut from starting workers co-ops to
18:15
organizing School strikes from
18:17
volunteering for environmental NOS to
18:19
running for local office all pretty
18:21
doable things if you've done one of
18:22
these things let us know in the comments
18:24
if you want to do any of these things
18:26
tell us and let us support you and he
18:27
thinks these actions can create
18:29
Lifestyles less centered on production
18:31
and consumption and more focused on
18:33
letting us just be humans you know the
18:35
upside of less shopping is more time to
18:37
hang out and figure out what you're into
18:38
and maybe the best part of this idea uh
18:40
is that he imagines a world where we
18:42
have to work less Saito argues that one
18:44
of the biggest contributions to degrowth
18:46
can take place in reforming our
18:48
workplaces through labor unions
18:50
demanding our employers Institute
18:52
environmentally friendly policies and
18:53
advocating for here it is folks shorter
18:56
work weeks he writes that right now we
18:58
work 5 days a week and often more than
19:01
40 hours we could immediately reduce
19:03
that to 4 days with Technologies I think
19:05
we could go down to three in the future
19:07
so that's a 25h hour work week what will
19:09
we do with all this new time we will
19:11
spend more time with family we will
19:13
Garden we might do Sports we will do
19:15
some volunteering and have some
19:16
political engagement in the planning of
19:18
what we produce and what our local
19:19
government do we will commute not by car
19:21
but by bus and Tra and our workplace
19:23
will be more horizontal we should have
19:25
more job rotation should not always be
19:27
the same person doing the best part of
19:29
the job and then some people cleaning
19:30
their clothes with new technologies we
19:32
can share more and rotate jobs let me
19:35
know what you would do with more time
19:36
imagine that 25h hour work week what
19:38
else are you doing I'm probably watching
19:40
a lot more movies hopefully reading more
19:43
playing music a lot and probably making
19:45
more elaborate recipes like I'm probably
19:46
cooking lunch every day well maybe not
19:49
as easy as drinking a smoothie with a
19:51
paper straw these examples show that
19:52
it's not some absolute either or between
19:55
large scale political Solutions and just
19:57
some ineffective small actions or OPI
20:01
now this doesn't mean that you know if
20:02
we all get to work this weekend we're
20:04
going to reverse climate change but it
20:05
does mean the next time an oil CEO looks
20:08
you in the eye and says climate change
20:09
is your fault you can throw a book at
20:11
him and tell him to read up maybe also
20:13
to suck your di okay so you might be
20:14
thinking this is the part of the video
20:16
where I'm going to tell you to do
20:17
something but it's not really what we do
20:20
uh but this is in the Wheelhouse of our
20:21
friends over at yellow dot so go over to
20:24
their Channel right now and watch part
20:26
two of this video which is my interview
20:28
with yellow dots director Stacy Robert
20:31
Steel there's a link here and a link in
20:33
the description click either one and
20:35
once you're there be sure to subscribe
20:36
to their Channel and leave a comment
20:38
letting them know that we sent you uh
20:40
and if you're still here for some reason
20:42
thank you so much a huge shout out to
20:43
our patrons for all your support if you
20:45
want to support our Channel we have a
20:46
patreon there's a link in the
20:47
description you get videos early without
20:49
ads you get extra audio and video
20:52
content things of that nature you get on
20:53
our Discord server lots of good stuff uh
20:56
thanks in general for just hanging out
20:57
and being here if you are still here why
20:59
don't you ring the bell you know like
21:01
this video subscribe to the channel uh
21:03
but in general I just really hope that
21:05
one day we all work a whole lot less and
21:08
in the meantime I don't know take it
21:10
easy slow down a little bit stop
21:12
consuming so much take a walk drink some
21:15
water take a nap you deserve it I'll see
