Survival Strategy

In the United States, the climate movement has, so far, failed in the all-important task of shutting down fossil fuels. David McDermott Hughes offers a plan for a more daring form of climate politics, recommending that the climate movement adopt a strategy of mass blockades and sabotage against functioning fossil fuel infrastructure. Ideally, the saboteurs would not get caught—but if they did, in their trials they could appeal to the little-known power of jury nullification to avoid prison and to make pipelines unprotectable.

Climate change is no longer a technical problem that can simply be fixed. It is now a political predicament that must be faced. Elected politicians—even those who support renewable energy—remain committed to the extraction of petroleum and methane. No one with political power is even attempting to do the one thing that must be done: shut down fossil fuels. With trepidation, Hughes offers the last resort against the approaching climate catastrophe.