<
https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/meet-the-shadowy-global-network-vilifying-climate-protesters/>
"Earlier this year, news footage began making the rounds on social media of
young activists from the German climate organization Letzte Generation (Last
Generation) being assaulted as they obstructed streets in an effort to draw
attention to the German government’s inaction on climate. A young woman, with
her hand glued to the asphalt, was ripped off the road by her hair; a young man
was run over by a truck driver; a passerby punched protesters and was cheered
on. A few months later, German police raided the homes of Last Generation
activists and froze their bank accounts.
It all seemed like a gross overreaction to a pretty tame form of protest.
Blockading roads is not a new tactic: Suffragettes, civil rights activists, and
anti-war activists have all blocked roads in past decades. Last year, Dutch and
German farmers blocked roads with their tractors to protest a renewable energy
policy that they said doesn’t provide enough incentives for biogas. Not a
single farmer was punched in the face. What was making everyone so irate about
Last Generation?
It’s a lot easier to justify ripping an activist off the road by their hair, or
punching them, when a prominent politician is comparing them to violent
terrorists and a major media outlet is repeating that frame. Frank Schäffler,
of the Free Democratic Party, or FDP, is a member of the German Parliament
who’s well known for hard-right positions; he once described himself as a
“climate skeptic.” He’s been the primary block to a national green building
policy that would shift the country away from gas heating in new buildings.
Schäffler has used a lot of the same anti-regulatory rhetorical tactics in
Germany that the fossil fuel industry has employed to fight gas bans in the
United States, including accusing the government of taking away citizens’
freedom of choice and spreading fear that the bill amounts to a “heating ban.”
Almost as soon as Last Generation began staging protests, in early 2022,
Schäffler began describing them as terrorists, calling the group a “criminal
organization” and publicly demanding it be investigated for organized crime.
Media outlets, including conservative publisher Welt and the more mainstream
Der Spiegel, soon echoed Schäffler’s framing. Just six months later, in May
2023, German police conducted nationwide raids on Last Generation activists;
police said the group was “a criminal organization that was fundraising for the
purpose of committing further criminal action.” It was almost exactly the
response to Last Generation that Schäffler had recommended.
Given his relatively short time in office, Schäffler’s outsize influence may
seem surprising. But something important happened in recent years that lent him
a large amount of reach when it comes to the treatment of climate protesters:
Schäffler started a think tank and joined the little-known but enormously
powerful Atlas Network, a global network of more than 500 member think tanks
advocating for “free market” policies.
What’s happening in Germany—public rhetoric vilifying climate activists, which
the media then picks up and amplifies and, ultimately, leads to the
criminalization of those activists—is a pattern we’ve seen play out in multiple
countries, new research from climate news sites
Drilled and
DeSmog reveals.
That pattern is thanks in no small part to the influence of this little-known
network, which has powerful allies in the oil, gas, and extractive industries."
Via HU Art Sound and Diane A.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
