Green Prophet’s eco-hero Bill McKibben tells activists to become more confrontational. Is that a safe thing for us in the Middle East? And would you do it? Take the poll.
There are a number of camps of thought on how us humans should go about protecting Planet Earth. There are radicals from Greenpeace who sabotage fishing boats, tie themselves to trees and then scale power plants to drape them in banners of protest. On the other side of the spectrum we have the gentler folks, who quote Rumi, and who wouldn’t kill an ant, or think about doing anything that would harm or offend other people, or the laws within which they live. What are you?
Our eco-hero Bill McKibben, who has lots of thoughts on ways the Middle East can fight climate change (which he talks about in our exclusive interview on climate change here), has recently taken a new stance. McKibben tells Green Prophet’s Arwa that it’s time to be more confrontational, and gets arrested practicing what he’s preached.
In some Middle East countries, like Iran, saving a natural resource can get you beaten and then arrested. In Iraq, you might have to cross militant insurgents to protect animals, and can be killed over water rights; and in Turkey, if you are a scientist who simply speaks the truth in the course of your job you might go to jail. Getting arrested in the Middle East doesn’t allow demonstrators the same level of notoriety, like in Canada, or Israel, where it can even be considered cool to go to jail during an environmental protest. In some Middle East countries, activists go to jail and just never come out.
Now I am asking you, dear readers, would you get arrested for the environment? Take our poll.
Author: Karin Kloosterman
Karin Kloosterman is an award-winning journalist, innovation strategist, and founder of Green Prophet, one of the Middle East’s pioneering sustainability platforms. She has ranked in the Top 10 of Verizon innovation competitions, participated in NASA-linked challenges, and spoken worldwide on climate, food security, and future resilience. With an IoT technology patent, features in Canada’s National Post, and leadership inside teams building next-generation agricultural and planetary systems — including Mars-farming concepts — Karin operates at the intersection of storytelling, science, and systems change. She doesn’t report on the future – she helps design it. Reach out directly to [email protected]
