United States: Anti-carbon trading protest — 'The Earth is not for sale'

About 100 people gathered outside the Embassy Suites in the heart of New York's financial district on January 13 to rally against the Second Annual Carbon Trading Summit. The summit was organised for the most powerful institutions and industries to discuss new opportunities at profit in the pollution market.

The summit brought together representatives from some of the top polluting industries, including carbon financiers, bankers, government officials and corporate environmental groups. Some of the big names included Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Duke Energy.

Despite the cold, the crowd was alive with energy. Many protesters held signs that read, "Capitalism kills the environment". Others chanted: "The Earth is not for sale!"

Brian Tokar, an organiser from the Institute for Social Ecology in Vermont, expressed the crowd's sense of urgency: "Real change in the realities that are destroying the Earth's climate means developing the kind of people's movement that can take the power back from these corporations."

Token said: "The climate crisis is a justice issue, the climate crisis is a labour issue, the climate crisis is a crisis that effects everyone …

"Making those connections is absolutely central for moving forward."

[Abridged from Socialist Worker.]

From GLW issue 823