Let's Be Clear, Says Mexico Environment Minister, 'Parasitic and Predatory Neoliberalism' to Blame f

[Judi Lynn]

Published on
Thursday, May 30, 2019
byCommon Dreams

Let's Be Clear, Says Mexico Environment Minister, 'Parasitic and Predatory Neoliberalism' to Blame for Climate Crisis

"Human beings are not responsible for global warming," said Secretary Víctor Manuel Toledo Manzur, but elite capitalists and industry powerbrokers are.

by Jon Queally, staff writer

In a scathing rebuke to the elite capitalists and politicians who largely control the global economic and energy systems, Mexico's newly-appointed environment secretary on Wednesday pointed a stern finger at the "parasitic and predatory neoliberals" for being the key culprits behind the planetary climate crisis.

As the Mexico News Daily reports, the public comments by Secretary Víctor Manuel Toledo Manzur were his first since his appointment by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador earlier this week and seen as a direct challenge to previous Mexican governments which sacrificed the nation's environment to the interests of industry.

"Human beings are not responsible for global warming, as a superficial environmentalism and uncritical science would like to tell us," said Toledo. "The responsible are a parasitic and predatory minority, and that minority has a name: neoliberalism."

According to the News Daily, Toledo vowed "to 'take back' the Environment and Natural Resources Secretariat (Semarnat), which he said had been controlled by 'merchants from the automotive sector,' and involve citizens in policy making.

More:
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/05/30/lets-be-clear-says-mexico-environment-minister-parasitic-and-predatory-neoliberalism

[procon]

1. That's an interesting POV worth considering.

Many people resist global warming, even deny its existence because they are afraid of how any change in the status quo might have a negative impact on them personally.

At the same time, people will readily blame some other group for their own difficulties. As we face bigger storms and disastrous weather phenomena that destroy our communities, it's hard to point an accusing finger at something like El Nino or melting sea ice at the other end of the world. That's not working, there's simply no traction to be gained from trying to get ordinary folks to accept that climate change is here to stay and must be dealt with.

But if we can point to a common foe as responsible for all that misery and loss, we can put a face to the enemy. The "parasitic and predatory minority", not us regular human beings, are responsible for global warming. Our target then becomes the greed and excesses of the wealthy, elite capitalists and industry powerbrokers who strip away natural resources and pollute the whole planet for a profit.

I think it would work in many fronts.

[Loki Liesmith]

2. Nonsense

Humans use the short term cheap energy that is causing the crisis. They like cheap energy. The Soviet Union exploited carbon-based energy to the hilt. They weren’t “neoliberals”.

Invoking the neoliberal bogeyman is just playing to the cheap seats.