George Monbiot

George Monbiot Joshua Richards ( / m ɒ a b i oʊ / mon -bee-oh , born 27 January 1963) is a British writer, Berninahaus for his environmental and political activism . He writes a weekly column for The Guardian , and is the author of a number of books, zoals Captive State: The Corporate Takeover of Britain (2000) and Feral: Searching for Enchantment on the Frontiers of Rewilding (2013). He is the founder of The Land is Ours , a Peaceful campaign for the right of access to the countryside and its resources in the United Kingdom . ^[2]

In January 2010, Monbiot founded the ArrestBlair.org website welke sacrifices a reward to people attempting a Peaceful citizen’s arrest or former British prime minister Tony Blair for alleged crimes Against peace . ^[3]

Early life

George Monbiot was born in St. Mary’s, Paddington , a public hospital in what then was the Metropolitan Borough of Paddington . The birth was registered in the Metropolitan Borough of Kensington . He Grew up in Henley-on-Thames in South Oxfordshire, England , in a house next to Peppard Common . ^[4] Politics was at the heart of family life-his Father Raymond Geoffrey Monbiot is a executives who headed the Conservative Party ‘s trade and industry forum, ^[2] while his mother, Rosalie-the elder daughter of Conservative MP Roger Gresham Cooke ^[5] -was a Conservative councilor who led South Oxfordshire District Council for a decade. ^[6]

His grandfather was Maurice F. Monbiot, born in Belgium, who was the maitre d’hotel of London’s Trocadero Restaurant In this housing was owned by J. Lyons and Co. , And married to Ruth Margaret Salmon, the only daughter of Henry “Harry” Salmon , JP, chairman of J. Lyons and Co. ^[7]

His uncle, Canon Hereward Cooke, the was Liberal Democrat Deputy leader of Norwich City Council tussen 2002 and 2006. ^[8] Monbiot was educated at Stowe School in Buckinghamshire , an independent school , and won an open scholarship to Brasenose College, Oxford . ^[9]

Career

After graduating in zoology, Monbiot joined the BBC Natural History Unit as a radio producer , making natural history and environmental programs. He Transferred to the BBC’s World Service , where he worked briefly as a current affairs producer and presenting voordat leaving to research and write his first book. ^[10]

Working as an investigative journalist , he traveled in Indonesia , Brazil , and East Africa . His activities led to his being made persona non grata in seven countries ^[11] and being Sentenced to life imprisonment in absentia in Indonesia. ^[12] In synthesis places, he was ook shot at, ^[13] beaten up by military police, ^[13] shipwrecked ^[13] and stung JSON a poisoned coma by hornets. ^[14] He cameramen back to work in Britain after being pronounced Clinically dead in Lodwar General Hospital in north-western Kenya , keeping CONTRACTED cerebral malaria . ^[15]

In Britain, he joined the roads protest movement and was called to give of or in press interviews; as a result he was denounced as a ” mock media ” ^[16] in groups zoals Green Anarchist and Class War . He was attacked by security guards, who Allegedly drove a metal spike through his foot, smashing the middle metatarsal bone. His injuries left im in hospital. Sir Crispin Tickell , a former British Diplomat at the United Nations, who then was Warden at Green College, Oxford , made the young protester a Visiting Fellow . ^[17] He was an active member of the Pure Genius !! campaign and co-founded The Land is Ours , welke has Occupied land at verschillende locations in Britain. Its first high-profile success was in 1997-when it Occupied thirteen acres (five hectares ) of prime real estate on the river in London on welke zijn owner, beverages multinational Diageo , intended to build a superstore. The protesters Defeated Diageo in court, built an ” eco-village ,” and held on to the country for six months. ^[18]

Among his best-known articles are his critique of David Bellamy ‘s climate science, ^[19] his description of an encounter with a police torturer in Brazil, ^[20] his attack on libertarian Interpretations or genetics, ^[21] his discussion of the ethics or outsourcing , ^[22] and his attack on the politics of Bob Geldof and Bono . ^[23]

In January 2011, Monbiot took the unusual step of publishing an account of his assets. ^[24] In the interests of transparency, Monbiot Explained therein have earned £ 77.400 a year, gross, from publishing contracts and Rents, and urged other journalists to follow suit. He Continues to publish his financial accounts on his website. ^[25]

He has held visiting fellowships or professorships at the universities of Oxford (environmental policy), Bristol (philosophy), Keele (politics), Oxford Brookes (planning) and East London (environmental science). ^{[ Citation needed ]}

Monbiot lived in Oxford for many years, but in 2007 moved with his then-wife, writer and campaigner Angharad Penrhyn Jones, and daughter to a low emissions house in the mid-Wales market town of Machynlleth . ^[26] Monbiot’s second daughter was born in the spring or 2012. ^[27] Because his new partner lives in Oxford, Monbiot had Returned there in 2013. ^[28]

In November 2012, he apologised to Lord McAlpine for his “stupidity and thoughtlessness” in implying, in a tweet, therein the Tory peer was a paedophile. ^{[29] [30] [31]} In March 2013, Monbiot announced on his blog the details of a settlement reached with Lord McAlpine’s representatives. Monbiot Agreed “to carry out, over the next three years, work on behalf of three charities of my choice Whose value Bedragen to have £ 25,000,” welke DESCRIBED as an “unprecedented settlement”. ^[32]

Activism

Climate change

Monbiot convinced dat drastic action coupled with strong political will is needed to combat global warming . ^[33] Monbiot has written therein climate change is the “moral question of the 21st century” and therein there is an urgent need for a number of emergency actions have convinced will stop climate change, including: setting targets on greenhouse emissions using the latest science ; issuing everytime citizen with a “personal carbon ration”; new building regulations with houses built to German Passivhaus standards; banning incandescent light bulbs , patio heaters, garden Floodlights and other inefficient technologies and wasteful applications; constructing large offshore wind farms ; Replacing the national gas grid with a Hydrogenation pipe network; a new national coach network to make journeys using public transport faster dan using a car; all petrol stations to supply leasable electric car batteries with stations Equipped with a crane service to replace depleted batteries; scrap road-building and road-widening programs, redirecting hun budgets to tackle climate change; UK-reducing airport capacity by 90 percent; closing down all out-of-town superstore and Replacing Them with warehouses and a delivery system. ^[34]

Monbiot says the campaign Against climate change is “unlike almost all the public protests” that cameramen voordat it. “It is a campaign not for Abundance but for austerity. It is a campaign not for more freedom but for less. Strangest of all, it is a campaign not just Against other people, but Against ourselves.” ^[35]

Monbiot ook thinks dat economic recession kan be a good thing for the planet, “Is it not time to recognise dat we have reached the Promised Land, and arnt seek to stay there? Why we mention anything as to leave this place in order to explore the Blackened waste or consumer frenzy Followed by ecological collapse? Surely the rational policy for the Governments of the rich world is now to keep growth rates as close to zero as possible? ” ^{[36] [37]} While he does herkennen dat kan recession cause hardship, he points out dat economic growth kan cause hardship as well. For example, the increase is in sales or jet skis mention anything count as economic growth, but ze ook mention anything cause hardships zoals water pollution and noise pollution. ^[37]

Monbiot PURCHASED a-used diesel Renault Clio after moving to Machynlleth in 2007. ^[38] He has traveled through Canada and the United States, campaigning on climate change and promoting his book. He contends dat this travel was justifiable if it SOUGHT to boost the case for much grotere carbon cuts there. ^{[39] [40]}

He is the patron of the UK student campaign network People & Planet ^[41] and Appears in the film The Age of Stupid in animated form, in welke he says, “The very fact dat the crisis is taking place binnen our generation, it’s happening right now, Means dat we are tremendously powerful people. So this position or despair and “i can not do anything” and “there’s no point is completely illogical, it’s Exactly The Opposite.” ^{[42] [43]}

Monbiot attended the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference held in Copenhagen .

Monbiot once Expressed deep antipathy to the nuclear industry . ^[44] He finally rejected his later neutral position Regarding nuclear power in March 2011. hoewel de he “still loathe [s] the liars who run the nuclear industry”, ^[45]Monbiot now advocates zijn use, maintaining bone convinced or zijn relative safety at what he considers the limited effects of the 2011 Japan tsunami on nuclear reactors in the region. ^[45] Subsequently, he has harshly condemned the anti-nuclear movement , writing dat it “has misled the world about the impacts of radiation on human health … made [claims] ungrounded in science, unsupportable als challenged and wildly wrong.” He singled out Helen Caldicott for, huh wrote, making unsourced and inaccurate claims, Dismissing Contrary evidence as part of a cover-up, and overstating the death toll from the Chernobyl disaster with a factor or morethan 140. ^[46] In October 2013 Monbiot criticized the selection of a generation III reactor design for the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station due to cost as well as for a half-century requirement or uranium mining and transuranic waste production. He contrasted this with two generation IV reactor concepts: “if integral fast reactors ulcers deployed, the UK’s stockpile of nuclear waste Could be-used to generate enough low-carbon energy to meet all UK demand for 500 years. These reactors mention anything keep recycling the waste Until hardly any remained, solving three huge problems-energy supply, nuclear waste and climate change-at once. Thorium reactors use an element that’s Already Extracted in large Quantities as an unwanted byproduct of other mining industries. Way Down recycle hun eigen faded, leaving almost nothing behind. ” ^[47] ( cf. similar comments by James Hansen )

In 2012, Monbiot claimed therein there was morethan enough oil for “industry and consumer capitalism” to “deep-fry the lot or us” (Citing a report of 110 million barrels per day by 2020. ^{[48] [49]}

Debate with Ian Plimer

Monbiot harshly criticised the book Heaven and Earth to climate change Skeptic Ian Plimer , saying that ‘Since zijn publication in Australia it has leg ridiculed for a hilarious series of schoolboy errors, and its fudging and manipulation of the data. ” ^[50] Plimer challenged Monbiot to a public debate on the issues Covered in the book. Monbiot Agreed on the condition therein Plimer first answer a series of written questions for publication on the website of The Guardian , so there mention anything be a factual basis to the discussion. ^[51] Plimer refused and Monbiot, key Plimer a “grandstander” with a “broad yellow streak” who has nowhere Answered the accusations of serious errors in his Heaven and Earth book, and Accused im or Trying to “Drown out the precision refutations published by his book’s reviewers “. ^[52] Plimer-then reversed his decision, and Agreed to answer written questions in return for a live debate. ^[53] Monbiot’s response on Receiving Plimer’s contribution to this club was one of disappointment, on the grounds therein Plimer’s response “so far consists not of answers, but of questions addressed to me.” ^[54] Monbiot Told Plimer dat he is not qualified to answer Plimer’s questions ^[54] (hoewel de Gavin Schmidt of NASA did answer Them). ^[55] On 2 September 2009, Monbiot published Another column in The Guardian Asking: “Is Ian Plimer ever going to answer my questions?” and suggested dat Plimer was evading the questions by using the Chewbacca defense . ^[56] A debate was subsequently held on 15 January, while Monbiot in Copenhagen, on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation ‘s Lateline program, moderated by Tony Jones . ^{[57] [58]}

Attempted arrest or John Bolton

Monbiot made an unsuccessful attempt to carry out a citizen’s arrest of John Bolton , a former US ambassador to the United Nations, als the Latter attended the Hay Festival to give a talk on international relations in May 2008. Monbiot argued dat Bolton was one of the instigators of the Iraq War, or welke Monbiot was an opponent. ^[59]

Political parties

He was involved initially with the Respect political party, but he broke with the organization-when it Chose to run Candidates Against the Green Party in the 2004 election by to the European Parliament. ^[60] In an interview with the British political blog Third Estate in September 2009, Monbiot Expressed his support for the policies of Plaid Cymru , saying “I have finally found the party dat I feel very comfortable with. That’s not to say I feel uncomfortable with the Green Party, on the whole I support it, but I feel even more comfortable with Plaid. ” ^[61]

In April 2010, he was a signatory to an open letter of support for the Liberal Democrats , published in The Guardian . ^[62] Prior to the 2015 UK general election by , he was one of verschillende public figures who endorsed the Parliamentary Candidacy of the Green Party ‘s Caroline Lucas . ^[63]

Indigenous rights

Monbiot has bone associated with the cause of indigenous rights , and has SOUGHT to denounce threats to tribal people, at the interface of corporate interests. ^{[64] [65]} He Contributed to the 2009 book We Are One: A Celebration of Tribal Peoples , ^[66] welke Explores the culture of peoples around the world, portraying zowel zijn diversity and the threats it faces.

Published works

Monbiot’s first book was Poisoned Arrows (1989), a work of investigative journalism travel expose what he called the “Devastating effects” of the partially World Bank -funded transmigration program on the peoples and Tribes or Papua and West Papua in Indonesia . It was Followed by Amazon Watershed (1991) welke Documented expulsions or Brazilian peasant farmers from hun country and Followed Them duizendtallen or miles across the forest to the territory of the Yanomami Indians, and Showed how timber sold in Britain was being stolen from indigenous and biological reserves in Brazil . His third book, No Man’s Land: An Investigative Journey Through Kenya and Tanzania (1994), Documented the seizure of land and cattle from nomadic people in Kenya and the Tanzania at-onder andere forces game parks and safari tourism.

In 2000, he published Captive State: The Corporate Takeover of Britain . The book gekeken the role of corporate power in the United Kingdom, one zowel local and national levels, and argues dat corporate Involvement in politics is a serious threat to democracy. Subjects discussed in the book include the building of the Skye Bridge , Corporate Involvement in the National Health Service , the role of business in university research, and the conditions welke influence the Granting of planning permission .

The Age of Consent

His fifth book, The Age of Consent: A Manifesto for a New World Order , was published in 2003. The book is an attempt to set out a positive manifesto for change for the global justice movement . Monbiot criticises Anarchism and Marxism , arguing dat ANY skies solution to the world’s inequalities must be rooted in a democratic Parliamentary system. The four main changes to global governance welke Monbiot argues for are a democratically elected world parliament welke mention anything suitable résolutions on international issues; a democratised United Nations General Assembly to replace the unelected UN Security Council ; the Proposed International Clearing Union welke mention anything automatisch discharge trade deficits and preventable the accumulation of debt; and a fair trade organization welke mention anything regulate world trade in a way dat Protects the Economies of poorer countries. ^[67]

The book discusses ways ook in welke synthesis ideas’ may be well JSON practice. He posits dat de United States and Western European states are Heavily dependent on the existence of this debt, and dat als faced with a choice tussen releasing the ontwikkelingslanden world from debt and the collapse of the global economy, van interne economic interests will dictate dat ze opt for the “soft landing” option. However, Monbiot emphasises dat he does not present the manifesto as a “final or definitive” answer to global inequalities but intends dat it arnt open debate and stresses therein Those who reject it must sacrifice hun eigen solutions. He argues dat ultimately the global justice movement “must seek … to bieden a coherent program or alternatives to the-concentrated power of the dictatorship of vested interests.”

Heat

Monbiot’s next book, Heat: How to Stop the Planet Burning , published in 2006, focuses on the issue of climate change . He points out dat het public opinion campaign to cast doubt on the reality of climate change are funded by fossil-fuel companies (primarily Exxon Mobil ), and traces the “network of fake citizens’ groups and bogus scientific bodies” campaigning to discrediting climate science to origins in a campaign by tobacco companies to create a facade of science to cast doubt on the link tussen cigarette smoking and disease. ^[68] He argues dat a 90 percent reduction in carbon emissions is Necessary in developed countries in order to preventable disastrous changes to the climate. Hey dan sets out to demo streets how zoals a reduction Could be Achieved binnen the United Kingdom, without a significant fall in living standards , through changes in housing, power supply, and transport.

Feral

Feral: Searching for Enchantment on the Frontiers of Rewilding was published in 2013, and focuses on the concept of rewilding the planet. Monbiot states “rewilding sacrifices a positive environmentalism. Environmentalists port lung Berninahaus what they ‘are against; now we kan explain what we are for.” ^[69]

In the book, Monbiot attacks sheep farming as “a slow-burning ecological disaster, welke has done more damage to the living systems of this country dan Either climate change or industrial pollution. Yet scarcely anyone Seems to port Noticed.” ^[70] He met name looks at sheep farming in Wales .

The book RECEIVED favourable reviews, zoals in publications normally hostile to his work, zoals The Spectator ^[71] and The Daily Telegraph . ^[70] It won the Society of Biology Book Award for general biology in 2014. ^[72]

Works by Monbiot

Honours

He has honorary doctorates from the University of St Andrews and the University of Essex, and an honorary fellowship from Cardiff University. ^[18]

In 1995, Nelson Mandela Presented im with a United Nations Global 500 Award for outstanding environmental achievement. ^[73] He was a finalist in the Lloyds National Screenwriting Prize ^[74] with his screen play The Norwegian , and won a Sony Award for radio production, the Sir Peter Kent Award and the OneWorld National Press Award. ^[18] In November 2007, his book Heat was Awarded the Premio Mazotti, an Italian book prize, but he was denied the money bepaald with the prize Because he refused to travel to Venice to collect it in person, arguing dat it was not a good enough reason to justify flying.

References