PRASHAD, Vijay: "We are between climate catastrophe and wars of extinction, with the final administration provoking both at hyper-speed"

Vijay Prashad (professor of international studies at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut and the author of 18 books, including “Arab Spring, Libyan Winter”, “The Poorer Nations: A Possible History of the Global South” and “The Death of a Nation and the Future of the Arab Revolution”) (2017): “It is not as if the Paris or Kyoto agreements would have been sufficient to stem the tide of adverse climate change. Even those were too mild, too friendly to corporations that make their money destroying the planet. But at least these agreements forced governments to accept that human activity—namely industrial capitalism—had hastened the destruction of nature. Now, Trump’s Energy Secretary Rick Perry says openly that carbon dioxide emissions are not the main drivers of climate change. Perry pointed the finger of blame at ‘ocean waters,’ allowing industrial capitalism an exit from responsibility. Why bother with alternatives to carbon when there is no ‘evidence’ that such energy sources bring the planet closer to annihilation?…Will a ‘small’ nuclear exchange be contemplated for the Korean Peninsula and for Eastern Asia in general? We are between climate catastrophe and wars of extinction, with the final administration provoking both at hyper-speed. Trump plays the role of Judas in Gaudi’s sculpture. Jesus speaks to him about betrayal. But he is looking over Judas’ shoulder. He is asking the rest of us if we are participants in the betrayal. What are you doing today to prevent Trump's agenda from driving our planet closer to extinction?” (Vijay Prashad, “Why the Trump Administration could be America’s last. We are between climate catastrophe and wars if extinction”, Alternet, 21 June 2017: http://www.alternet.org/world/why-trump-administration-could-be-americas-last ).