Climate, police state, tear gas, shoes in Paris

This video, recorded in Paris, France says about itself:

France: Massive ‘shoe protest’ held in Paris against banning of climate march

29 November 2015

Thousands of pairs of shoes were placed on the ground as part of an installation at Place de la République in Paris on Sunday in protest against the banning of the Global March for Climate that was due to be held in the capital later that day. The rally was outlawed by French authorities as part of a ban on pubic gatherings enforced in light of the Paris attacks of Friday, November 13.

If shoes cannot walk in a pro-environment demonstration, then they can at least stand still as silent witnesses.

However, human beings also as silent witnesses, standing still in a human chain? The police state has other ideas.

Translated from NOS TV in the Netherlands today:

At the Place de la République in central Paris, police fired tear gas grenades at a large group of climate activists. Despite the ban on public demonstrations around two hundred environmental activists gathered in the square to form a human chain. …

Tomorrow in the French capital begins the global climate conference COP21, in the presence of many heads of state and government. …

As an alternative to the gathering at the Place de la République, there are now thousands of pairs of shoes.

Rather ironic that the acronym for this conference is COP.

French police arrest activists for flouting ban on organising protests during climate talks next week: here.

Greenpeace France director Jean-François Julliard said that, to his knowledge, all the ecologists under house arrest were pacifist activists who had never committed any violent acts nor been charged with anything. “We have the feeling that [the government] wants to stifle criticism from the militants, but they are going about it in the worst possible way, this is repression,” he said on BFM television.

Meanwhile, the French government has NOT banned markets, football matches, etc. Events where thousands of people gather as well. And, in the case of football matches, with a higher risk of violence than at pro-environment demonstrations. However: events where, contrary to pro-climate marches, rich people can make lots of money. It looks suspiciously like the French authorities are not really concerned about ‘security’ or violence; but more about letting ExxonMobil, Shell, Volkswagen and other polluting corporations lobby in the smoke-filled backrooms of the COP21 conference, without countervailing power in pro-climate marches.

UPDATE: there were thousands of ‘illegal’ demonstrators; about 100 were arrested.

The police crackdown in Paris and the drift towards dictatorship in France: here.

Paris climate change talks: Worldwide protests as leaders prepare for start of COP21 summit. Thousands of demonstrators across the world from Sydney to London have staged one of the largest ever days of protest: here.

World Bank: Climate change could push 100 million into extreme poverty: here.

THE COUNTRIES WITH ‘THE MOST TO LOSE’ FROM FAILED CLIMATE TALKS How rising tides and changes in the forest industry could devastate the Pacific Islands, Chad, and other countries. Or, as Pope Francis said, keep the world headed “toward suicide.” [Lydia O’Connor, HuffPost]

Justin Farrell, a sociologist with the School of Forestry & Environmental Studies at Yale University, has conducted a study looking into the question of why there is so much polarity regarding the opinions of Americans regarding global environment change and has found that it can be very strongly tied to corporate disinformation campaigns. In his paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, he describes his study of publicly available written and verbal texts on the topic over the past two decades and why what he found led him to believe that a few key players in the U.S. have managed to muddle the debate in the minds of voters: here.