11/10/21 110/21 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york and glasgow, this is democracy now! >> what this will associate average, about two degrees plus for africa and many other places. something tolerable, something that people could survive, that some people -- it mea for sentencing people to death.

amy: at the u.n. climate summit in glasgow, a draft agreement urging nations to increase their pledges to cut greenhouse gas emissions and phaseout call, but climate justice activists say the document falls short of what is needed to avert a climate catastrophe. we will speak to the nigerian environmental leader nnimmo bassey, and then look at the global climate wall -- a new report examining how the world's wealthiest nations are prioritizing borders over climate action. plus, we speak to the famed indian writer amitav ghosh. author of the new book "the nutmeg's curse: parables for a planet in cris." >> thelimate crisis of today is rooted in history that has created enormous disparities of power and wealth across the globe. amy: all that and more, coming up.

welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. in glasgow, the u.n. climate agency released a draft accord today calling on countries to set more aggressive goals for cutting emissions and to fast-track the phasing out of coal, as well as phasing out fossil fuel subsidies. the document also says countries should stop emitting greenhouse gases "by or around mid-century" but does not set precise or urgent deadlines and enforcement policies. negotiators at cop26ill continue talks over the second half of this week before a final deal is reached. this comes as the group climate action tracker found that the planet is on track to see a catastrophic 4 degree celus rise in temperaturthis century, even with governments' pledges to reduce emissions.

the foreign minister of tuvalu recorded a speech to delegates, delivered while standing knee-deep in seawater to highlight how the low-lying pacific island is facing imminent danger from rising sea levels. >> we will not stand idly by as the water rises around us. we are just talking in tuvalu. on the national level, we are pursuing old legal avens to ensure our existing maritime boundaries will remain intact and we will be recognized a sovereign even if arlette territory is lost to climate change. amy: new york congress member alexandria ocasio-cortez arrived at the glasgow summit where she echoed nancy pelosi's message that america is back when it

comes to the global fit against climate change. but alexandria ocasio-cortez added the u.s. has "not recovered our moral authority" on climate action and that the u.s. would have to prove itself by actually slashing its emissions. >> we cannot actually just pursue decarbonization. it has to center a benefit for the working class, for the vulnerable, for frontline communities, people of color, when men, underserved communities, and it has to a justice and job focus in order for us to meet our emissions goals. amy: we will go to glasgow for the latest after headlines. meanwhile, in washington, d.c., calls are mounting for congressional action against republican congressmember paul gosar after he posted an animated video on social media depicting himself killing congressmember alexandria ocasio-cortez and attacking president biden. house speaker nancy pelosi has called on house minority leader kevin mccarthy to request an investigation from the house

ethics committee and law enforcement. paul gosar's own sister, jennifer gosar, called him a sociopath and said his behavior could escalate. pfizer to state requested federal regulators authorize the covid-19 booster for all adults . currently, people 65 and older and adults at high risk due to medical conditions or their living or working situations are eligible for the booster. the fda is expected to grant pfizer's request. a new study out of texas shows unvaccinated patients are 40 times more likely to die of covid-19 than fully vaccinated texans. when numbers were studied during the delta variant surge, the likelihood of death for unvaccinated people shrunk but still remained exponentially higher at 20 times that of vaccinated texans. in more vaccine news, moderna is attempting keep the names of government scientists off its

coronavirus vaccine patent, which could have major implications in how the vaccine is distributed throughout the world. three researchers from the national institutes of health worked with moderna to develop the vaccine, which was also funded with $10 billion in public money. in kenosha, wisconsin, the prosecution rested its case in the murder trial of kyle rittenhouse. on monday, a volunteer medic testified he feared for his life before the white 17-year-old opened fire with a semiautomatic assault rifle, striking his arm and blowing away most of his right bicep. gaige grosskreutz recounted to jurors how he drew his own pistol after seeing the teen gunman fire several shots from his ar-15 during racial justice protests last summer. he's being questioned here by kenosha's assistant district attorney thomas binger. >> i thought that the defendant was an active shooter.

>> what was going through your mind at this particular moment? >> that i was going to die. amy: rittenhouse fatally shot two people that night, anthony huber and joseph rosenbaum. the defense will continue making its case today. meanwhile, in georgia, a glynn county police detective testified tuesday that gregory mcmichael, a former police officer and one of the three white men who is charged with hunting down and murdering ahmaud arbery, told him he never saw arbery commit a crime. another officer, jeff brandeberry, testified mcmichael never said he was trying to perform a citizen's arrest of arbery, which is a major part of the defense's arguments. he's questioned here by prosecutor linda dunikoski. >> while speaking with you, dude mcmichael every sort or glory? trespass?

did he ever tell you while you were talking him he was attempting to make a citizens arrest? >> no, ma'am. >> did he ever use the word arrest, detain? >> no, ma'am. >> did he tell you, we were going to detain the sky and went for police to investigate? >> no, ma'am. in ethiopia, the united nations says 16 staff members have been detained in the capil addis ababa. at least six others have been released. it's unknown why the u.n. staff were apprehended. this comes as the u.n. warns ethiopia could descend into a full scale civil war as violence intensifies between the ethiopian military and tigrayan rebel forces after one year of conflict. the agency estimates over 7 million people urgently need humanitarian aid in northern ethiopia alone, with some 400,000 people in the tigray already living in famine-like conditions. the u.n. set it is still not able to access tho in need in

tigray. in niger, at least 26 children were killed and over a dozen injured when a fire engulfed their classrooms monday. fires are not uncommon at schools in niger, which are often constructed from flammable materials like straw and wood. it's the latest tragedy in the west african nation. just one day earlier, at least 18 people died in a collapsed gold mine in the south of the country. separately, niger had just held two days of national mourning after 69 people, including a local mayor, were killed last week in an attack by gunmen in the country's volatile southern border region. the u.n. is urging burma's military to give the agency access to over 3 million people in need of life-saving humanitarian aid amid growing violence flowing theebruary 1 coup. in other news from burma, journali danny fener has been chaed with teorism and sedition. fenster has been detained since may and is already on trial for three othecharges, aused of

instigatindissent ainst the military, visa breaches, and unlawful association with an llegal group." the 37-year-old is the former managing editor of frontier myanmar, an independent online news outlet. his trial is being held at the military-run court inside prison, where members of the public, reporters, and embassy officials are banned from entry. in yemen, a journalist has been killed in a car explosion in the city of aden. rasha abdullah al-harazi worked for a united arab emirates-based television channel and was pregnant. an initial police investigation revealed an explosive device had been planted on her car. her husband, who is also a journalist, was on board. he survived but was seriously injured. no group has claimed responsibility for the attack. a new investigation by a federal watchdog found least 13 trump officials engaged in illegal campaigning for his reelection while in office, in violation of the hatch act. some of those named in the

report include son-in-law and senior adviser jared kushner, counselor kellyanne conway, secretary of state mike pompeo, chief of staff mark meadows, press secretary kayleigh mcenany, and senior adviser stephen miller. meanwhile, the house committee investigating the january 6 capitol insurrection has issued subpoenas to 10 more former trump officials, including stephen miller and mcenany. mcenany made multiple claims about voter fraud both before and after the 2020 presidential election, including at her first news conference following trump's loss to joe biden. >> very real claims out there that the campaign is pursuing. this is a system that had never been tried and and or can history, mail-in voting is when we have identified as being particularly prone to fraud. amy: this comes as a federal judge tuesday rejected trump's latest bid to use executive privilege to block the january 6 committee from accessing documents related to his attempts to overturn the

election. judge tanya chutkan said, "presidents are not kings, and trump is not president." the national archives is expected to release the documents beginning on friday. and the oklahoma supreme court has overturned a historic 2019 ruling against johnson & johnson, which ordered the company to pay $465 million for its role in fueling oklahoma's opioid crisis. the court said the state's public nuisance law could not be applied to j&j's deceptive marketing practices. oklahoma's attorney general indicated his office may seek to challenge the ruling. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman in new york, joined by my co-host juan gonzález in new brunswick, new jersey. hi, juan. juan: hi, amy. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. amy: we begin today's show in glasgow at the u.n. climate summit.

earlier today, dropped agreement was released calling on nations to strengthen their climate plans and to acceleratthe phasing out of coal as well as subsidies for fossil fuels. the draft also urges wealthy nations to "urgently scale-up" financial support for developing countries to help them adapt to the climate crisis. a key part of the draft calls on nations to make tougher pledges to cut emissions by the end of 2022 -- three years earlier than scheduled. greenpeace issued a statement saying -- "this draft deal is not a plan to solve the climate crisis, it's an agreement that we'll all cross our fingers and hope for the best." this comes as a new report by the group climate action tracker estimates the world temperatures are on track to rise by 2.4 degrees celsius above pre-industrial levels based on current emissions pledges. that is far higher than the 1.5 degree goal set at the paris talks. we know go inside to the cop

in glasgow, where we are joined by the nigerian environmental activist and poet nnimmo bassey. he is the director of the health of mother earth foundation and author of a number of books, including "oil politics: echoes of ecological wars" and "to cook a continent: destructive extraction and climate crisis in africa." nnimmo bassey, welcome back to democracy now! can you respond to the draft report? where is the enforcement than what about the goals that have been set in the midst of this climate emergency? >> thank you very much, amy. it is very clear this cop is going to end the same what others have ended previously, with a lack of fact you're in a planetary emergency. for the first time, however, they're talking a phasing out

some part of fossil fuel. the whole world knows the climate crisis we are facing today is the burning of fossil fuels. saying they should phase out coal but only -- this cop believes fossil fuel used in energy production should continue most of in other words, something that can be toyed with. this is extremely disappointing. the only hope we have is -- the document is further watered down. don't phase out anything, just remove subsidies. this is nothing that is binding, nothing that anybody can be held to account for. that is why the contributions of proposals led by government to cut emissions, they do not talk about net zero, net emission reduction, talk talk about

actual emission reduction, not stopping emissions at the source. there talking about how to continue with business as usual by ensuring means of capturing what they are emitting. the document shows clearly those who were drafting it attracted it for other people to implement. there is no force what is being proposed. -- there's no force behind what is being proposed. raise the target and that is the disappointment because it is not for lack of funds this money is not being raised. they spent close to $2 trillion in military warfare every year and so looking for 100 lien dollars -- keep procrastinating try to make it -- vulnerable

nations that are already facing serious climate impact. a series draft agreement -- draft decision and indication of seriousness. juan: nnimmo bassey, could you talk about the impact of the fossil fuel lobbyists that have been at this gathering? global witness estimates at least 503 fossil fuel lobbyists were granted access to cop26. was it more of a carbon stock exchange and it was actually a meeting of the people of the world to figure out what to do about climate change? >> clearly, having so many fossil fuel delegates at the cop is a clear indication we cannot expect anything good from this cop.

the fossil fuel industry has captured the cop over the years. this you there is less -- over 500 delegates, far more than many countries delegates put together. utilities suspicion and the fact cop the is not really serious about tackling global warming. the key to the fossil fuel industry. we don't see how they're going to do what needs to be done to keep fossil in the ground and rapidly moving -- petroleum sources and coal and gas. the presence of this group of people in the financial institutions backing them is really very disturbing. here we are today, for example, the fossil fuel industry is

planning to invest about 250 billion dollars over the next -- in africa in about $1.4 trillion by the year 2050. they're looking for profit and they don't juan: care what happens tomorrow. what about those who say the very process, the structure at the top doomsday to failure because you must have consensus of all of the nations rather than a majority rule. consensus meets minority role because one or two nations can stop the process. how does this affect the majority of the nations of the world who may have different perspectives from the industrial -- the giant industrial polluting nations? >> working on majority vote and consensus is one of the things

-- this concept of consensus was shattered in the cop in cancún. at least one nation, bolivia, stood up against the agreement and they were pushed aside and we had to celebrate the adoption of the cancún outcome. the presidents of the cop in this organizing it. it is not in the interest of the vulnerable nations. it is not about listening to those who are suffering great impact. today the work is celebrating or excepting 1.5. 1.5 degrees celsius and estimates show national contributions would not amount to about 2.4, 2.7 degrees celsius to pitcher. what does that leave africa?

it would set the continent on fire. it would sacrifice the continent and yet we believe these are tillable -- are tolerable. it is criminal, to say the least. amy: nnimmo bassey, the text does not mention the contentious article six of the paris agreement, which would establish the rules of the global market for buying and selling carbon. can you explain this in lay terms for people to understand, your thoughts on that and where you think this is ending up? >> well, the issue of carbon market into the cop is one of those issues that kind of pretends to push -- push the idea that the market can solve the problem that has been created by the market. it is completely impossible. if the market is all about profits, power, is about control

, it is about domination, and this is not a way to build solidarity of operation between countries in the world today. in terms of capital market and so on and so forth, we had elements like carbon trading, reducing emissions, and now to make it sound better, to make it sound more acceptable, they talk about net zero. pricing carbon is hot air. that is at it means. it ia deviceor avoidg acti. you cod say,ell, i cld keepn pollutg the treewe paor a fest in tt coo or uganda or somewhere that has already been burned down -- consuming things that levels that are tolerable. so the whole carbon market is about avoiding action, avoiding climate action, within profiting

from the misery of the majority people in the world today. juan: could you talk about two of the world's largest polluting nations are absent from the cop this year, china and russia. could you talk about china's role, especially in africa with its policies and voracious desire for more minerals? >> could you repeat that? juan: i don't know if you heard me, i ask you about the absence of china and russia from the cop this year and china's role in africa in terms of the environmental harm? >> yes, thank you. it is very concerning the big polluters such as russia and china, they were away from the

cop. it speaks poorly of leadership in the concern about what is clearly a problem. many other leaders consider climate change national warming other than global warming. based on national mother that global -- rather than global. china is about running africa, driving deforestation, investing in fossil fuel development, pipelines that take oil from uganda to seaport for export. this is something that is threatening, not just climate change, but the livelihoods of millions of africans who depend on freshwater system from the basin in east africa. investment in fossil development

is terms -- on that continent, the total workforce of the continent, less than 1% of africans are working in that sector. just another way of exploitation company does what china -- russia pushing technology for nuclear power. [indiscernible] compounding the crisis. not just a what is in delegates. amy: as we wrap up, can you describe the real effects of the climate emergency on the continent of africa?

two, what gives you hope? we see you every year at the climate summits. we have been together from copenhagen on. you have been arrested at protests, yet you keep going. what gives you hope? >> well, the impact of global warming the continent of africa is enormous. one thing is the last chunk of the continent on the equator, so the temperature impacting the continent is far above average. global average is very threatening to me and all of the continent. now, again, the continent is run by water bodies. syria's sealevel rise impact -- serious sealevel rise impact. the place like nigeria is losing

about two meters every year to coastal erosion due to sealevel rise. this is having great impact already on communities and it is a big problem. i am thinking we have been at most cops and i appreciate the amount that you have to promote solutions from these cops, but this may well be my last attended cop if the process continues to go in the wrong direction. the cop provides a very good opportunity for movements and actors to meet. right now as we sit in the cop in glasgow, they are grounded discussions going on in the people summit outside the cop. i am looking forward to a time when the outside arena the decision-making just as we find

-- the cop is more less a playground for politicians. amy: thank you for being with us, nnimmo bassey, nigerian environmental activist and poet and the director of the health of mother earth foundation. in 2010, hugh one the right livelihood award. he is the author of our number of books, including "oil politics: echoes of ecological wars" and "to cook a continent: destructive extraction and climate crisis in africa." coming up, we look at the global climate wall. but a report examining how the world's wealthiest nations are prioritizing borders over climate action. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: "4 degrees" by anohni. this is democracy now! i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. on tuesday, i giant puppet arrived at cop26 in glasgow

after walking some paid thousand miles across europe to join an event highlighting gender equality. it represents a syrian refugee girl who was there too call attention to refugee children living on the front lines of the climate crisis, which is the driving force behind displacement migration from sealevel rise and drought to hurricanes, flashlights, and fires. the world's richest countries have responded by militarizing their borders and treating the humanitarian crisis as a security issue. nato secretary general jens stoltenberg attended this year's u.n. climate summit, marking first time a top military alliance leader came to the climate talks since they began. on tuesday, u.s. house speaker need to pelosi traveled to cop26 along with other democratic lawmakers like alexandria ocasio-cortez, and raised the issue of security during a press conference. this is part of her exchange

withbby martinf the empire files. >> speaker pelosi, just presided over aarge increase the pentag budget which is already massive. the pentagon is a larger polluter than 140 countries combined. how can we seriously talabout t zero ithere is this bipartisan consensus to constantly expand this large contributor to climate change? >> national security advisor is all tell us that the climate crisis is a national security matter. it is of course a health matter for our children, the water they drink and air they breathe, etc., jobs issue between clean technologies being the future of our workforce and the training for all of that. it is a national secity issue because of allf the conditions that the climate rices produces -- i won't go into all of them -- but they are cause for migration, conict over habitat

and resources, again, a security challenge globally. the defense department sees this systemically we have to stop as a national security issue, and one way to do that is to stop our dependence on fossil fuels, which exacerbate the climate crisis. with that, i think you all for being here. unfortunately, they're telling us they have to clean the room. amy: that is nancy pelosi at the cop. you can see our extended discussion yesterday on the military and the climate emergency. the press conference is over that pelosi spoke at, but we continue the conversation now with two guests joining us from glasgow. inside cop26 with the grassroots delegation called it takes roots is santra denis. and joining us outside is nick buxton, with the transnational institute, co-author of their new report "global climate wall: how the world's wealthiest

nations prioritize borders over climate action." before we talk about specific countries like haiti, nick buxton, talk about your findings, this prioritization of the militarization of borders dealing with the clate emergency. >> it was interesting -- thank you, amy, for the invitation to be here. i think it was interesting we heard climate has been discussed by nancy pelosi but not been discussed as an issue of how address climate migration. she described migration as a security threat. that is the only way that climate i gratian has been discussed at the summit. that does not surprise me because what we have looked at in a recent report was where is the money going? we know money is one of the big conversations here. the rich countries going to deliver the promise $100 billion of climate finance, wholly inadequate a yet they failed

to deliver that. we decided to compare what they have delivered in terms of climate finance with how much they're putting toward border and immigration enforcement. what we found is the richest countries are spending -- the richest and historical emitters of greenhouse gas emissions, talking about seven countries here -- u.s., u.k. thinks about the two big ones, ar spending twice as much on border and immigration enforcement as they are on actually providing climate finance. what we're seeing the richest countries are building a climate wall against the consequces of climate change rather than dealing with the causes, rather than providing money that would enable people to vote stay -- both stay if they are affected by storms and extreme weather war to leave d find safety if there forced to travel away from their homes because they have been destroyed. juan: nick buxton, how to these

nations rationalize these policies giv the fact international capitalism constantly seeking to tear down national boundaries for the flow of goods whether it is lower tariffs where the free flow of money and investment? how can they justify erecting walls against migrants who had the same time -- while at the me time tearing down walls for capital? >> that is clearly part of this whole cop. we see it here really the -- it is unfolding that the climate negotiations are really about how to provide business, freedom and at the same time depends on the control and the explication -- the border has become a frontline for this. if we are to have corporations moving freely, will continue to

extract no matter the cost, then we're going to have to have consequences. those consequences to be controlled. behind this is the coal industry. quite interesting the biggest border security companies are also not only controlling the border, but they're are also working with the well firms to defend their assets. security -- freedom of capital and the chance to exploit to make profit also depends on the control of borders and the vulnerable people. there's a whole industry now that is profiting from the consequences of climate change, not just the oil industry, which of course as a business model which is based on wrecking the planet, but also now and increasing industry arising. you can see they also benefit from more and more great consequences, military, border

security industry, that is expected to be worth $65 billion , gross underestimate, just part of the industry, by 2025. it is an industry that is profiting from this climate crisis. juan: how are some of the major fossil fuel companies, chevron, exxon, mobil, are they also involved in border militarization? >> not directly involved, but like i said, they contract services of these were security companies. for example, exxon mobil works with l3 harris, one of the major u.s. border contractors involved at the u.s.-mexico border. they also work with exxon mobil to provide what is called maritime tomato awareness. essentially, controlling the area of the niger delta where we know huge amount of pollution has happened and people and communities that have been

fighting for a long time to both into the extraction destroying their life and our planet. exxon mobil is using border security firm to do it. they are very strong ties between the two industries. another, bp, working -- they're big campaigns right now about palantir because it is very much involved in ice, in surveillance operations of migrants in the u.s.. it also provides real-time drilling data to bp. so these industries are very much tied and they also share corporate executives. we found chevron has the former ceo both lockheed martin and northrop grumman on its board. there is a lot of indirect ties stuff like i said, they're both industries that can prit from a climate crisis. amy: let's bring santra denis

into the conversation. nick is outside the cop in glasgow and you are inside the u.n. climate summit in glasgow just in front of that revolving globe. you are with the miami workers center. you are haitian-american. i cannot think of a country that is more affected by the climate right now. i am wondering what words you have for the biden administration, president obama just gave a speech, president biden last week, nancy pelosi just gave it. what message do you have for that biden administration about what should be happening when it comes to -- would you describe patients as climate refugees? talk about what asylum-seekers in miami where you are from, what they are fleeing?

>> just month ago we saw 70,000 haitians, black folks from africa, in texas at the u.s.-mexico border really being denied their human rights, not necessarily -- not even given a chance, the majority of them, to even ask for asylum, which is a right of there's. in turn what we saw was an increase in border patrol, folks being rounded up, horses. what we would say, whipped. that was the response when folks work -- people from haiti were fleeing the 2010, now 2021 earthquake that happened. we have seen homes decimated, increased heat, folks lose all of their belongings in one day and having to flee their homes that they actually don't want to leave. when the environment folks are living in is destroyed before them, they also are asking for a

such as the u.s., one of the biggest countries that pollutes the earth, should be accountable and that is not what we are saying. that is what we're hearing from folks in miami, that they're not leaving her homes because they don't love their homes, but leaving because they don't recognize their homes anymore based on the climate disasters, earthquake after earthquake, hurricane, storms, drought. their food sources are being poisoned. so much is happening in the country. those are the stories on the ground that i wanted to lift up. juan: santra, your inside the cop as part of that it takes roots delegation. what are you focusing on in the meetings and what has been the reaction of the national delegations or delegates that you've been able to talk to? >> salute leave. we are focused on real solutions. there's been a call for net

zero. we know it is not a solution. we want real reductions, which equates to real solutions. for us, that is growing the care economy, low carbon industry where people who are on the front lines overwhelmingly miami workers -- domestic workers, first responders we believe instead of investing in more border patrol, what we should be investing in is in the people in these industries that are low carbon, but also the first folks to respond when there is a climate disaster. that is what we are lifting up. we will continue to lift that up until the stories of the folks on the front lights you are the first impacted and worst impacted, this new zero folks are talking about doesn't work for us. 2030, 20 40, we don't have that much time because people from haiti, people in miami, people in coastal cities are

experiencing the impact of climate change right now and have been experiencing it for quite some time now. amy: santra denis, thank you for being with us, with the miami workers center and the it takes roots delegations at the cop26 u.n. climate summit glasgow glasgow in. nick buxton, we will link to your report "global climate wall." next up, writer amitav ghosh, author of the new book "the nutmeg's curse: parables for a planet in crisis." stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: "the universe wakes up" by the comet is coming. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. as we end today's show with the prize-winning indian write amitav ghosh. his new book is titled "the nutmeg's curse: parables for a planet in crisis." ghosh writes about how the roots

of the climate crisis date back to western colonialism and the violent exploitation of human life and the natural environment. amitav ghosh's previous books include "the great derangement: climate change and the unthinkable" and the novel "gun island." he joins us from his home in brooklyn, new york. welcome to democracy now! we last spoke to you at the beginning of covid and how it was ravaging india. and here we are in the second week of the cop. your book is getting rave reviews, "the nutmeg's curse." tell the story of the climate crisis through "the nutmeg." >> thank you for having me on, amy. very nice to be on your show again. well, you know, i really look

upon the climate crisis as a protest ofiolence. it is a prost of violence both against humans and against the earth. this goes back, in my view, to the 17th century, european conquest of the americas, and also european conquest of large parts of asia. the story of "the nutmeg's curse" begins in a completely forgotten place, islands in the extreme et of indonesia, a tiny archipelago. but this archipelago has amazing trees, nutmeg trees. to put a long story short, europeans went to the indian ocean cup would straight to the islands as ickly as they could, a they try to impose monopolies on the nutmeg trees.

of course, the islands resisted. ultimately, what this led to was in 1621, dutchny company had a solution eminating the entire popution of the island. many of the people were killed. many of themere enslaved. many othem died of staatn and disease and so on. story is also unfolding on the other end of the english and dutch empire, in the northeastern united states. in the case because the islands, what makes the story so ignant in my view is at the heart of i is this tree, this raculous tree of life. this tree was a greatlessing to the island i finally became a terrible curse.

that curse is in fact an instance -- that ishat we see unfolding around the world all around us. talking about nigeria and how the deltaare becoming unlivable for people. again because of the resources, oil. do you have seen so many countries destroyed. iraq is a good example. many other countries as well. i think what is happening today is we are seeing -- being the model which came into beingn the 17th century. this model is now -- s been globalized on a planetary scale. devouring our planet.

juan: i want to ask you specifically about you said you suggesteyour book that the period of the enlightened lead to a way of looking at earth as the repository of resources made only for human use and consumption. i want to ask you, even if we were able as a planet to shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy, wouldn't there still be a problem of this overproduction of capitalism right now, we would have the problem in having to deal with the ewaste of the constant changing batteries every year because the cpanies have to keep producing new models and keep the consumption of flow going? i am wondering how you deal with this issue of the consumer society that capitalism so depends on now? >> well, that is a very good

question. that is absolutely the case. seem to be of the understanding energy produced by fossil fuels can easily be replaced a renewables, and that is all theres to it. but that is not the case aall. renewable energy requires so many other kinds of materials, many kinds of minerals. windmills, enormous structures of ccrete. concrete is also -- the production produces a lot of greenhouse gases. but apart from that, nothing about fossil fuels, the reason why they become so deeply entrenched in our lives is not just because they produc energy, but because they produce thkind of energy that interacts with structures of power in very specific ways. for example, china.

china is by far the leader in the direction of renewable energy. but imagine if china were able to completely reduce its dependence on fossil fuels and switcho renewabl energy. it would completely overturn that you political order of the world today because the geopolitics of the world lead to pins on the shipping of fossil fuels to these particular chokepoints. two of the most important chokepoints, something like 40% of the worlds oil are shipped through these chokepoints every day. on controlling these chokepoints depends actually western geopolitical dominance. if fossil fuels were to be complely at scale, what you would have is a complete version

of the world's geopolital water. i think this is what we don't talk about when we go to these negotiations. nnimmo bassey talked about militarization. i think what we're seeing around that unfolding is exactly this dynamic, this logic. the ings we do't think about really are those that come to control the planet and have come to control our lives in so many ys. for example, was interesting to hear nancy pelosi talk about making that military list pitted on fossil fuels. in fact, the u.s. military today at the global protector of fossil fuel movement. in eence, the security structure of the world h become completely dependent upon th movements and flows of fossil fuels.

i think these are the things need to be acknowledged, otherwise, these negotiations become really just a kind of sham that nnimmo bassey was describing. amy: i want to do a live little correct here. if you could come a little closer to the computer and hold the microphone a little closer to her mouth, it will be easier to hear you. but i wanted to read you a little bit from the guardian speaking at the world leaders summit at the u.n. glasgow in. the indian prime minister made five key pledges for how india would decarbonize over the next few decades, india developing country from more than 1.3 billion people is the world's third-largest largest emitter of carbonon dioxide after the u.s. and china. the last remaining major economy that held out on a net zero

commitment and ss you will get to it by think it is around 2070. your thoughts on the rule of ridge road modi and what it means for example not to commit when it comes to use it energy to ending coal? >> can you hear me better now? amy: yes, little better. >> let's admit straightaway these net zero commitments are far in any case. people are just pulling these numbers out of their head. a large part of this is bause around the world today, eaters become experts agreeashing. they taught this language of greenwashing. -- they talk this land which of eenwashing. they talk the greenwashing

rhetoric but at the same time ey are licensing more and more fossil fuel restotion and that is exactly what mo is doing as well. he is talking sort of greenwashing talk at the same time licensed 55oal plants which areoing to come outn india. these comas are goi to wreck the lives of hundreds of thousands of forced dwelling people, perhaps millions of them. they were able to articula positions and points of view at cop26. essentially, what modi's government has done, and not just his come even the government before his was doing the same thing, opening all of india up to the most rapacious

kind of instructed industries. as the terrible process to witness. juan: in your book, you emphasize what you call radical empathy. could you explain what that means and how that potentially good have emancipatory effect with respect to climate crisis? >> well, as we were saying earlier, going back to the enlightenment of the 17th century and so on, we get this mechanistic vision of the earth is something that is dead, something that really exists only to provide people powerful human beings with resources i think we have move away from that, the way completely to a different way of viewing the earth. i am a writer so i think sries are a fundamental part of this.

but i do think this could have an important political impact. if you don't get people who resisted fossil fuelndustrs, most effectively in america, -- i know you and annie have been vering the mement for long time. ideas about the sacredness of the earth. it was very important to that movement. it is not necessarily something -- the longevity of the movement, the resiliency really depends on american ideas, of the vitality of the earth. movements like that are now all around the world. [indiscernible] we had a movement whe men hung from trees -- women hung from trees to keep that from being cut down.

one of the positivehings i've seen in the world today is even high courts and supreme courts are beginning to recognize cash recently, there was a judgment that recognized a river. i think these ideas are becoming more and more widespread and i think that could lead to a sort of change of heart from the earth. amy: thank you so much for being with us, amitav ghosh, award-winning indian novelist and writer. his most recent book is titled "the nutmeg's curse parables for a planet in crisis." that does it for our show. his previous book, "the great arrangement." tomorrow, we will speak to climate scientist. democracy now! is currently has job openings.

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hello there, and welcome to nhk "newsline." i'm catherine kobayashi in new york. prices of everything from groceries to gasoline have been climbing across the u.s. inflation has hit its highest level in more than 30 years, and consumers are feeling the pinch. the consumer price index measures what people pay for a basket of goods and services. officials with the labor department say the cpi over the past 12 months surged 6.2%. that's the fastest pace since 1990.