Climate protests: Do you believe that public stunts are effective in swaying public opinion?

Climate protests such as the self-immolation protest in Copenhagen this weeK: Do you believe that public stunts are effective in swaying public opinion?



By POV from its blog:



Ottawa police arrested five Greenpeace protesters who climbed an entrance to the Parliament Buildings on Monday, as about a dozen other activists lowered a banner from the roof of the West Block.



The five protesters had scaled a wall and scrambled onto an overhang over the Senate entrance of the Centre Block and hung a banner before police erected a ladder to take down the signs and pull the protesters away.



In Copenhagen, Denmark, close to where nearly 20,000 people are expected to attend the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change a British sculptor carving a polar bear out of ice, with a bronze skeleton inside, hopes to make a powerful environmental message when the Arctic animal art piece melts.



Mark Coreth started creating the ice polar bear on Friday in Kongens Nytorv Square.



Observers will be encouraged to be interactive with the sculpture, he added, saying that anyone who touches it will help change the shape and "represent the human aspect of warming the planet.



"We hope that this creative act will bring home to each person how humanity has the power to affect the delicate balance of nature," he said.



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Agreed

StevenHarp wrote:

Posted 2009/12/09

at 8:03 PM ETSomeone once said " man is the only animal with the intelligence to completely annihilate itself".

Slowly but surely000Agree 0DisagreePolicy Report abusewcitizen wrote:

Posted 2009/12/09

at 3:41 PM ETYou do not need science to know that human beings are the only animal beings who consume more than they need from a fixed asset, earth, whether it is air, water or land. Certainly, the earth does change (evolution just like everything else), which human beings cannot but endure when the change is sudden and drastic. However, these nature occurrences do not make an significant reduction in population growth; hence the impact of human beings has only one direction to go like the insatiable expectation of economical growth (consumption by definition). By the way, the whole economical theory is a form of ponzi scheme (the excessive money supply is basically from the future generations) if you think it carefully. If we are satisfied with needs not wants, who says that we need growth all the time.



I have not seen discussions put the problem squarely on ourselves or the population. All the discussions either right or left are politically motivated and on the fringes. Does it matter? The answer is no since it is only shifting the end point of the existing of human beings but not the end point itself. The environmental issue if one really want to be righteous about it is over-population and the fundamental indifference of the human minds.101Agree 0DisagreePolicy Report abuseStevenHarp wrote:

Posted 2009/12/09

at 12:03 PM ETWhat are the alternatives? Bombs and bullits?

Peacefull street protests are turned into street riots by the establishment infiltrators in an attempt to discredit the efforts.

This draws attention without causing harm to person or property.

In this case it also exposed the weakness in security on Parliment Hill.

They should all recieve the OoC Which are handed out like Christmas candy.111Agree 1DisagreePolicy Report abuseredwing22 wrote:

Posted 2009/12/08

at 9:19 AM ETI have noticed that a lot of the posts on this topic are claiming that climate change is not proven. These are obviously not educated comments. Global warming may not be proven, but climate change is undeniable. Deforestation, for instance, DOES cause climate change and anyone who denies this should seriously consider doing their OWN research on the subject. As for the "stunts", how else would the protesters spread their message. CBC would likely not publish a story about a few people holding signs.



Some have criticized the methods used in conducting experiments on climate change. It is true that some of these experiments are very controlled and directed toward a predicted result. This very same statement can be said about experiments carried out by pharmaceutical companies, or chemical companies, or the Government. I am an environmental studies student at UPEI, and I have a REAL understanding of what climate change IS, and what it IS NOT.737Agree 3DisagreePolicy Report abuseOemissions wrote:

Posted 2009/12/08

at 2:25 AM ETI am very grateful to Greenpeace.

These people are dedicated to the health of the planet and all creatures living here.

I am a senior and I find these protests and actions essential to keeping us informed of issues.

Notice however that the Republican teabaggers in the US have now taken up these tactics.

Its easy to call them leftist treehuggers who don't know have regular jobs. Sure they could be working as assistants to CEOs in some profit oriented, gas/oil/auto/pharmaceutical/GMO/GE corpration and getting paid a million dollar salary. They could be supersales people and lobbyists and live in mansions and own several automobiles.

Is that what you people think is right livelihood?

You don't seem to mind the billions of dollars spent by lobbyists to get governments to support them and their projects.

I wish I could have been un Ottawa today to cheer these young people on.

As it was, I saw the show on CBC early this am.

I was proud of Greenpeace.