August 20th, 2014By Naomi Klein So I'm profiled in the new issue of Vogue that comes out today, talking about my forthcoming book This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate. I was pretty nervous about the piece, in part because of the somewhat weird (for me) context, but mostly because it's the first major piece on the book. Happily, the writer, John Powers, did a really lovely and thoughtful job and I'm grateful. Of course he made my life sound way more fabulous than it actually is, but that's his job (it's Vogue!). There are however, two issues raised by the article that need addressing, both of them (sort of) about branding. As Powers reveals, I was recently diagnosed with thyroid cancer. This is not a subject I would have chosen to be public about but it's not one I'm able to hide either (the throat scar takes care of that). So I first want to reassure those who might be alarmed by the mention of perhaps the worst of all global brands. I'm doing great. Thyroid cancer is a very treatable form of the disease. I have excellent doctors, free health care (I live in Canada), and a great...

20 August, 2014

April 22nd, 2014By Naomi Klein This is a story about bad timing.One of the most disturbing ways that climate change is already playing out is through what ecologists call "mismatch" or "mistiming." This is the process whereby warming causes animals to fall out of step with a critical food source, particularly at breeding times, when a failure to find enough food can lead to rapid population losses. Read on The Nation ...

22 April, 2014

April 10th, 2014By Naomi Klein The way to beat Vladimir Putin is to flood the European market with fracked-in-the-USA natural gas, or so the industry would have us believe. As part of escalating anti-Russian hysteria, two bills have been introduced into the US Congress — one in the House of Representatives (H.R. 6), one in the Senate (S. 2083) — that attempt to fast-track liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports, all in the name of helping Europe to wean itself from Putin's fossil fuels, and enhancing US national security. Read on The Guardian ...

10 April, 2014

October 29th, 2013By Naomi Klein In December 2012, a pink-haired complex systems researcher named Brad Werner made his way through the throng of 24,000 earth and space scientists at the Fall Meeting of the American Geophysical Union, held annually in San Francisco. This year's conference had some big-name participants, from Ed Stone of Nasa's Voyager project, explaining a new milestone on the path to interstellar space, to the film-maker James Cameron, discussing his adventures in deep-sea submersibles.But it was Werner's own session that was attracting much of the buzz. It was titled "Is Earth F**ked?" (full title: "Is Earth F**ked? Dynamical Futility of Global Environmental Management and Possibilities for Sustainability via Direct Action Activism"). Read on The New Statesman ...

29 October, 2013

September 25th, 2013By Kevin Anderson Having read the interview with Naomi Klein, Joe Romm's commentary on the interview and Klein's succinct rejoinder, I do not want to unnecessarily extend the discussion prior to the publication of Klein's forthcoming book. However, Alice Bows and I do want to respond briefly to Romm's suggestion that "green groups disagree" with our conclusion that "dangerous climate change can only be avoided if economic growth is exchanged, at least temporarily, for a period of planned austerity within [developed] nations" because they think our "view of economics … is wrong". Our disagreement with Romm's assertion stems from two related arguments. Read on KevinAnderson.info ...

25 September, 2013

September 25th, 2013By Jason Mark Canadian author Naomi Klein is so well known for her blade-sharp commentary that it's easy to forget that she is, above all, a first-rate reporter. I got a glimpse into her priorities as I was working on this interview. Klein told me she was worried that some of the things she had said would make it hard for her to land an interview with a president of the one of the Big Green groups (read below and you'll see why). She was more interested in nabbing the story than being the story; her reporting trumped any opinion-making.Such focus is a hallmark of Klein's career. She doesn't do much of the chattering class's news cycle blathering. She works steadily, carefully, quietly. It can be surprising to remember that Klein's immense global influence rests on a relatively small body of work; she has published three books, one of which is an anthology of magazine pieces. Read on Earth Island Journal ...

25 September, 2013

September 9th, 2013By Naomi Klein Dear Joe, Congratulations on your hasty and unnecessary hatchet job on a book I haven't even finished yet, based on an edited interview about one-tenth of its content. A book of which you haven't read a single word. Disagree with the interview I gave, fine. But to assume you know what evidence is in the book and can therefore dismiss it outright is a new twist on old-school arrogance. Impressive. Nice work as well on telling people not to see a film that is also far from finished, based on material that is not even planned to be in the documentary at all. (Feel free to call me next time you'd like to check a fact.) Let's hope your next work is not subjected to such extreme prejudice. Joe, we clearly have some disagreements -- as well as huge common ground. But if anyone is guilty of taking a sledge hammer to an ally here, I suggest you take a quick glance at what's in your (bloody) hand. Once the book is done, I'll have lots more time to debate the various points in your post. But for now, I've got a book to finish. I realize this is a disappointment...

09 September, 2013

September 3rd, 2013By Naomi Klein Naomi delivered the following speech on September 1, 2013 at the founding convention of UNIFOR, a new mega union created by the Canadian Autoworkers and the Canadian Energy and Paper Workers Union. Full text of the speech follows the video. I'm so very happy and honoured to be able to share this historic day with you. The energy in this room — and the hope the founding of this new union has inspired across the country — is contagious. It feels like this could be the beginning of the fight back we have all been waiting for, the one that will chase Harper from power and restore the power of working people in Canada. So welcome to the world UNIFOR. A lot of your media coverage so far has focused on how big UNIFOR is — the biggest private sector union in Canada. And when you are facing as many attacks as workers are in this country, being big can be very helpful. But big is not a victory in itself. The victory comes when this giant platform you have just created becomes a place to think big, to dream big, to make big demands and take big actions....

03 September, 2013

May 2nd, 2013By Naomi Klein The movement demanding that public interest institutions divest their holdings from fossil fuels is on a serious roll. At last count, there were active divestment campaigns on 305 campuses and in more than 100 US cities and states. The demand has spread to Canada, Australia, the Netherlands and Britain. And though officially launched just six months ago, the movement can already claim some provisional victories: four US colleges have announced their intention to divest their endowments from fossil fuel stocks and bonds, and in late April ten US cities made similar commitments, including San Francisco (Seattle came on board months ago). Read on The Nation ...

02 May, 2013

March 6th, 2013By Naomi Klein In December 2012, the Indigenous protests known as Idle No More exploded onto the Canadian political scene, with huge round dances taking place in shopping malls, busy intersections, and public spaces across North America, as well as solidarity actions as far away as New Zealand and Gaza. Though sparked by a series of legislative attacks on indigenous sovereignty and environmental protections by the Conservative government of Stephen Harper, the movement quickly became about much more: Canada's ongoing colonial policies, a transformative vision of decolonization, and the possibilities for a genuine alliance between natives and non-natives, one capable of re-imagining nationhood. Read on Yes! Magazine ...

06 March, 2013