Meet Ben Smith, National Global Warming Organizer for Greenpeace

A few weeks ago we rescheduled a meeting of our Progressive Perspectives website working group because Ben Smith, a key member of that group, told us he had to go out of town for rappelling practice. He didn’t say why and we didn’t ask. Now we know.

What Ben didn’t tell us was that he’d be rappelling on air (it’s usually done against a cliff). Check out the video at the top of this page. You’ll hear Ben at several points in the voice-over: the opening statement; then about 1:00 in, on why he’s in Pittsburgh; at 2:00, message to Obama, holding him to his noble words: do the right thing, especially when it’s hard; and in the closing statement, on the key role for non-violent direct action in getting world leaders to act before it’s too late.

Back to our website meeting: we were chowing down before biz, and I was lamenting over the dwindling prospects of getting a decent health care bill passed, the appalling state of affairs in DC, etc. Put the question to the group: is there anything more we could be doing as activists to avert the impending health care fiasco? I referred the group to an interview with organizer Marshall Ganz, where he counsels civil disobedience as the most effective means of fighting back when game-changing social change is being thwarted.

Ben’s response was instantaneous and enthusiastic: the young organizers at Greenpeace are well aware of Ganz’s teachings, which serve as one of the frameworks for their actions. Ben then gave us a little pep talk on civil disobedience and non-violent direct action. There are times when you’ve got to dramatize an issue and nothing but civil disobedience will do. Ben looked us squarely in the eye, and, in his ever-gentle way, reminded us that that means there are times when you have to break the law. It can be either an unjust law or a minor law concerning, say, private property, when a much larger principle is at stake. Examples are this week’s protest in Pittsburgh, with the protestors being lead away in handcuffs; or the Greenpeace smokestack action in the UK.

In the latter case, the activists admitted trying to shut down the station by occupying the smokestack and painting the world “Gordon” down the chimney, but argued that they were legally justified because they were trying to prevent climate change causing greater damage to property around the world. In a landmark verdict, the jury agreed. Our friend Jim Hansen testified for the defense. Since then, inspired by Greenpeace, Jim’s been engaging in a fair amount of civil disobedience himself.

I’m past the age for rappelling (and besides, I’m prone to vertigo), but civil disobedience is calling out to me. I haven’t engaged in real civil disobedience (mass demonstrations aren’t the same) since the days of Viet Nam and civil rights, but I’m thinking it’s not too late to get re-involved. Especially in the apparent absence of genuine political leadership.