Noam Chomsky: I see young people as the future

Noam, one of the greatest thinkers of our time, shared his thoughts on climate change in an interview with ecologist-geneticist Stan Cox. Republican advocacy, Greenwashing actively pursued by ExxonMobil, and international climate strikes organised by young people were discussed.

Noam Chomsky celebrates his 93rd birthday in December, but the linguist, philosopher and one of the creators of cognitive science remains very active. He often talks about world affairs, is interested in politics, the global economy, the world’s social problems, and future challenges such as climate change.

He has written two books on the latter topic and he is very critical about the environmental aspects of capitalism, and he also reads and comments on the relevant publications of others. He also shared his thoughts with Stan Cox in an interview conducted on the occasion of the publication of Cox’s book titled The Path to a Liveable Future: A New Politics to Fight Climate Change, Racism, and the Next Pandemic in early November.

Chomsky cannot be accused of being an optimist. In the interview, he talks at length about the inflexibility of American Republicans and the implications of this for international climate agreements such as the 2015 Paris Agreement.

He believes that the Republican Party has long not been a political party, but rather an advocacy organisation. And whose interests does it serve? “The Republican organisation, which has lost any pretence of being a normal political party, is almost solely dedicated to the welfare of the super-rich and the corporate sector and cares absolutely nothing about the population or the future of the world.”, the scientist claims.

To Cox’s suggestion that international agreements such as the one at the end of the Glasgow climate summit did not contain enough specificity, Chomsky responds that Republicans would never accept a rock-solid agreement, the Paris Agreement fell victim to that.

Chomsky, of course, does not only criticise the favourite, and truly globally influential party of wealthy Americans. He also talks about the oil company ExxonMobil, which he says is an excellent example of greenwashing that is wrapped in cute and intelligent-sounding statements.

“Don’t worry, we’ll take care of you,” they say. “We’re a soulful corporation. We’re investing in some futuristic ways to remove from the atmosphere the pollution that we’re pouring into it. Everything’s fine, just trust us.”, he makes fun of the oil company’s communication and attitude and then adds: even if carbon sequestration were to be resolved, chances are that the same developing countries that will pay the price are those now suffering from the pollution of the Western powers.

“The latest IPCC report calls for an end to fossil fuels. The hope is that we can avert the worst and reach a sustainable economy within a couple of decades. If we don’t do that, we will reach irreversible tipping points and the people most vulnerable — those least responsible for the crisis — will suffer first and most severely from the consequences.”

According to Chomsky, the modern world’s economic institutions may be suitable for this turnaround, but it is a time-consuming process. He believes that the congressional resolution by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez could be a significant step forward for a cost of about 2-3 percent of the GDP. He concludes the interview with a hopeful message:

“Young people” – he says in answer to Cox's question about where he sees hope. “In September, there was an international climate strike; hundreds of thousands of young people came out to demand an end to environmental destruction.” He recalled a speech by climate activist Greta Thunberg in Davos, in which the Swedish activist, who was named by Time magazine the person of the year 2019, blamed world leaders. According to Chomsky, these words have the power that humanity needs.

“We now have a struggle. It can be won, but the longer it’s delayed, the more difficult it’ll be. I don’t have many years; others of you do. The possibility for a just and sustainable future exists, and there’s plenty that we can do to get there before it’s too late.”

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