This Changes Everything

Alternately called “cap-and-trade” and “carbon trading,” this practice involves setting emission caps on companies and nations. Rather than penalize entities for exceeding these caps, they can purchase or trade “carbon credits” from other entities, giving the illusion of decreased emissions without actually changing their practices. This system also involves “offsets,” actions that theoretically counteract emissions without meaningfully doing so.

Cultural cognition is the way people filter new information through their existing belief systems. In many cases, people reject information outright that threatens their worldviews. Klein points to cultural cognition as a major factor in climate denialism.

Disaster denialism is a type of climate denialism that insists climate change is not happening or that environmentalists are overstating the consequences. Klein notes that groups like the Heartland Institute partake in disaster denialism.

Disaster capitalism is when companies or nations accept the reality of climate change and try to profit from it. Klein coined this term in her 2007 book The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism. Examples of disaster capitalism include privatizing infrastructure after natural disasters; for example, after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, New Orleans lost most of its public schools to private investors.

Klein’s analysis locates the heart of the climate crisis in extractivism: a value system that views nature as an inert mass that is there to be understood, dissected, and exploited for human benefit. The alternative is the symbiotic and regenerative relationship to nature, which she identifies with the traditional cultures of Indigenous people and certain strains of environmentalism.

Global equity refers to the idea that in developing climate solutions, the nations and businesses that pollute the most should shoulder the burden of cutting emissions and building green infrastructure.

Passed in 1994, NAFTA created a trade bloc between the United States, Canada, and Mexico. While many viewed this trade agreement as beneficial, it resulted in labor disputes as many factories in the US and Puerto Rico were moved to Mexico, where labor costs were much cheaper. Alongside the labor impact, Klein discusses the environmental impact of NAFTA because its trade protections trumped environmental policy. For example, the Sierra Club reports that NAFTA prevented the tar sands industry from being regulated.

Neoliberalism is a political and economic ideology that elevates free-market capitalism and individualism above all else. Proponents of neoliberalism emphasize privatization of industries, deregulation, decreasing government spending, and the increased influence of business in society and policies. According to Klein, this prioritization of business and profit above all else is incompatible with meaningful policies to protect the climate.

Selective degrowth is a direct counter to neoliberalism, which insists profits and industries can grow eternally. To protect the planet, degrowth advocates for the equitable downscaling of industries and production. Klein argues that degrowth is necessary to prevent climate collapse because the current rate of extractivism is unsustainable.