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Jane Fonda on Arctic oil drilling: 'This is the fight for our lives' Jane Fonda on Arctic oil drilling: 'This is the fight of our lives'
(about 2 hours later)
Three years ago, Jane Fonda says, she sat at her kitchen table telling her boyfriend, music producer Richard Perry, that the world was coming to an end and that maybe that’s exactly what humans deserved.Three years ago, Jane Fonda says, she sat at her kitchen table telling her boyfriend, music producer Richard Perry, that the world was coming to an end and that maybe that’s exactly what humans deserved.
She was walking the environmental talk – living in a solar-powered house, driving a Prius – but her efforts were a personal pact to live responsibly. Three months ago, she picked up Naomi Klein’s environmental treatise, This Changes Everything, and decided the personal was no longer enough: it was time to get political again, over drilling for Arctic oil.She was walking the environmental talk – living in a solar-powered house, driving a Prius – but her efforts were a personal pact to live responsibly. Three months ago, she picked up Naomi Klein’s environmental treatise, This Changes Everything, and decided the personal was no longer enough: it was time to get political again, over drilling for Arctic oil.
Not that Fonda has ever really left politics behind. An activist with 45 years in the fight, she’s worked on and supported many causes since her anti-Vietnam war days, including co-founding the Women’s Media Centre with Gloria Steinem in 2004. Nevertheless, it’s been a while since she’s been, as she puts it, “on the barricades”.Not that Fonda has ever really left politics behind. An activist with 45 years in the fight, she’s worked on and supported many causes since her anti-Vietnam war days, including co-founding the Women’s Media Centre with Gloria Steinem in 2004. Nevertheless, it’s been a while since she’s been, as she puts it, “on the barricades”.
She says the fire that once raged in her belly had never completely gone out, but had dimmed to a “pilot light”.She says the fire that once raged in her belly had never completely gone out, but had dimmed to a “pilot light”.
“I thought, ‘I’m older, I’m tired.’” She shrugs. “I’m 77 years old.” Then she beams, raises her fists in the air, and says with conviction, “I’m back”.“I thought, ‘I’m older, I’m tired.’” She shrugs. “I’m 77 years old.” Then she beams, raises her fists in the air, and says with conviction, “I’m back”.
Put in touch with Greenpeace by Klein, Fonda last week called Joanna Kerr, the organisation’s executive director in Canada, and asked what she could do to help in the battle against climate change. Kerr told her there was an event planned in British Columbia at the weekend, and Fonda replied, “I’ll book a flight.”Put in touch with Greenpeace by Klein, Fonda last week called Joanna Kerr, the organisation’s executive director in Canada, and asked what she could do to help in the battle against climate change. Kerr told her there was an event planned in British Columbia at the weekend, and Fonda replied, “I’ll book a flight.”
Three days later, she’s in a Vancouver hotel room wearing a Greenpeace T-shirt and a straw cowboy hat, railing against the Obama administration’s recent approval of permits to Shell to drill for oil in the Arctic.Three days later, she’s in a Vancouver hotel room wearing a Greenpeace T-shirt and a straw cowboy hat, railing against the Obama administration’s recent approval of permits to Shell to drill for oil in the Arctic.
“It’s unfathomable,” she says with a shudder. “I voted for Obama. We’ve been huge supporters and I don’t see him as someone in thrall to big corporations. Did he think he could get this through without anyone noticing?”“It’s unfathomable,” she says with a shudder. “I voted for Obama. We’ve been huge supporters and I don’t see him as someone in thrall to big corporations. Did he think he could get this through without anyone noticing?”
The move, she says, has wiped out any environmental good the president has effected during his term of office.The move, she says, has wiped out any environmental good the president has effected during his term of office.
“But it’s not too late for him to change his mind,” she says. “And that’s one reason I’m here.”“But it’s not too late for him to change his mind,” she says. “And that’s one reason I’m here.”
Fonda believes that the fight against big oil will take place on the streets, and to that end, the job at hand is to mobilise on a massive scale. She praises the First Nations who, she notes, are central to the front line struggle, not just against Shell in the Arctic, but also in Alberta’s tar sands and British Columbia’s fight against the proposed Enbridge and Kinder Morgan oil pipelines. Now, she says, others are paying attention, and are ready to step up.Fonda believes that the fight against big oil will take place on the streets, and to that end, the job at hand is to mobilise on a massive scale. She praises the First Nations who, she notes, are central to the front line struggle, not just against Shell in the Arctic, but also in Alberta’s tar sands and British Columbia’s fight against the proposed Enbridge and Kinder Morgan oil pipelines. Now, she says, others are paying attention, and are ready to step up.
“What we are looking at is something that Naomi calls ‘Blockadia’,” Fonda says, referring to the growing global movement Klein argues is building.“What we are looking at is something that Naomi calls ‘Blockadia’,” Fonda says, referring to the growing global movement Klein argues is building.
The two women are in talks to work together, with a plan brewing to follow the climate conference in Paris later this year with a US and Canada tour to rally support, and a global day of action in 2016.The two women are in talks to work together, with a plan brewing to follow the climate conference in Paris later this year with a US and Canada tour to rally support, and a global day of action in 2016.
“Different celebrities could join at times – Neil Young, Robbie Robertson … There are many people I believe would lend their support and help.”“Different celebrities could join at times – Neil Young, Robbie Robertson … There are many people I believe would lend their support and help.”
This is what her celebrity is for, she says. Amplifying the voices of those on the ground to generate media interest, and building towards a tipping point where change is the only option.This is what her celebrity is for, she says. Amplifying the voices of those on the ground to generate media interest, and building towards a tipping point where change is the only option.
“I’m old enough to have seen change happen. I can be optimistic about people power because I know it works. We know in our bones it can work, we just need the political will.“I’m old enough to have seen change happen. I can be optimistic about people power because I know it works. We know in our bones it can work, we just need the political will.
This is the one fight we must win, because without a liveable world, nothing else matters. This is the fight of our lives.”This is the one fight we must win, because without a liveable world, nothing else matters. This is the fight of our lives.”