Ecological protests are intensifying, political conflicts around climate change, the extinction of species, food – indeed, our whole way of life and production – are becoming more intractable. Ecology is decidedly no longer just one subject among many – it is becoming the central topic in politics.
In terms of climate policy, we are finding ourselves facing moments of truth more and more often: revolutions in transport, energy and agriculture – the interventions needed to limit global warming even just moderately are vast; the impending changes will have real winners and losers, they hide opportunities and pain. It’s no wonder then that the fight is moving into the center of the political arena, throwing new light onto all other topics – from social justice all the way to democracy and human rights. The country’s political culture is not prepared for this. There is still no search for a policy for the problems, but the other way around: the problems are so trimmed down that they fit in with the policy we know. Yet this repression of the ecological challenges is making our society neurotic. Bernd Ulrich shows how we can overcome this obstacle in order to gain new freedom and confidence.
