Eco-activist promotes “sabotage” of energy projects and receives warm reception from media

Andreas Malm, author of the book How to Blow Up a Pipeline, urges his fellow environmentalists to abandon their nonviolent protests and embrace what he calls “smart sabotage” – destroying construction equipment, vandalizing construction sites and, yes – detonate pipes.

“Damage and destroy new devices emitting CO2. Take them out of use, pick them up, demolish them, burn them, detonate them. Let the capitalists who continue to invest in the fire know that their properties will be ransacked, ”Malm wrote.

But instead of denunciations, Malm has become a media darling. His book advocating violence received sympathetic coverage from The New York Times and the LA Times Book Review. And now, one of the most prestigious names in media, The New Yorker, featured it in their latest podcast.

Malm told New Yorker writer / editor David Remnick that environmental activists should reconsider their roots in non-violence. He thinks it’s time to get destructive to tackle man-made climate change and force people to depend less on fossil fuels.

“I’m not saying we should stop [climate] strikes or square occupations or things like that, ”Malm told The New Yorker Radio Hour. “I recommend that the movement continue with mass actions and civil disobedience, but also open to the destruction of property,” said Malm.

Regarding an oil pipeline project in Africa, Malm said: “If people attack construction equipment, blow up the pipeline before it is finished, I will be all for that. I fail to see how material damage could be considered morally illegitimate given what we know about the consequences of such projects.

The problem, workers in the natural gas industry say, is that calls for violence are not just rhetoric. They have led to real consequences.

In April 2018, for example, vandals attacked construction equipment along the Mariner East 2 pipeline route in Pennsylvania. Sunoco Pipeline said there had been “significant damage” and offered a reward of $ 10,000 for information leading to the arrest of those responsible.

“We understand that there are different options regarding critical infrastructure projects like the Mariner East 2 pipeline, and we respect the right of everyone to demonstrate peacefully,” the company said in a statement. “However, the destruction is not peaceful.”

Here in New Hampshire, five protesters arrested trying to block a train bringing coal to the Merrimack Station power plant in 2019 argued their criminal actions were justified because they were committed in the cause of climate change.

“Our theory was that it was necessary to engage in civil disobedience and nonviolent direct action in order to trigger the social change necessary to prevent the current disaster of climate change, from intervening now while we still can. “, their lawyer. told the NHPR.

A Merrimack Superior Court judge rejected their argument.

“Calls to vandalize America’s energy infrastructure are dangerous, and credible media should never amplify such rhetoric,” the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA) said in a statement.

“Last December, activists intentionally put the lives of thousands of people in danger by attacking gas lines in Aspen, Colo.,” INGAA said. “Residents found themselves without hot water or heating as temperatures dropped, making the risk of freezing to death real. “

Earlier this year, two self-proclaimed environmental activists to plead guilty using arson and acetylene torches to burn equipment and cause millions of dollars in damage to the Dakota Access Pipeline Project.

“Pipelines are the safest, most efficient and most environmentally friendly way to transport the energy resources that American households and businesses depend on every day,” said Robin Rorick, vice president of midstream at the American Petroleum Institute (API). “Efforts to disrupt or damage critical energy infrastructure threaten the safety of our communities and the environment, and should be pursued to the fullest extent of the law. “

Malm, who teaches at Lund University in Sweden, told The New Yorker that if he supports sabotage, he puts the brakes on people. “It’s a very important distinction there,” said Malm. “I think property can be destroyed in all kinds of ways, or it can be neutralized in a very gentle way.”

Malm’s appearance on The New Yorker Radio Hour precedes a United Nations climate meeting in Glasgow on October 31. While the Biden administration will be there, Malm doesn’t think people should trust talks or treaties too much to reduce reliance on fossil fuels. Instead, they must act.

“Damage and destroy new devices emitting CO2. Take them out of use, pick them up, demolish them, burn them, detonate them. Let the capitalists who continue to invest in the fire know that their properties will be ransacked, ”Malm wrote in his book.

According to INGAA, about a third of the energy consumed in the United States passes through natural gas infrastructure. “Destroy it and 69 million homes, 5.5 million businesses and 185,000 factories are caught in its wake. The New Yorker’s decision to amplify calls for acts of violence and sabotage in its recent podcast is reckless and unacceptable.