On Feb. 7, there was a march in Oakland, CA to oppose fracking. One of the main banners of the march was to call for “climate leadership.” This has been the slogan in appeals in the past to California Governor Jerry Brown – that he should show climate leadership. How is that possible, when he’s a completely corporate politician, member of a corporate party, and he’s received something like $6 million from the oil industry? It’s like appealing to a lion to show vegetarian leadership. Here, Oaklandsocialist interviews the president of UNITE-HERE Local 2850 and we ask her about exactly that. The fact that they completely support the Democrats means that they have to continually drive with one foot on the gas and the other on the brakes.

For a more extended explanation of this contradiction and its results, see this pamphlet.