Russell Brand And Naomi Klein Talk Climate Change And The Need For Revolution

Russell Brand And Naomi Klein Call For A Revolution
LONDON, ENGLAND OCTOBER 06: Russell Brand attends the Pride of Britain awards at The Grosvenor House Hotel on October 6, 2014 in London, England. (Photo by Mike Marsland/WireImage)
LONDON, ENGLAND OCTOBER 06: Russell Brand attends the Pride of Britain awards at The Grosvenor House Hotel on October 6, 2014 in London, England. (Photo by Mike Marsland/WireImage)
Mike Marsland via Getty Images

Russell Brand and the author Naomi Klein have called for a "revolution" that could potentially see oil giants like Exxon Mobil dismantled.

Speaking to Brand as part of a podcast exclusively shared with The Huffington Post, Klein agreed with the comedian's call for a political and economic revolution, but warned: "It's not going to happen in the right way if we don't talk about the distribution of resources."

The pair zeroed in on multinational oil giants such as Exxon Mobil, referring to them as companies that were "addicted to stupid money", with Klein arguing that the world could convert from fossil fuels to renewable energy within 15 years.

"What the hell's going on," said Brand. "Is there no money in it? Why don't people do it? They could still make money out of windmills couldn't they?"

Klein, author of the new book "This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs The Climate", cited "really good" research from Stanford University in the United States that noted the technology was available and "it is economically possible". She also warned that the current model of capitalism is causing "spiralling inequality".

Meanwhile Brand, whose own new book "Revolution" is out this month, warned that the choice was whether to "ditch capitalism and save the planet or ditch the planet and save capitalism". He urged people to be "aggressive" and "take down massive corporations" like Exxon.

"Once you've seen corporations have behaved irresponsibly, revoke their charters," he said. "With Exxon you could say that we don't need Exxon anymore."

Moving to dismantle such a corporation, he said, would spark outrage from politicians. However, Brand said that his message would be that "politics is just one big business", proving the argument that "Exxon is destroying the planet and these political figures are trying to prevent us from dismantling something that is destroying the planet."

Canadian author and activist Naomi Klein

"When there's a crisis is when people do come together spontaneously, no one else except you is going to do something," he added. "You have to spontaneously become involved and do something. There is a solution."

Brand appeared as a guest on the 'Late Show With David Letterman' on Monday night in order to outline his vision of a "revolution".

The actor went on to give a passionate and breathless mini-speech about wealth inequality and why politicians are failing to talk about the issue.

Exxon Mobil has said in the past that it is focused "on developing technologies that allow us to both produce and deliver energy that the world needs and do so in a way with a lower environmental impact".

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