The Ecosocialist Resources column is published at irregular intervals. It features links to new articles, reports, talks and videos that are relevant to Climate & Capitalism’s mission and goals.
Inclusion of a link does not imply endorsement, or that we agree with everything (or even anything!) the item says.
If you read or write an article that might be appropriate for this column, please post your suggestion in the Climate and Capitalism Facebook group.
- Lester Thurow: Why good capitalist decisions mean ecological suicideThis quote is particularly telling because the author is trying save capitalism from itself. Nowhere is capitalism’s time horizon problem more acute than in the area of global environmentalism … What should a capitalistic society do about longrun environmental problems such as global warming or ozone depletion? … Using capitalist decision rules, the answer to ...---READ-->>
- The Global Fight for Climate JusticeThis review appears in the current issue of the journal Socialist Studies, and is republished here with the author’s permission. Angus, Ian, editor. The Global Fight for Climate Justice: Anticapitalist Responses to Global Warming and Environmental Destruction. Halifax: Fernwood, 2010.. ISBN 978-1-5526-6344-8. Paperback: Cdn 24.95 CAD. Pages: 286. Reviewed by Randolph Haluza-DeLay The climate change debates need the perspective ...---READ-->>
- This is what plutonomy looks likeThe disproportionate share of income taken by the very rich in the US, UK, Australia, and Canada led analysts at Citigroup to define those countries as plutonomies — economies “where economic growth is powered by and largely consumed by the wealthy few.” This graph, from another bank, JP Morgan, shows the U.S. plutonomy … – Hat-tip to Real World ...---READ-->>
- Who's Blocking U.S. Action on Climate Change?Rolling Stone names the top 12 most powerful opponents of restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions … 12. Rep. Fred Upton Republican, Michigan 11. Bjørn Lomborg Author, “Cool It” 10. Rep. Darrell Issa Republican, California 9. Sen. Jay Rockefeller Democrat, West Virginia 8. Ken Cuccinelli Attorney general, Virginia 7. Tim Phillips President, Americans for Prosperity 6. Rex Tillerson CEO, ExxonMobil 5. Tom Donahue President, ...---READ-->>
- Biology’s Bomb: Graphing 'Explosive' Population Growth in Cold War TextbooksHow supposedly objective textbooks made the “population bomb” as real and scary to school children in the 1960s as the H-bombs that drove them under their desks. by Ronald Ladouceur Ronald Ladouceur is an independent scholar interested in the intersection of history, science and visual rhetoric. He is the author of “Ella Thea Smith and the Lost ...---READ-->>
- Food Prices and Oil PricesA graphic depiction of the impact of biofuels and oil prices on food prices. Graph was prepared by Paul Chefurka.---READ-->>
- Why Aren’t Greens Kicking the Sh*t Out of Corporate America?Rogue actors known as corporations have hijacked our democracy, but the environmental NGO industrial complex stays in Washington D.C. without a rudder or a clue by Scott Parkin Scott Parkin is a Senior Organizer with Rainforest Action Network and organizes with Rising Tide North America. He has worked on a variety of campaigns around climate change, the wars ...---READ-->>
- ‘We can't save capitalism and save the planet’Book Review. Chris Williams, Ecology & Socialism: Solutions to Capitalist Ecological Crisis. Haymarket Books, 2010 reviewed by Derek Wall Green Left Weekly, January 24, 2011 United States activist Chris William’s new book, published by Haymarket Press, is an excellent introduction to ecology and socialism. It is well written and, despite being a long-time ecosocialist activist, I learnt a ...---READ-->>
- Australia's floods are just the beginningThe extreme weather we’re seeing now is linked to less than 1 degree of atmospheric warming. Much worse is on the way. by Renfrey Clarke Green Left Weekly, January 23, 2011 Australia’s recent flood disaster fits into a broad picture of weather trends that would confirm global warming. If a city drowns beneath a once-in-a-hundred-years flood, that’s ...---READ-->>
- The Futility of Green CapitalismDaniel Tanuro’s new book, L’impossible capitalisme vert,or “The Futility of Green Capitalism”, is a major contribution to our analytical understanding of ecosocialism. Tanuro, a Belgian Marxist and certified agriculturist, is a prolific author on environmental history and policies. Addressed primarily to the Green milieu, as the title indicates, this book is a powerful refutation of the major ...---READ-->>
- Dethroning King Coal in 2011, from West Virginia to DurbanThis multiple set of interlinked climate-energy-economic travesties can only be reversed by grassroots and labor activism by Patrick Bond South Africa’s crust was drill-pocked with abandon since Kimberley diamonds were found in 1867 and then Witwatersrand (Johannesburg) gold was unearthed in 1886. But the world’s interest in how we trash our environment perked up again last ...---READ-->>
- Vandana Shiva: Soil Not Oil(I’ve been reading Soil Not Oil by the always thoughtful and inspiring Vandana Shiva. Here are five passages I copied down while reading. -IA) (p. 4) The dominant model of development and globalization is inherently violent. By bringing back dignified work based on land, and livelihoods. By bringing back dignified work based on ...---READ-->>
- Can We Feed 9 Billion People?The world’s population is projected to pass 9 billion in 2050. An important new study asks the question: Can nine billion people be fed sustainably? The Agrimonde project, organized by France’s National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA) and International Agricultural Research for Development Center (CIRAD) has been researching this question for several years. The final report, ...---READ-->>
- Report: CO2 Leaking from Saskatchewan CCS SiteThe huge Weyburn carbon capture and storage project is often cited as proof that CO2 can be stored safely. If this report proves true, the entire concept is in deep trouble. Climate & Capitalism has long been skeptical about Carbon Capture and Storage. Back in 2008 we wrote an open letter to Canada’s Environment Minister, about ...---READ-->>
- An Ethical Analysis of the Cancun Agreement“Cancun was another failure of those responsible for causing climate change to agree to do what ethics and justice require of them.” by Donald A. Brown Climate Ethics, December 24, 2011 This post will explain that although some hope for a global solution to climate change is still alive due to decisions adopted in Cancun, one must see ...---READ-->>
- Capitalism and Degrowth—An Impossibility TheoremJohn Bellamy Foster on the movement to halt capitalist growth, without halting capitalism… According to the Web site of the European degrowth project, “degrowth carries the idea of a voluntary reduction of the size of the economic system which implies a reduction of the GDP.” “Voluntary” here points to the emphasis on voluntaristic solutions—though not as individualistic ...---READ-->>
- Barry Commoner: Pollution and productionFrom the Introduction to the 1992 edition of Making Peace With the Planet, by Barry Commoner “The assault on environmental quality results from the use of systems of production that yield useful goods but also generate pollutants. “The engines that power modern cars and trucks also produce pollutants that turn into smog and acid rain. Once ...---READ-->>
- Dirty Business film debunks 'clean coal' mythDocumentary reveals the true cost of US dependence and the murky realities of marketing ‘clean coal’ technology by Felicity Carus The Guardian, January 7, 2011 Dirty Business, the new documentary from the Centre for Investigative Journalism, began its nationwide screening tour last night in Berkeley, California, with the aim of debunking the myth of “clean coal” ...---READ-->>
- Ecological CivilizationBuilding an ecological civilization that is socially just will not automatically happen in post-capitalist societies. It will occur only through the concerted action and constant vigilance of an engaged population. by Fred Magdoff Monthly Review, January 2010 Given the overwhelming harm being done to the world’s environment and to its people, it is essential today to consider how ...---READ-->>
- Beyond growth or beyond capitalism?An ecosocialist critique of proposals for steady-state capitalism begins a debate on key issues facing the left greens today There’s widespread agreement among left-leaning greens that this society’s drive for economic growth is a key driving force of the global environmental crisis. Many, most notably environmental economist Herman Daly, have made proposals for a “steady-state economy”that ...---READ-->>