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.
- Most 'green product' claims are misleadingNearly all “green” consumer products make at least one false, misleading or unproven environmental claim by Ian Angus A few weeks ago in Climate & Capitalism, I reported a Canadian government study that found “misleading label information on 63% of candy items, 59% of breads and baked goods; and 49% of snack foods.” This, I concluded, was “just ...---READ-->>
- Canada and EU given 'Dodo Awards’Having repeatedly winning “Fossil of the Day” awards at international climate conferences, Canada now has a new dishonor to be ashamed of … From the Convention on Biological Diversity Alliance Nagoya, Japan, October 25, 2010 Civil society organizations at the 10th Conference of the Parties (COP10) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) have announced the winners of ...---READ-->>
- Toronto, Nov. 13: Teach-in on Bolivia and Climate JusticeLessons from Bolivia Building a World Movement for Climate Justice November 13, 2010 Registration: 9:30 a.m. Sidney Smith Hall, University of Toronto, Rm 2118 100 St. George (South of Harbord, North of College) Agenda 10:00-11:30 The Cochabamba Declaration In April 2010, the government of Bolivia convened a conference of social movements on global warming in Cochabamba, Bolivia. More than 30,000 participants charted ...---READ-->>
- Superconsumers at seaThe battle of the super yachts From Too Much weekly, Oct. 25 2010 Back in 2003, Microsoft billionaire Paul Allen’s newly constructed 414-foot yacht, the Octopus, rated as the world’s longest pleasure boat. Allen’s boat would soon lose that distinction to United Arab Emirate sheik Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, whose yacht, the Dubai, runs 531 feet. Now the Dubai is playing second-fiddle ...---READ-->>
- Against mainstream economics: The Kick It Over ManifestoAn international student movement to free the economics curriculum from its neoclassical straitjacket was launched last week at the University of California at Berkeley. For its first action, students worldwide are being encouraged to post the following manifesto, preferably printed on brightly colored paper, on the doors and bulletin boards of their univeristy’s economics department. Kick ...---READ-->>
- If wealth was height, how tall would rich people be?Video: Barry Healy of Socialist Alliance makes some instructive comparisons…. From Socialist Alliance Western Australia---READ-->>
- Barry Commoner: Capitalism versus the environmentIn the last thirty years many thousands of production decisions have been made in the United States. They have determined that automobiles shall be large and sufficiently powerful to travel at a rate of 100 mph; that electricity shall be produced by nuclear power plants; that we shall wear synthetic materials instead ...---READ-->>
- Bill Maher: Global warming is not a debateThere is no debate here, just scientists and non-scientists. And since the subject is science, the non-scientists don’t get a vote. Video, June 8, 2010---READ-->>
- Suppressed report confirms international violations by Canadian mining companiesCanadian mining companies are involved in more than four times as many violations as the next two highest offenders, Australia and India A report obtained by MiningWatch Canada reveals that Canadian mining companies are implicated in four times as many violations of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) as mining companies from other countries. The report was commissioned ...---READ-->>
- The Ant, The Grasshopper, and a Big Steaming Pile of Manure(From OldBaldLiberal’s Blog on The Smirking Chimp. C&C doesn’t normally publish articles by self-described liberals, but this deserves to be widely read.) The Ant and the Grasshopper – a Fable from Aesop The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks the ant ...---READ-->>
- British Green leader to union conference: 'We need to forge an alliance '“Our current economic system only works by cheating future generations out of their birthright and by exploiting the vulnerable here and abroad” Speech by Caroline Lucas, Member of Parliament and leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, to Alliances for Green Growth, a conference organized by the Trades Union Congress, October 11. Thank you for ...---READ-->>
- Global inequality by the numbersA graphic exposure of the “consumer democracy” hoax From Climate and Capitalism. August 15, 2010: “Consumer democracy” is rendered meaningless by the fact that a few consumers have most of the votes, because they have most of the money…. The rich don’t just have more money than us as individuals, they have more than us collectively. From today’s edition ...---READ-->>
- Richest nations aim to wreck climate talksThe existing framework will not allow for the urgent action required by Simon Butler Green Left Weekly, October 17, 2010 A strong agreement at Copenhagen was scuttled by the rich nations’ refusal to commit to deep emissions cuts. No legally-binding agreement to cut greenhouse gas emissions will be made at this year’s big United Nations climate conference ...---READ-->>
- UN Convention meets to decide how to enhance corporate profits by marketing biodiversityProfit-making and protection of biodiversity are directly opposed and can never be reconciled ++++++++ by Anne Petermann Executive Director, Global Justice Ecology Project and North American Focal Point of Global Forest Coalition Climate Connections October 17, 2010 Governments from all over the world are gathering in Nagoya, Japan for the next two weeks to discuss the creation of a new 10 ...---READ-->>
- The new climate-change denialism: Who promotes it, how to answer itThe planet killers are at it again, and some scientific organizations are bending to their intimidation. We need to fight back with hard science and a clear vision about what needs to be done. By Renfrey Clarke Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal, October 15, 2010 You remember the scandal provoked by the errors and exaggerations in ...---READ-->>
- Electric Evasion: The Great Green Car ConGreenwashing 101: Why electric cars can make things worse +++++++++ by Michael Dawson Counterpunch For any product that gets produced, green-ness involves four questions: Material Intake: How much and what types of material does making the product extract from the environment? Material Output: How does the product end up putting materials back into the environment, in the form of manufacturing, product ...---READ-->>
- A Tale of Two Oil SpillsExxon got off easy … don’t let BP do the same! by Antonia Juhasz Dollars and Sense, July 2010 On March 24, 1989, the supertanker Exxon Valdez spilled more than 11 million gallons of crude oil into Prince William Sound, Alaska, in what was until recently the largest oil spill in U.S. history. More than 26,600 gallons of ...---READ-->>
- Ecosocialist solutions for their multiple crisesAn ecosocialist transitional program for the multiple crises of 21st century capitalism, from Socialist Resistance Özlem Onaran argues that “the social democratic utopia of growing our way out of debt is not consistent with the ecological crisis. “ Britain has experienced the deepest crisis among the advanced capitalist countries and it is far from over. The recovery in ...---READ-->>
- Scientists: Climate change caused Pakistan floodsMonsoon rains have shifted 40-60 miles northwest in the past three decades by Rob Crilly The Scotsman, October 14 2010 (Islamabad) Man-made climate change was a major cause of devastating floods in Pakistan this year, shifting monsoon rains away from flood defences and into areas of the country incapable of dealing with the deluge, according to Pakistani scientists. ...---READ-->>
- Is climate change good for Canada?A new report by the business-dominated National Roundtable offers an embarrassing and misleading “don’t worry, be happy” vision by Stephen Leahy (IPS) The first comprehensive look at the expected impacts of climate change on Canada offers an embarrassing and misleading “don’t worry, be happy” vision, citing more golf days and better access to northern deposits of oil ...---READ-->>