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.
- Mislabeled food and the myth of ‘consumer sovereignty’Even the best food labeling system can’t guarantee that consumers know what they are buying. To but it bluntly, the bastards lie by Ian Angus One of the great lies of mainstream economic theory is “consumer sovereignty” – the idea that the consumers actually control the economy by “voting with their wallets,” deciding what to buy and ...---READ-->>
- Music Video: So said Tony Hayward‘You know, I’d like my life back.’ So said Tony Hayward. A music video, a tango about the BP oil spill and its disastrous impacts; the story of BP CEO Tony Hayward’s hapless efforts to spin and manage; a mediation on capitalism’s indifference toward human lives and ecological health. Words, music and images by Bill Carroll, ...---READ-->>
- Fossil Fuels vs. The Public InterestThe fossil fuel industry often pretends to have the public’s best interests in mind. The operative word is “pretends.” by Kurt Cobb Scitizen, September 1, 2010 Fossil fuel executives get out of bed in the morning thinking about two things: 1) Making sure they can sell all their current in-ground inventory of fossil fuels at a profitable ...---READ-->>
- Indigenous protests condemn B.C. pipeline project“We have drawn a line in the sand. There will be no Enbridge Pipeline and there will be no crude oil tankers in our waters. This is not a battle we intend to lose.” by Tyler McCreary rabble.ca, September 2, 2010 On August 31, 2010, hundreds of northern residents gathered outside the Riverlodge Recreation Centre in Kitimat, ...---READ-->>
- Mark Twain: Misusing numbers(As regular C&C readers know, I have recently written several articles on the misuse of numbers and statistics by the overpopulation lobby. I’m sure Mark Twain never thought about that subject, but the following passage from his Life on the Mississippi, published in 1883, seems very relevant today – especially the final ...---READ-->>
- What next for the Ecosocialist International Network?Joel Kovel and Ian Angus are founding members of the Ecosocialist international Network. In these messages, originally posted on the EIN discussion list, they offer somewhat different perspectives on how the group should organize itself and develop further. The Ecosocialist International Network will meet in Paris, Sept. 26-27, to discuss its future and the way forward ...---READ-->>
- Thousands of Cancuns for climate justice!An appeal from La Via Campesina, the international movement of peasants, small- and medium-sized producers, landless, rural women, indigenous people, rural youth and agricultural workers Social movements from around the world are mobilizing for the 16th Conference of the Parties (COP16) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that will take place in ...---READ-->>
- Betsy Hartmann: An Environmentalist Essay on the Greening of HateThe rhetoric of some population and environment groups is edging dangerously toward the same arguments used by proponents of the greening of hate. by Betsy Hartmann (This essay appears in Greenwash: Nativists, Environmentalism and the Hypocrisy of Hate, a report published in July 2010 by the Southern Poverty Law Center.) I first encountered the greening of hate — ...---READ-->>
- What next for ecosocialists?The Ecosocialist International Network will meet in Paris, Sept. 26-27, to discuss its future and the way forward for ecosocialism. This article is a contribution to that discussion by Ian Angus from Canadian Dimension, September-October 2010 Not long ago, most socialists had little to say about environmental issues, and the environmental movement was focused on individual (change ...---READ-->>
- John Molyneux: Marxism and the environmental crisisSocialists who base their politics on Marxism need to be in the forefront of building the anti climate change movement, arguing their case by John Molyneux John Molyneux is a socialist, activist and writer. He is a member of the British SWP, lectures at Portsmouth University, and writes mainly about Marxist theory and art. Over the next ...---READ-->>
- Africa up for grabs: The scale and impact of land land grabbing for agrofuelsFood is a natural right and agricultural products should not be treated as commodities whose ultimate purpose is the generation of business profits rather than meeting needs of the people---READ-->>
- To save the world, the Left must reclaim utopiaSocialism was conceived as a creative and idealistic movement, but lost its way for most of the 20th century. Recapturing this imaginative energy can help find solutions to such huge threats as climate change. by Ben Courtice Blind Carbon Copy This article started from a short impromptu speech I gave to launch the third edition of the ...---READ-->>
- Canadian Dimension: Special Issue on EcosocialismThe latest issue of Canada’s most widely read magazine of the left focuses on the “rising tide of ecosocialism” From the Canadian Dimension website: The division within the environmental movement between market ecologism and ecosocialism has become increasingly clear with the failure of Copenhagen and the promise of Cochabamba. This issue of CD focuses on the rising ...---READ-->>
- Australian TV airs 'manipulative and dangerous' attack on immgrants“Population Puzzle” proposes a false solution to real problems, lets the real culprits for capitalist growth off the hook by Simon Butler Green Left Weekly, August 26, 2010 Dick’s Smith’s Population Puzzle, a documentary that aired on ABC1 on August 12, made no modest claims. It went for the direct, hard sell. ...---READ-->>
- Ecosocialists discuss the Australian electionWhy did the Greens gain? Was this a shift to the left? What should left-greens and green-lefts do now? How can the fight for radical social change be moved forward? Green Left Weekly, Australia’s wost widely-read radical paper, is encouraging broad progressive discussion in the comments section below these initial assessments. WE DIDN’T GET WHAT WE DESERVED by ...---READ-->>
- Outrage at Shell-funded UN Report on Nigeria oil spillsUNEP study using information from the oil companies responsible for the massive oil pollution in Nigeria Media Avisory issued by Friends of the Earth International August 24, 2010 Friends of the Earth International is outraged by reports that a major UN investigation into Nigeria oil spills funded by oil giant Shell relies more on figures produced ...---READ-->>
- Greens Gain in Australian ElectionProgressive social movements will be looking to the Greens to offer strong support in the struggles ahead, no matter which major party eventually forms government by Peter Boyle National convener of the Socialist Alliance By denying both the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and the the Liberal-National coalition an outright majority in primary votes and in House of Representatives seats, ...---READ-->>
- This is agribusiness: exploiting workers and poisoning consumersIf the theory of ‘consumer sovereignty’ is correct, then U.S. consumers must want salmonella in their omelets, and the DeCoster agribusiness operation, a habitual violator of safety, environment and other laws, is just responding to market demand. Excerpts from an article by Alec MacGillis, Washington Post, August 22, 2010 The Iowa egg producer that federal officials say is ...---READ-->>
- Russia's fires and Pakistan's floods: A taste of what's to comeThe disasters of the past few weeks sound a warning: this is the way of the 21st century, if decisive action isn’t taken soon by Simon Butler Green Left Weekly, August 15, 2010 If you are not at least a little bit scared about the Russian heatwave or the huge floods in Pakistan, then you really ...---READ-->>
- Climate Change: Who's Carrying the Burden?New book from CCPA “rallies the call of climate justice advocates and activists concerned with system change not climate change” Climate and Capitalism just received this announcement from the publisher, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. We haven’t seen the book yet, but it looks like a valuable resource for climate justice activists in Canada and ...---READ-->>