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.
- Sea Level Will Rise Faster than PredictedStudy of glacier melting shows that IPCC estimate is a minimum Scientific American, September 5, 2008 Greenland, the world’s largest island, holds enough ice to raise global sea levels by 23 feet (seven meters). Add the ice sheets of Antarctica and the oceans would deepen more than 200 feet (60 meters). Satellite measurements from space and ...---READ-->>
- Argentina: Indigenous Guaraní Resist Eviction by Soya GrowersGovernment-supported agribusinesses assault indigenous farmers An alert issued by Rettet den Regenwald/Rainforest Rescue, Septembr 3, 2008 On 28th July 2008, an infantry squad made up of fifty soldiers, with personal support from the soya entrepreneur Roberto Strisich, attacked the community with bulldozers [and lorries, arriving early in the morning in the fields belonging to the Guaraní community. ...---READ-->>
- Climate change: Market-based policies will not work“Simply using price mechanisms will lead to a policy failure with catastrophic consequences for most people and most species” David Spratt is a policy analyst with the Australian group CarbonEquity, and co-author, with Philip Sutton, of Climate Code Red: The Case for Emergency Action, which Climate and Capitalism will review soon. Spratt was interviewed by Ben ...---READ-->>
- Snatching Food from the Mouths of the PoorA new wave of food colonialism manufactures famine in Africa and Asia By George MonbiotThe Guardian, August 26 2008 In his book Late Victorian Holocausts, Mike Davis tells the story of the famines that sucked the guts out of India in the 1870s. The hunger began when a drought, caused by El Nino, killed the crops ...---READ-->>
- Food Crisis: The Moral Failure of Liberal EconomistsTime was when writers lampooned economists for “knowing the price of everything but the value of nothing.” Today, they seem to be unaware even of the price of things! By Aseem Shrivastava From Hardnews (Delhi, India) August 2008 (Original title: (Stiglitz and Sen: Profit and Pain”) An economic transaction is a solved political problem. Economics has gained the ...---READ-->>
- How Capitalism 'Solves' a Climate Disaster: Katrina, Three Years LaterThree years ago today, Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. The pain hasn’t stopped … From Climate and Capitalism, one year ago: There have been many debates, on this blog and elsewhere, about whether global warming can be “solved” in a capitalist framework. Many people have proposed plans to radically reduce greenhouse gas emissions without radical ...---READ-->>
- The Myth of the Tragedy of the CommonsBy Ian Angus See also A reply to criticisms and questions about this article Will shared resources always be misused and overused? Is community ownership of land, forests and fisheries a guaranteed road to ecological disaster? Is privatization the only way to protect the environment and end Third World poverty? Most economists and development planners will answer “yes” — ...---READ-->>
- Africa: Forced to Clean Up After a Party It Didn’t Attend“Africa and the rest of the Global South are owed a huge historical and ecological debt for slavery, colonialism, and centuries of exploitation” By Dennis Brutus and Patrick Bond Durham South Africa, 23 August 2008 “We are the creditors!” insist a new layer of African social activists, victimised by the ongoing Third World debt crisis but now gathered ...---READ-->>
- Socialists in Britain Discuss Class Struggle and EcologyEcosocialism included in a discussion of regrouping the left Earlier this year, the left-wing Respect coalition in Britain went through a damaging split, when one of its founding groups, the Socialist Workers Party, decided to walk away over disagreements with the coalition’s leader, radical MP George Galloway. Desite the walk-out, Respect still includes a strong Marxist ...---READ-->>
- The Global Warming Report Ottawa Doesn't Want You to SeeCanada’s federal government is trying to bury an important report on climate change and health … but the blogosphere is fighting back Last month, C&C reported that Canada’s federal government was planning a “low-profile release” of Human Health in a Changing Climate: A Canadian Assessment of Vulnerabilities and Adaptive Capacity, a 500-page report prepared for Health ...---READ-->>
- Indigenous Activists in Peru Defend Collectively-Owned Lands“The government has declared open war on indigenous people and the demonstrators will stay there until the problem is solved. They prefer to die there, they aren’t afraid.” By Milagros Salazar Inter Press Service, August 19, 2008: Defending the state of emergency declared in three provinces in Peru to crack down on protests by indigenous ...---READ-->>
- No, We Won't Debate That …Global warming deniers have many places to post their oft-refuted nonsense. This is not one of them For reasons best known to themselves, some global-warming-deniers have recently been posting comments on Climate and Capitalism. The theme is consistent: they want us to debate whether global warming is caused by human activity. Yesterday, someone named Jeff insisted that ...---READ-->>
- Israel's Discriminatory Water Policies Leave West Bank DryPer capita water consumption in Palestine is far below the minimum recommended by the World Health Organization From B’Tselem – The Israeli information center for human rights in the occupied territories The chronic water shortage in the West Bank, resulting from an unfair distribution of water resources shared by the Palestinians and Israel, will be much ...---READ-->>
- Carbon Capture and Storage Will Increase PollutionStudy finds that burying carbon dioxide from coal-fired plants will increase acid rain By Patrick Barry From Science News, August 13th, 2008 As pollution bad guys go, carbon dioxide may be the media darling, but trying to capture it and lock it away could allow other repeat offenders to go free. Power plant emissions that cause acid rain, water ...---READ-->>
- Can Markets Stop Climate Change?“Can we trade our way out of our climate difficulties? Can market mechanisms deal with a problem of such scale and urgency?” By Renfrey Clarke from Green Left Weekly (Australia) August 9, 2008 Internationally, as in Australia, governments forced to promise climate change action have generally promoted market-based carbon abatement schemes, mostly of the “cap and trade” variety. ...---READ-->>
- Irish newspaper looks at capitalism as a threat to the environment“Bring the relationship between capitalism and climate change into mainstream debate” This article appeared on August 9 in the World View column in the Irish Times, Ireland’s leading (and usually pro-business) daily newspaper. Thanks to Justin O’Hagan for drawing it to our attention. Capitalism as a Threat to the Environment by Paul Gillespie “Contemporary capitalism and a habitable planet ...---READ-->>
- Climate Change Threatens Brazil’s Food CropsEven moderate rises in temperatures would cause significant damage to food production By Jonathan Wheatley Financial Times August 10, 2008 Brazil’s soya exports could slump by more than a quarter over the next 12 years as a result of climate change, according to a study to be presented at an agribusiness conference opening in São ...---READ-->>
- The truth is, we're fighting for survivalAmid the trivial political squabbles, a stark truth lies hidden: humanity is staring global catastrophe in the face By Joss Garman From The Guardian August 8, 2008 Up to 4 billion people left without water. Up to 5 billion at risk of flooding. Half a billion left hungry as agricultural yields decline by 15-35% ...---READ-->>
- 'Markets have failed miserably even to recognize climate change'A liberal journal argues that market solutions won’t do the job In Canada, as elsewhere in the world, all of the major political parties favour “market solutions” to global warming. The Conservatives propose efficiency objectives. The Liberals want a carbon tax. The New Democrats argue for cap-and-trade. The differences are minor — all are based on ...---READ-->>
- Australian Climate Activists Plan Week of ProtestsA call for a national week of protest action beginning September 21 We need urgent action on climate change! Climate change is already occurring, much faster than the world’s scientists have predicted. Recent data including the very real possibility of the arctic sea-ice melting by September this year demonstrate that this is a climate emergency. We are concerned ...---READ-->>