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.
- Options for Ecosocialists in 2008(The general line of document below was endorsed by a meeting of the Green Left (a group within the Green Party of England and Wales) at their meeting this month. I met Sean Thompson at the founding meeting of the Ecosocialist International Network on Paris in October. He has been a socialist activist in Britain ...---READ-->>
- “More Forest, Less Bank!” Protecting the World’s Forests Will Take More than MoneyMedia reports on last month’s Bali conference focused almost exclusively on what happened inside the conference hall and in negotiating sessions. But while politicians and bureaucrats haggled over the details of their toothless “Action Plan,” something quite different was happening outside. Dozens of activist groups also met in Bali, laying the basis for a revived ...---READ-->>
- New Publication: Confronting the Climate Change CrisisAvailable now: A new anthology of 10 frequently downloaded articles by Ian Angus, editor of Climate and Capitalism. They were published in Climate and Capitalism, Canadian Dimension, or Socialist Voice during 2007. Confronting the climate change crisis The IPCC and the conservatism of consensus Exploding the myths of ‘carbon offsets’ The war machine is addicted to oil The ‘emissions intensity’ ...---READ-->>
- From False to Real Solutions for Climate Changeby Patrick Bond Amidst her welcome critique of the biofuel mania, Vandana Shiva’s ZNet commentary last month (December 13, 2007) also made this point: “The Kyoto Protocol totally avoided the material challenge of stopping activities that lead to higher emissions and the political challenge of regulation of the polluters and making the polluters pay in accordance ...---READ-->>
- Ethanol and the Gulf Dead Zone: More Echoes of EngelsI previously quoted Friedrich Engels in regard to the impact of the U.S. ethanol boom on Brazilian rainforests. Here’s the quote again: Let us not, however, flatter ourselves overmuch on account of our human victories over nature. For each such victory nature takes its revenge on us. Each victory, it is true, in the first place ...---READ-->>
- 2007 Was Britain's 'Second Warmest Year'Share this with any global-warming-deniers you may be acquainted with — also with anyone who has a few doubts, or just isn’t certain, and everyone else as well. from BBC NEWS, January 3, 2008 Last year was the second warmest on record in the UK, according to figures released by the Met Office. The average mean ...---READ-->>
- Time to Stop the Greenwashingby Glen Barry from Earth Meanders, January 4, 2008 It’s a very positive sign for the green left that some mainstream green activists are publishing statements as strong as this one. Dr. Glen Barry is the President and Founder of Ecological Internet (EI). He is a conservation biologist and political ecologist, a writer of essays and blogs, ...---READ-->>
- A Conversation About Green SocialismFrom Socialist Unity, a blog hosted by Andy Newman in Britain, January 4, 2008 Derek Wall is one of two Principal Speakers who act as spokespeople for the Green Party of England and Wales. I interviewed him recently about how he sees the current political situation, and how progressives in the Green party and outside it ...---READ-->>
- Svend Robinson: Canada's Role in Bali Was Painful to SeeSvend Robinson, Canada’s first openly gay elected official and a leading activist for gay rights, was a New Democratic Party member of Canada’s federal parliament from 1979 to 2004. He is now working with Public Services International, based in France. He can be contacted by email at svend.robinson@world-psi.org. This article is posted here with Svend ...---READ-->>
- Elaine Browne Quits the U.S. Green PartyEditor’s note: For some time it has been an open secret in U.S. radical circles that the Green Party is dominated by a “Demogreen” current that believes the organization’s main role is to influence the Democratic Party, rather than to build an independent radical alternative. The conflict between the party’s “moderate” leadership and the its radical ...---READ-->>
- U.S. Ethanol and Amazon Forests: Echoes of EngelsIn The Part Played by Labor in the Transition from Ape to Man, Friedrich Engels wrote: “Let us not, however, flatter ourselves overmuch on account of our human victories over nature. For each such victory nature takes its revenge on us. Each victory, it is true, in the first place brings about the results we expected, ...---READ-->>
- The Bali Conference on Climate Change: An Initial Balance SheetBy Daniel Tanuro Daniel Tanuro is the ecological correspondent of La Gauche, newspaper of the Belgian Socialist Workers Party. An earlier version of this article, in French, was published in Europe Solidaire sans frontières, Dec. 20, 2007. The translation of the expanded article was done by Climate and Capitalism. It has been reviewed by the author. How ...---READ-->>
- Iraq and Climate ChangeWhen our grandchildren and more distant descendants assemble in such classrooms as may be available and ask their teachers, “Why did our ancestors not take effective action to prevent the catastrophic effects of climate change?” one of the answers will surely be, “The war in Iraq.” by Michael T. Clare Foreign Policy in Focus, December 7, 2007 Long ...---READ-->>
- Health Care: “Climate Change Will Ride Across This Landscape as the Fifth Horseman”Excerpt from a lecture entitled Climate change and health: preparing for unprecedented challenges, presented by Dr. Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization, in Bethesda, Maryland on December 10 As the climate scientists tell us, even if greenhouse gas emissions were to stop today, the consequences will be felt throughout this century. In the language ...---READ-->>
- Biofuels – A New Threat to Climate and Climate JusticeText of a flyer distributed by Biofuelwatch at the UN climate talks in Bali. “The biodiversity and livelihoods of Africans should not be considered expendable for the cause of climate change solutions.” African Biodiversity Network “We have very serious concerns over nuclear energy, genetically modified trees, carbon capture and storage and biofuels for environmental and safety ...---READ-->>
- Suckered Again: The Bali Deal is Worse Than KyotoBy George Monbiot, The Guardian, December 17, 2007 ‘After 11 days of negotiations, governments have come up with a compromise deal that could even lead to emission increases. The highly compromised political deal is largely attributable to the position of the United States, which was heavily influenced by fossil fuel and automobile industry interests. The failure ...---READ-->>
- Trying to Square the Climate CircleBy William Bowles, Creative-I Sink or Swim – The ‘choice’ apparently, is yours according to Hilary Benn, but only if you can breath under water and swim Here, in the UK we have a minister for the environment, Hilary Benn is his name, son of doyen of the ‘left’ of the Labour Party, Anthony Wedgwood-Benn, whose swings ...---READ-->>
- Brazilian Indigenous Peoples Protest Agribusiness and BiofuelsRainforest Action Network reports this protest in Brazil, Thursday December 14 “Rainforest Action Network (RAN) issued its support for a major protest of US Agribusiness and biofuels expansion staged by the Mobilization of Indigenous People of the Cerrado (MOPIC) in Campo Grande, Brazil. More than 300 MOPIC members representing more than 35 distinct Indigenous cultures attended ...---READ-->>
- Indigenous Peoples Condemn Exclusion from Bali TalksStatement of the International Forum Of Indigenous Peoples on Climate Change at the High Level Segment Of the 13th Conference of the Parties Thank you, Mr. President Chair and delegates On behalf of the International Forum of Indigenous Peoples on Climate Change (IFIPCC), I would like to draw your attention to the fact that more than 80% ...---READ-->>
- Hoodwinked in Bali on Carbon Creditsby Daphne Wysham The Nation, December 12, 2007 Nusa Dua, Bali It’s the second week of the UN Climate Change Conference and the air is heavy with humidity, but despite being the rainy season, it hasn’t rained heavily in weeks. The rooms in the conference facilities where people are clustered around computers feel like saunas, an appropriate thing, ...---READ-->>