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.
- Interview With John Bellamy Foster On 'Marx's Ecology' – Materialism and NatureThis interview originally appeared in the UK newspaper Weekly Worker, on November 10, 2005. It was recently posted on the Europe Solidaire Sans Frontières website.John Bellamy Foster is co-editor of Monthly Review, professor of sociology at the University of Oregon, and the author of numerous books and articles on political economy and the environment, including ...---READ-->>
- What's Wrong With Carbon Offsets and Carbon Trading?These days, everyone professes concern about climate change. And with the advent of the Kyoto Protocol, the EU Emissions Trading Scheme, and carbon ‘offsets’, it looks like governments and corporations are at last starting to do something about the problem.But are they? Or are these ‘market approaches’ merely delaying action and diverting resources away from ...---READ-->>
- More on Ecuador's Proposal to Leave Amazon Oil in the GroundPrevious posts on Climate and Capitalism (here and here) discussed Ecuador’s proposal to halt development of oil reserves in the Yasuni Park in the Amazon region if it received international compensation. Here’s additional background, prepared by an advisor to the Ecuadorian government. Yasuni in Ecuador: An Initiative from the Southby Joan Martinez-AlierIn September 2007 the ...---READ-->>
- APEC Fails on Climate Change, Pushes NukesBy Zoe Kenny From Green Left Weekly, September 14, 2007 Despite the media fanfare, the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, held in Sydney on September 8 and 9, achieved next to nothing in combating global warming. The key outcome was the adoption of the “Sydney Declaration” — which amounts to little more than a vague statement of aspirational ...---READ-->>
- Five Challenges for Ecosocialists in 2008Canadian Dimension magazine asked me to write an article on building the ecosocialist movement, for their November-December issue. Writing it forced me to think through many issues – in particular, what ecosocialists should be doing now to move from discussion to action. The following is the article I submitted. It has a specifically Canadian focus ...---READ-->>
- Global Warming and Agriculture: The Poor Will Be Worst HitA new study finds that global warming will reduce agricultural production world wide – and that the losses will be worst and happen soonest in the countries that can least afford them. This summary of Global Warming and Agriculture was prepared by the publisher, the Peterson Institute for International Economics, a “private, nonprofit, nonpartisan ...---READ-->>
- Climate Change RefugeesBy Terry J. Allen Posted September 5, 2007, on In These Times It has already started. The first ripples from rising seas are inundating low-lying areas, threatening coasts and islands. Climate refugees around the world are fleeing regions beset by violent storms, extreme temperatures, melting glaciers, spreading deserts, swelling oceans and other escalating effects of global warming. ...---READ-->>
- Are Dangerous Warming Levels Inevitable?Scientists no longer debate whether global warming is happening. The big scientific questions now are how bad it will be, and what can be done. LONDON, September 11 (Reuters) — The world will probably exceed a global warming limit which the European Union calls dangerous, scientists at Britain’s MetOffice Hadley Centre said on Tuesday, presenting a ...---READ-->>
- The APEC Declaration on Climate ChangeThis brilliant example of weasel wording reaches its zenith with the promise to “work towards achieving an APEC-wide regional aspirational goal of a reduction in energy intensity.”I considered writing a satirical commentary on this – but what could be more devastating than the text itself? 2000 meaningless words. UPDATE: For the “wish I’d said that” file: ...---READ-->>
- Caution: Hypocrites At WorkGlobe and Mail columnist Jeffrey Simpson on climate change talks at the APEC meeting… That Kyoto miscreants Australia and Canada should be considered driving forces toward a communiqué consensus on climate change ranges between the laughable and the hypocritical.Australia never signed the Kyoto Protocol and voluntarily gave itself extremely generous emission-reduction targets – 8 per cent ...---READ-->>
- Voluntary actions didn't get us civil rights, and they won't fix the climateBy Mike Tidwell Mike Tidwell is director of the U.S. Climate Emergency Council and the Chesapeake Climate Action Network based in Takoma Park, Md. Strange but true: Energy-efficient light bulbs and hybrid cars are hurting our nation’s budding efforts to fight global warming.More precisely, every time an activist or politician hectors the public to voluntarily reach for ...---READ-->>
- Colombia: Ecocide for FuelThe expansion of agrofuel mono-cultures, mainly for biodiesel, is threatening the lives, livelihoods and lands of Afro-Colombian and peasant communities and indigenous people Introduction by Almuth Ernsting, Biofuelwatch Below is a new email alert against human rights abuses and deforestation in Colombia which are linked to palm oil, much of it now grown for biofuels. This email alert is ...---READ-->>
- Ecuador’s Oil Proposal: An Important InitiativeA previous post on Climate and Capitalism, from Inter Press Service, introduced Ecuador’s proposal to block the exploitation of oil reserves in its Amazon region in exchange for compensation from the global North.Stuart Munckton is a frequent contributor to the Australian newspaper Green Left Weekly. His comment of the Ecuadorian proposal was posted on Left ...---READ-->>
- Ecology Against Capitalism“An ecological approach to the economy is about having enough, not having more.” — John Bellamy Foster Who says Marx wasn’t green? John Bellamy Foster. Ecology Against Capitalism. Monthly Review Press, New York, 2002. 160 pages. reviewed by William Bowles ‘For the first time … nature becomes purely an object for humankind, purely a matter of utility; ceases to be ...---READ-->>
- Canada Helps Block Agreement on EmissionsAt the Vienna negotiations on climate change this week, Canada played a key role in preventing agreement on goals for greenhouse gas emissions. Over 100 governments reluctantly agreed that cuts of 25 to 40 percent are needed, but set no binding targets. But even that inadequate result was resisted by Canada’s representatives. Press reports … From Reuters: Delegates ...---READ-->>
- Biofuels and the Impending Climate CatastropheBy Pete Ashley From Permanent Revolution, August 18, 2007 As the impending climate change catastrophe grows in scale and urgency, politicians feel the need to be seen to be “doing something”. This largely consists of launching schemes which avoid making businesses drastically reduce their CO2 emissions. One such scheme is George Bush’s sudden infatuation with bio-fuels, growing ...---READ-->>
- How Capitalism “Solves” a Climate CrisisBy Ian Angus 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 social change. The advocates of such plans are sincere and well-meaning, but they miss the point. The issue is not ...---READ-->>
- Monbiot Says Global Revolutionary Change RequiredFrom George Monbiot’s speech at the Camp for Climate Change in London Aug. 18. George Monbiot is the author of the climate change bestseller Heat, and a columnist for the U.K. Guardian. From UK Indymedia I’m going to start with some bad news, and the bad news is this. Two degrees is no longer the target. And ...---READ-->>
- Savage Capitalism -the Ecosocialist Alternative (Summary)by Ian Angus (Note: the following article was originally posted in three installments. I have merged it into one post to simplify reading and printing) (Update, Sept. 2 2007: I understand that “Savage Capitalism” was approved by the AGM of Socialist Resistance this weekend.) “Savage Capitalism -the Ecosocialist Alternative,” is the main document up for discussion at ...---READ-->>
- Indigenous People in West Papua Fight Biofuel ExpansionThe Indonesian government appears to be intent on a massive expansion in oil palm plantations as a source of bio-fuel. This will involve the destruction of millions of hectares of rainforest and with it the indigenous populations who have lived in and managed these forests for thousands of years. from the Institute for Papuan Advocacy & ...---READ-->>