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.
- A warning for Africa: Carbon trading is a Ponzi schemeThe north’s climate debt to Africa should be paid not through such gambling but in genuine income transfers that reach ordinary people, who are taking the brunt of worsening climate chaos by Michael Dorsey and Patrick Bond Business Day (South Africa) January 24, 2012 Last winter, when carbon prices fell 15% in one week, industry analysts called it ...---READ-->>
- The only thing green in biodiesel is moneyIt will take 200 years of continuous biodiesel production to pay off the carbon debt of the Indonesian palm plantations produce it … by Stephen Leahy (IPS) The only green in biodiesel fuel is the money producers make from it, new research has revealed. Most biodiesel production is making climate change worse not better, studies show. Biodiesel from palm ...---READ-->>
- John Ruskin: 'The real science of political economy'“The real science of political economy, which has yet to be distinguished from the bastard science, as medicine from witchcraft, and astronomy from astrology, is that which teaches nations to desire and labour for the things that lead to life: and which teaches them to scorn and destroy the things that lead ...---READ-->>
- Why do pale green NGOs support Obama?The Sierra Club’s advertising campaign and its praise for Obama reveal how little it takes to appease mainstream, corporate-minded environmentalists. Press Action, January 18, 2012 (abridged) The Sierra Club is running a “high-saturation” television advertising campaign in major media markets in Ohio, thanking President Barack Obama for protecting Americans from toxic pollution. Some political observers wondered whether Obama would lose the ...---READ-->>
- Greedy Lying BastardsBest movie title of 2012! A new documentary film exposes the environmental destruction, illness and death caused by the fossil fuel industry Director Craig Rosebraugh says: “This film is an investigation into an industry that is simply out of control. The fossil fuel industry has shown that it will stop at nothing to maximize profits for shareholders, whether ...---READ-->>
- Attenborough asks corporations to protect wilderness from poor peopleSince we can’t stop poor people from breeding, let’s build fences to keep them out. And let’s ask the world’s biggest polluters to pay for the fences. by Ian Angus Regular readers of Climate & Capitalism know that David Attenborough, in addition to making nature films, is a patron of Optimum Population Trust, a British outfit that, ...---READ-->>
- So far, the 21st century has had nine of the ten hottest years on recordSo much for the claim that global warming is over … Statement from the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies January 19, 2012 The global average surface temperature in 2011 was the ninth warmest since 1880, according to NASA scientists. The finding continues a trend in which nine of the 10 warmest years in the modern meteorological record ...---READ-->>
- UN food agencies: in bed with agribusinessGiant food producers are buying influence, often through supposedly “charitable” foundations, to ensure that the UN shares their market-driven approaches by Penny Cole A World to Win, January 19, 2012 Global agri-business is increasingly influencing the work of publicly-funded food and agriculture bodies such as the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the Consultative Group on Agriculture ...---READ-->>
- Future World Bank president explains why Africa is 'vastly underpolluted'Obama’s nominee believes that “the economic logic behind dumping a load of toxic waste in the lowest wage country is impeccable” Thanks to Doug Henwood for this So Obama’s going to nominate Larry Summers to be president of the World Bank. Recall this passage from 1991 memo, actually written by Lant Pritchett but signed by Summers when ...---READ-->>
- The largest oil spills in history, 1901 to presentThis interactive map shows the largest oil spills from tanker accidents and drilling operations, as well as a number of other notable spills Click: The largest oil spills in history, 1901 to present (Opens in a new window)---READ-->>
- "Towards Ecosocialism" proposes major shift for New Zealand socialist group“We must be activists, but not as part of a separate organisation. Rather, our activism should occur as part of existing red and green groups, anywhere there is sufficient overlap in practice to allow us to raise our ecosocialist ideas.” New Zealand’s Socialist Workers Organization, which is connected with the UK Socialist Workers Party, is considering ...---READ-->>
- Democracy and the pathology of wealthVideo: social critic and noted author Michael Parenti on the reality of capitalism in corporate America. La Pena Cultural Center Berkeley, California, January 6, 2012---READ-->>
- First Nations: Harper attack means 'the fix is in' for tar sands pipeline review“To imply that our decision against Enbridge has been manipulated is deeply disrespectful of First Nations people, and our many neighbours who have joined our cause and support our decision to refuse this pipeline.” (Adapted from a Yinka Dene Alliance news release, January 11, 2011) NADLEH WHUT’EN, BRITISH COLUMBIA – The Yinka Dene Alliance, a group of ...---READ-->>
- Haitian peasant leader: Peasant farming can cool the planet; Food sovereignty can solve the climate crisisLa Via Campesina fights industrial food production, which is responsible for more than 50 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions Jeff Conant of Global Justice Ecology Project interviews Chavannes Jean-Baptiste, Executive Director of Mouvement Paysan de Papaye, an affiliate of La Via Campesina International Peasant Movement (Climate Connections, January 9, 2012) Made up of 150 organizations in seventy countries, and with ...---READ-->>
- Ecosocialists debate ‘Too Many People?’Veteran British socialist Alan Thornett has published a highly critical review of the new book Too Many People? Population, Immigration, and the Environmental Crisis. Here is his critique, followed by a reply from the book’s authors, Ian Angus and Simon Butler. ‘TOO MANY PEOPLE?’ A REVIEW by Alan Thornett Socialist Resistance, January 2, 2012 As a long-time comrade of Ian ...---READ-->>
- 10 articles on how to (re)build the leftWe don’t necessarily agree with all of these, but they are all well worth reading… Road maps, dead ends, and the search for fresh ground: How can we build the socialist movement in the 21st century? (PDF) Dan DiMaggio in Cultural Logic Occupy and the tasks of socialists Pham Binh in Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal A convergence of realities Malik ...---READ-->>
- The 1% own the U.S., while the realonomy pays the priceThe wealthy 1% own the country. What can the other 99% do about it? It’s not enough simply to stem the tide. We need a massive reversal. Things have to change, and in a big way. by Salvatore Babones Inequality.org According to the federal Bureau of Economic Analysis, the economy is growing again. In fact, it’s been growing since ...---READ-->>
- Quebec on the verge of catastrophic climate changeMean temperatures in the southern half of Quebec will be 2C to 3C higher than normal by 2020. In northern Quebec, the warming will be even higher. by William Marsden Montreal Gazette, December 30, 2011 Record floods, melting permafrost, shoreline erosion and intense winds caused havoc for thousands of Quebecers as 2011 proved to be yet another year ...---READ-->>
- Coke: helping polar bears, violating human rightsShould the World Wildlife Fund Canada be taking money from a corporation that destroys the environment and wildlife in other parts of the world? by Nick Fillmore by permission, from A Different Point of View, December 29, 2011 An award-winning investigative reporter and a founder of the Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ), Nick was a news editor and producer with ...---READ-->>
- Christmas in the radiation zoneIn Fukushima people discuss radiation levels and how their land has become polluted with an invisible, enduring danger–and how they have become fearful as the government tries to convince them that it is now safe. by Chris Williams Chris Williams, author of Ecology and Socialism: Solutions to Capitalist Ecological Crisis, traveled to Japan in December to witness ...---READ-->>