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.
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- Ecology & Socialism; Rise of the Green Left<Chris Williams, Ecology and Socialism: Solutions to Capitalist Ecological Crisis (Haymarket 2010) Derek Wall, The Rise of the Green Left: Inside the Worldwide Ecosocialist Movement (Pluto 2010) reviewed by Alex Snowdon Counterfire, March 11, 2011 There remains a huge gulf between what needs to be done to stop climate change wreaking destruction and the solutions offered by political and ...---READ-->>
- Compassionate CapitalismWe’re so lucky to be ruled by philanthropists … Reposted with permission from Michael Perelman, who wrote it for his excellent blog Unsettling Economics. We would only add recognition for the compassionate capitalists who have heroically restrained their natural desire to cut greenhouse gases and reduce pollution, in order to protect the jobs of others less ...---READ-->>
- What the fight against measles can teach environmentalistsby Ian Angus This week I’ve been re-reading Richard Lewontin’s excellent book The Triple Helix. It’s a concise and compelling critique, from the perspective of one of the world’s most respected evolutionary biologists, of the simplistic genetic determinism that often passes for biological science or evolutionary thought these days. I recommend it highly. I had forgotten, and was ...---READ-->>
- Eco-Farming Can Double Food Production in 10 Years“To date, agroecological projects have shown an average crop yield increase of 80% in 57 developing countries, with an average increase of 116% for all African projects.” Small-scale farmers can double food production within 10 years in critical regions by using ecological methods, a new UN report shows. Based on an extensive review of the recent ...---READ-->>
- Europe's Carbon Market ScamCarbon trading doesn’t — and won’t — lead to emissions reductions. In fact, that was never its purpose and that’s why large polluters love it by Ricardo Coelho Green Left Weekly, March 6, 2011 When the Kyoto Protocol was being negotiated in 1997, the European Union opposed the United States’ proposal to introduce carbon trading and “offsetting” ...---READ-->>
- If Socialism Fails: The Spectre of 21st Century BarbarismRosa Luxemburg’s warning is more relevant than ever today.---READ-->>
- China Plans Big Cuts in Energy IntensityChina aims to reduce energy consumption per unit of GDP by 16 percent in the five years to 2015, Premier Wen Jiabao said Saturday at the opening of the parliament’s annual session. (Xinhua, March 5, 2011) Carbon dioxide emission is set to be slashed by 17 percent in the five years on the basis of 2010, ...---READ-->>
- In Dakar, Bolivia Worked to Build the Global Climate Justice MovementWe stopped them at COP15 in Copenhagen and we can stop them at COP17 in Durban but only if the social movements and grassroots NGOs are united, and are building a united front with governments of the Global South and all progressive forces and institutions of the world. by Daniel Kim Labor/Community Strategy Center, February 28, 2011 In ...---READ-->>
- Rio+20 and the rush to sell nature's invisible laborCommodifying the natural services involved in the world’s carbon cycle (climate change) is just the first stage of commodifying and privatizing nature as a whole to create a new world green economy.---READ-->>
- Green Trade Unionist: "No Place for Malthus in the Green Party"“I just don’t see how their bitter philosophy has any place in a party which stands for social and ecological justice …” Andy Hewitt, co-chair of the Green Party Trade Union Group (U.K.), sent this message to the group’s email discussion list, responding to a message favoring population control. Thanks to Derek Wall, Another Green World After seeing ...---READ-->>
- Malthusian RebrandingOptimum Population Trust becomes Population Matters For twenty years, Optimum Population Trust has campaigned for fewer babies in the third world and fewer immigrants to the UK. Regular readers will recall it as the group that launched “PopOffsets” to let people in rich countries offset their carbon emissions by paying for birth control in Madagascar. It still ...---READ-->>
- Climate Change Models Are 'Dangerously Optimistic'UK climate scientist Kevin Anderson warns that computer models predicting future climate change are underestimating emissions and overestimating technology by Nadya Anscombe Environment Research Web, February 24, 20011 Integrated assessment models (IAMs) used by researchers today – where climate change data is integrated with economic data – are dangerously flawed because they are based on naïve assumptions, according ...---READ-->>
- The Real Cost of CoalHarvard Medical School: Using coal costs the U.S. hundreds of billions of dollars a year in health costs, environmental destruction and climate change One of the biggest frauds of our time is the myth of “clean coal.” A new study by the Center for Health and the Global Environment at the Harvard Medical School shows that ...---READ-->>
- 4 Degrees Hotter: The Adaptation Trap“Can, and how would, we live in a world 4 degrees Celsius warmer?” is no longer an abstract question, but one that has become the subject of debate in scientific circles, and now in the community. (From 4 Degrees Hotter, a new report by David Spratt of Climate Code Red, Australia.) Global political failure to reach agreement ...---READ-->>
- Mohawk Communities Condemn Nuclear Waste ShipmentsThe Mohawk Councils of Kahnawà:ke, Tyendinaga and Akwesasne have issued a jointed statement rejecting the planned shipment of nuclear waste through the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway system. (Intercontinental Cry) “We wish to make it clear that we are absolutely, 100% against this plan,” states Tyendinaga Grand Chief Don Maracle, in the joint statement issued Feb. 9. “We ...---READ-->>
- Ecuador Court Rules Against Chevron, Issues $8 Billion FineA court in Ecuador has ruled in favor of the residents of Ecuador’s Amazon region who have spent the last 18 years seeking damages for crude oil pollution. The judge ordered the company to pay US$8 billion to clean up one of the worst environmental crimes in history. Amazon Watch and Rainforest Action Network issued this statement “As ...---READ-->>
- Video: Climate Justice Declaration from World Social Forum 2011For Days of Action October 12, 2011---READ-->>
- Canada's Drive to Kill U.S. and European Clean Energy PoliciesCanada isn’t just exporting dirty oil; it’s exporting dirty policies. This report details the campaign to open markets everywhere to the tar sands’ dirty oil. Executive Summary of The Tar Sands Long Shadow: Canada’s Campaign to Kill Climate Policies Outside our Borders, published by Climate Action Network Over the last few years, Canada’s federal government has ...---READ-->>
- This is what plutonomy looks like, 2Net worth, measured as assets less liabilities—is skewed heavily, not only to the rich, but to the richest of the rich. Plu-TON-o-my. n. An economy where economic growth is powered by and largely consumed by the wealthy few The U.S. Economic Policy Institute reports: Starting with the bottom fifth of the wealth distribution is a group that ...---READ-->>
- Declaration of the Assembly of Social Movements, WSF/DakarThe World Social Forum met in Dakar, Senegal, February 7-11. This declaration was adopted by the Assembly of Social Movements. As the Social Movements Assembly of the World Social Forum of Dakar, 2011, we are gathered here to affirm the fundamental contribution of Africa and its peoples in the construction of human civilisation. Together, the peoples ...---READ-->>