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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- Murray Bookchin: Ecological problems are social problemsOur ecological problems cannot be understood, much less resolved, without dealing with problems within society---READ-->>
- Guatemala: Blood in the BiofuelInternationally-funded Guatemalan bio-fuel interests are evicting Mayan Qeqchi families from their historic lands, destroying homes and crops, killing one and injuring more. Thousands are without food or shelter. By Annie Bird Upside Down World, March 23, 2011 On March 15, 16 and 17, hundreds of security officers from the Guatemalan National Civil Police, Army and Anti-riot Squads entered ...---READ-->>
- Jatropha Biofuel Project: Emissions Up to Six Times Greater Than Fossil FuelsA new study from Kenya shows that jatropha, which has been promoted as a “wonder fuel,” is a disaster for the environment and for the people the plantations displace A biofuel currently considered a green, renewable alternative to oil could cause up to six times more carbon emissions than fossil fuels, a study by the Royal ...---READ-->>
- Environmental Justice Groups Win California Court FightAir Resources Board ordered to revisit alternatives to unjust cap and trade system On March 17, 2011 a San Francisco Superior Court judge ruled that the California Air Resources Board violated the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) when it failed to properly consider alternatives to a “cap and trade” program in its plan to implement AB ...---READ-->>
- Protect the Great Lakes as a CommonsA new report from the Council of Canadians calls for the allocation of significant resources to protecting the Great Lakes as a Commons, a Public Trust and a Protected Bioregion New Release, Council of Canadians, March 22, 2011 As the federal government prepares to introduce its budget, the Council of Canadians is calling for the allocation of ...---READ-->>
- Alternatives to the Dominant Agricultural ModelFood sovereignty has to break not only with a capitalist model of agriculture but also with a patriarchal system that is deeply rooted in a society that oppresses and subordinates women by Esther Vivas Socialist Resistance, March 20, 2011 Neoliberal globalisation’s mission to privatise all areas of life, including agriculture and natural resources, threatens to condemn a ...---READ-->>
- Wasserman: Nuclear cannot be made safeFossil and nuclear fuels are at war with the environment and with basic human rights. Until we shut down all the nuclear plants and get off of fossil and nuclear fuels, we’re not going to have any kind of social democracy. Harvey Wasserman is the author of numerous books and articles on nuclear power, and a ...---READ-->>
- La Via Campesina: The Bali Seed DeclarationWe call on our communities to continue to conserve, care for, develop and share our peasant seeds: this is the best form of resistance against theft and the best way to maintain biodiversity Peasant Seeds: Dignity, Culture and Life La Via Campesina, March 16, 2011 Farmers throughout the world are the victims of a war for control over ...---READ-->>
- The Oil-Food Price ShockGlobal prices are now higher than at any time since the FAO began compiling its Food Price Index two decades ago, and they are expected to keep climbing as oil costs rise. by Michael T. Klare The Nation, March 10, 2011 When future historians attempt to trace the origins of the current turmoil in the Middle ...---READ-->>
- Nuclear in Japan: Safety Sacrificed on the Altar of ProfitSince 2003, the big Japanese private group Tepco has focused on “reduction of costs of maintenance” in order to render profits “secure” by Rosa Moussaoui l’Humanite in English, March 16, 2011 Profit at Any Price. This could be the motto of Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco), the multinational that exploits the nuclear power plants at Fukushima. The largest producer ...---READ-->>
- The Lesson of Fukushima: Nuclear Means CatastropheThe debate about nuclear power is primarily political, a debate society must have that ultimately poses a choice of civilization by Daniel Tanuro (Translated by International Viewpoint, from La preuve par Fukushima: pas de nucléaire sans catastrophe, published in La Gauche, March 14, 2011) What has happened is entirely predictable: yet another major nuclear “accident”. At the time of writing, ...---READ-->>
- Seed Treaty Legalizes TheftGlobal treaty conserves seeds while undermining the rights of the farmers who created them by Penny Cole A World to Win, March 17, 2011 Seed treaty legalises theft An international treaty designed to conserve the world’s seed diversity is instead legitimising the rights of global agri-business to steal ownership of genetic material whilst weakening the rights of peasant farmers. The ...---READ-->>
- The Risks of Nuclear RouletteNuclear industry practices and government policies set the stage for the nuclear disaster in Japan by Chris Williams Socialist Worker, March 15, 2011 The desperate nuclear emergency at three Japanese nuclear reactors is growing worse by the day. One of the three stricken reactors at the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear plant is now close to complete meltdown. Should this happen, ...---READ-->>
- Japan's Unnecessary and Predictable Nuclear CrisisWhere the first two catastrophes were natural and unpredictable, a nuclear meltdown is entirely unnatural and entirely predictable. by Dr. Jesse Mclaren Your Heart’s on the Left, March 13, 2011 Whereas the 2010 Gulf Oil spill showed the inherent dangers of the oil economy, the current nuclear crisis in Japan shows that nuclear power is not a solution. ...---READ-->>
- A Faustian Pact With Nuclear PowerNuclear power poses major risks, and does nothing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by Corinna Lotz A World to Win, March 14, 2011 Many have praised the Japanese people’s resilience and preparedness in response to the earthquake and tsunami which has killed thousands of people with many more unaccounted for. But as a second explosion at the Yukushima ...---READ-->>
- 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-->>