‘Fossil Capital: The Rise of Steam Power and the Roots of Global Warming.’ A brilliant Marxist critique of capitalism and the origins of the fossil fuel economy
Archive | Energy
Ecosocialist resources, August 2015
Call for energy justice … 2015 is hotter than you think … Islamic climate change declaration … Against Deep Green Resistance … Anthropocene book review … Exporting crude oil … Racism and ‘speciesism’ … Climate change in Canadian election
Govts give fossil fuel companies $10 Million a minute
So much for “private enterprise” – the IMF says energy companies receive $5.3 trillion a year in subsidies from governments worldwide
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Syriza program shows another energy is possible … Gates and USAID: Grabbing Africa’s seeds … After Cyclone Pam: Climate action is urgent … Desertec’s renewable energy grab
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Work and ecological justice; Nuclear in Bolivia; Indigenous voices on Peruvian deforestation; Renewables are not enough; Carbon trading or regulation?
$88 billion a year in subsidies for climate disaster
Global governments spend more than double what energy companies invest to find new regions for oil and gas drilling, despite climate change risks, report finds
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Israel vs Palestine’s environment; The Economist and renewable energy; South/South collaboration; Central America braces for drought-linked food crisis
Environmentalists urge Hansen to rethink nuclear
300+ groups write: “It is simply not feasible for nuclear power to be a part of a sustainable, safe and affordable future for humankind.”
Socialists debate nuclear, 4: A green syndicalist view
Continuing our discussion of nuclear energy, Steve Ongerth of the IWW says it’s no coincidence that many of the same forces that are fighting to deny climate change and hold back renewables are also pushing nuclear power.
Socialists debate nuclear, 3: Unsafe, unaffordable, unnecessary
Continuing our discussion on atomic energy. Chris Williams says nuclear is no solution to global warming — it’s dangerous, expensive, and can’t be deployed quickly enough.
Socialists debate nuclear, 2: Still no nukes!
Michael Friedman says our primary task is not to offer technological solutions to capitalist ills, but to offer social solutions that incorporate the technologies most amenable to our social goals. Nuclear doesn’t fit the bill.
Corporate power blocks global energy transition
A new report shows why an energy revolution is needed, and identifies the powerful forces that stand in the way.
A socialist defends nuclear energy
A contribution to an important debate. Is nuclear power essential or an unacceptable threat?
Oil, energy and capitalism: An unpublished talk by Barry Commoner
“Oil companies do not operate for the purpose of producing oil. They operate for the purpose of producing maximum profit. To solve the energy crisis, we have to reorganize our economic system.”
Lac-Mégantic and the presumed innocence of capitalism
The Lac-Mégantic disaster shows once again that capitalists are self-interested, uncaring, anti-social actors, not worthy of presumptions in their favor.
Bolivia puts people and environment before profit
Federico Fuentes: The government of Latin America’s poorest country is taking natural resources out of the hands of multinationals, and using that wealth to fight poverty
To save the earth, nationalize the energy industry
Energy is far too important to our future to be left in the hands of corporate directors and investment bankers.
Stop the dash for gas! Activists shut UK power plant
“This action is in defence of the global commons, which are under sustained attack by polluting fossil fuel companies”
Thirst for power: How coal, nuclear and gas waste our water
Over half of all of the fresh, surface water withdrawn from the environment in the U.S. today is used by power companies. They take the profits, and society pays the price.
Capitalism's destructive quest for extreme energy
To keep the fuel flowing, oil companies are radically increasing the potential for environmental catastrophe. The fight against extreme energy is also a fight against the very soul of an irrational system.