"...The fate of all present and future humans, and of the millions of species that share the Earth with us, now hinges on the choices and actions taken immediately by the present generation alive on the planet today. This is not hyperbole..." So starts a provocative article by Peter St Clair in the magazine Brooklyn Rail.
He continues, "...It becomes clear to any reasonable person absorbing these facts that the governments, institutions, and businesses of the world must strive to effect the necessary reductions in emissions and reach net zero by mid-century or earlier. It is also clear that we are nowhere near achieving this level of commitment...We have been told over and over again that while it is technically possible to bring our emissions down, the political will to do so is lacking. The political will will never materialize, however, as long as the richest corporations continue to exert their power over the world's governments...But it is more than just the power and profit of fossil fuel companies that keeps the world careening down its reckless path to Hothouse Earth. It is the dynamics of the entire economic system itself that compels this behavior..."
St. Clair then goes on to examine the Green New Deal which he considers to be too moderate in its demands with a too-limited critique of capitalism i.e. it complains only of unregulated capitalism.
"...There is little reason, however, to believe that the radical reforms it calls for will be accepted without a massive movement behind it. Stricter regulation of corporations, expansion of the public sector, and higher taxes for the affluent will not only be bitterly fought by those in power, they are quite possibly incompatible with the system's requirement of continuing capital expansion, an expansion that has been premised throughout the world on unimpeded access to fossil fuel, avoidance of restrictive environmental regulations, and the weakening of labor laws allowing for the expanded exploitation of labor. What's missing from the debate over the Green New Deal is a critical understanding of the dynamics of capitalism. Without it, calls for the changes necessary for a sustainable economy and thus a sustainable planet will be rejected as impossible economically as well as politically..."
St Clair points out that, "...On the left, those critical of capital's hand in causing and furthering the climate crisis, are content to put the onus on unregulated capitalism. They deceive themselves into thinking that the problem stems solely from the greed and lack of morality of the wealthy corporate owners and managers. They insist that the system of profit derived from continuous growth can be reformed sufficiently to be able to contain further climate change while allowing for the continuation of our comfortable modern lives. The measures called for in the Green New Deal are proposed as a model for the kind of changes needed to halt the slide to an uninhabitable planet and to institute equitable policies to redress the injustices served out to the innocent victims of the fossil fuel economy, including those affected by a transition to renewable energy. As radical as these reforms may seem to some, they pale before the transformations that will be required to avert the catastrophe..."
But St Clair concludes on an optimistic message.
"...However, the fact that the present social use of energy is sending us into Hothouse Earth does not mean that it is impossible to avoid it. Unlike the immutable arithmetic of climate change, the arithmetic of human social organization can be altered by the conscious actions of its members. Human social organization is the strength of the human species, not its weakness...Human beings have the power to change the rules and to end the game before it ends us...If the transformation we need to save ourselves, our species, and our fellow members of the biosphere is not possible within the current political economic system, then that system must be changed and that change may very well lie beyond the boundaries of capitalism..."
He ends his article, "... It will require forcing an end to unsustainable capitalist practices and replacing them with a sustainable socialism that unites the people of the planet in the cause of mutual survival and assures an equitable and viable future for all. The crisis can only begin to be alleviated when the minds and the common effort of this entire generation are put to the service of the stewardship of the Earth and the benefit of humankind as a whole and no longer to that of capital and private gain. What needs to be done is clear. How to break through the impediments to achieving it is the difficult task at hand."
The article in full can be read here.
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