By BARRY WEISLEDER With the bar set so low by previous regimes in the oil patch, it seems that all the new Alberta government had to do was suppress a burp to be considered a leading agent of positive climate action. In truth, despite all the fanfare, the new energy policy of Premier Rachel Notley's … Continue reading Alberta’s new oil marketing ‘triumph’
Tag: climate
Grassroots environment struggles in China
By RENA LAU Just in the last month there have been two cases of environmental protests occurring in China. Around one thousand people protested on the streets of Yangjiang city, in Guangdong province, against the construction of an incinerator. And ten thousand people protested against a chemical factory in Shangrao city, Jianxi province. The protesters … Continue reading Grassroots environment struggles in China
Bay Area protests Paris climate talks
BY JEFF MACKLER OAKLAND, Calif.—Organized by a broad coalition of environmental, social justice, labor, antiwar, anti-racist, and faith-based groups across Northern California, some 3000 mobilized on Saturday, Nov. 21, to demand immediate action to stop and reverse global warming and associated climate-change-influenced catastrophes. The mobilization was part of the worldwide effort to protest the Nov. … Continue reading Bay Area protests Paris climate talks
Just transition on the road through Paris
By BILL ONASCH The world market for cars and trucks is booming. So are profits in most of the industry. Unionized auto workers in the U.S. have been properly focused the past few months on contract negotiations with General Motors, Ford, and Fiat Chrysler that determine their wages, benefits, and working conditions for the next … Continue reading Just transition on the road through Paris
Real climate action demanded in Paris
By CHRISTINE FRANK On the eve of the UN Climate Summit in Paris, some 785,000 people marched and rallied in 2300 locations around the world to demand concrete action to phase out fossil fuels and implement clean, renewable energy to prevent catastrophic warming of Earth's atmosphere with a binding agreement to achieve that. Despite the … Continue reading Real climate action demanded in Paris
Calif. climate activists gear up for Nov. 21
BY JEFF MACKLER — OAKLAND, Calif. — As the 21st United Nations Conference of Parties (COP21) approaches, climate-crisis activists in the U.S. and around the world are gearing up for massive protests both before and after the Nov. 30–Dec. 12 UN meeting set for Paris. Some 40,000 government, corporate, and “civil society” representatives are expected to … Continue reading Calif. climate activists gear up for Nov. 21
Climate movement defeats XL pipeline
By CARL SACK On Nov. 6, U.S. President Barack Obama formally denied TransCanada’s application for approval of the Keystone XL oil pipeline. The 1200-mile-long pipeline would have carried heavy crude oil (called bitumen) from tar-sands mines in northern Alberta, Canada, across the U.S. Great Plains states to oil refineries on the Gulf Coast. Tar-sands oil … Continue reading Climate movement defeats XL pipeline
Climate activists call for end to fossil fuels
By CHRISTINE FRANK The New York Times recently reported that even if all nations were to achieve their current greenhouse gas reduction pledges (it is doubtful they actually have the will to do so), a disastrous level of planetary warming of 6.3 degrees Fahrenheit would still take place by the century's end—which is to … Continue reading Climate activists call for end to fossil fuels
Scientists say: End fossil fuel use now!
By CHRISTINE FRANK In a recent climate study published by James Hansen and 16 colleagues, the world was warned that two degrees of warming could lead to a rapid, catastrophic melting of land-based ice sheets and a sea-level rise of three meters or 10 feet in 50 years if fossil fuel combustion does not cease … Continue reading Scientists say: End fossil fuel use now!
Climate movement across movements
By PATRICK BOND We reprint below the report of South African socialist Patrick Bond, who attended the March 23-24 international conference of major climate-crisis groups and activists in Tunis. The conference, to be followed up by another in June in Europe, focused on what strategies and tactics to organize in anticipation of the 21st Conference of the … Continue reading Climate movement across movements
Climate change demands a radical solution
BY EVAN ENGERING “This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate”, by Naomi Klein, 566 pages, Knopf Canada, September, 2014. The latest book of Naomi Klein, the influential Toronto-based journalist, author, and activist, may live up to its ambitious title, “This Changes Everything.” In it, Klein turns her thorough, eye-opening brand of investigative journalism to the … Continue reading Climate change demands a radical solution
Global climate pact fails again
By CHRISTINE FRANK Once again, nearly 200 nations came together as the clock ticked to dicker over a global climate agreement in Lima, Peru, last month with little in the way of actual results. Humanity is in the midst of a planetary crisis, yet all negotiators could come up with was a pledge by each … Continue reading Global climate pact fails again
The Promise of Beijing
By BILL ONASCH It was a startling sidebar to the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Beijing. The heads of state of two economic and military titans, who between them are responsible for nearly half of all greenhouse gas emissions warming our planet and altering our climate, announced measures to reduce them. President Obama and … Continue reading The Promise of Beijing
Socialist program to avoid climate disaster
The following article is based on several portions of the Socialist Action (U.S.) Draft Political Resolution, which was approved at the Oct. 17-19 Socialist Action National Convention. By definition, global warming is a global issue. All will suffer the consequences of advancing climate change. International coordination of remedial efforts is vital. But, not surprisingly, UN-sponsored … Continue reading Socialist program to avoid climate disaster
We need a plan to forestall climate disaster
By BILL ONASCH To stop climate change short of climate disaster, the United States—which has been the world’s largest polluter for many years—has to lead the way to restructure our global economy to rapidly reduce, and ultimately eliminate, use of fossil and nuclear fuels. That’s a giant task—but even more will be required to create … Continue reading We need a plan to forestall climate disaster
Fracking must be banned!
By CARL SACK Despite the imminent perils of global warming and global ecosystem collapse, capitalism has accelerated the assault on Earth’s environment. Faced with the need to grow or die, the global capitalist economy requires ever more non-renewable natural resources and fossil fuels, whatever the environmental cost. Serving their corporate overlords, government regulators pay lip … Continue reading Fracking must be banned!
Join the People’s Climate March
By DANIEL ADAM The People’s Climate March, scheduled for Sept. 21 in New York City, is poised to live up to its promise of mobilizing the largest number of people that the U.S. has ever seen against the mass production of greenhouse gases. With more than 1000 endorsing organizations, buses scheduled to leave from more … Continue reading Join the People’s Climate March