London will see major mobilisations from XR and other organisations from the 21st
of April to te 24th. The ACG will be there. It is important to ensure that ananti-capitalist message is heard loud and clear. ---- Read what we have to say.----https://www.anarchistcommunism.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Climate-Change-Special-2.pdfEcological Crisis Special ---- The actions of Extinction Rebellion, Stop Oil,and the Climate Strikes have helped put climate change firmly on the politicalagenda. However, there has been little, if any serious action on the part of anypolitical parties or governments. The date for actually reducing climatechange-causing emissions to zero is so far in the future as to be meaningless anddeforestation and loss of species continues at an alarming rate.Though the actions have highlighted the problems and mobilised thousands, theoverall approach is seriously flawed. Firstly, making demands on government issymbolic at best. There is no way any government, Conservative, Labour or Green,will take the necessary measures because they are thoroughly embedded incapitalism. Any changes, such as the carbon offsetting schemes and creating amarket in carbon credits, will do little to address the ecological crisis butwill certainlyput huge profits in the hands of corporations and large landowners. Basically,governments do not want to do anything that will hamper capitalism and ascapitalism is the source of the problem, we cannot expect them to act. So if we wantto save the planet and ourselves, it is up to us and will necessitate a strategythat is clearly anti-capitalist.The specific demands of the 'Big One' are anything but big.'A citizen-led democracy to end the fossil fuel era' is an unclear demand. Thecurrentpolitical system is meant to be citizen-led, but it is anything but. Does it meancitizenassemblies? But how will you ensure that any outcomes will be implemented by thegovernment, which still holds the power? 'Ending the fossil fuel era' is also alimiteddemand. The ecological crisis is much wider than the fossil fuel question. Andwithoutactually getting rid of the big corporations, their power is such that fossil fuelproduction will continue as long as it is profitable, despite the demands of thecitizens' assemblies.'A fair society that includes reparation' is also unclear. What is a fairsociety? It couldbe one in which there are equal opportunities in a class and hierarchicalsociety. Andhow do you get this fair society? Is the ruling elite going to just give up itspower andwealth? 'Reparation', referring to addressing the atrocious legacy ofcolonialism, willin itself do little to deal with the current social injustice caused by globalcapitalism.Nowhere is there mention of the need to end a system, dependent on continualgrowth, in which profit takes priority and in which power lies in the hands of thosewho own and control the wealth of the world.It is only revolution that will ensure that we have a society in which people will beable to take direct control of society and their own lives, and thus able to makedecisions to save the planet. This revolution must be global and get rid of globalcapitalism, which has its roots in, and is still intertwined with colonialism.Anythingshort of this is doomed to failure.Many recognise the breadth of the problem and focus on the ecological crisis as awhole.There are no simple solutions and a range of measures need to be taken: Stop usingfossil fuel and switch to renewables for all energy, reduce air travel and stopairportexpansion, increase public transport, change farming practices, for example,drasticallyreduce use of land for livestock and crops to feed livestock, stop deforestation,preservepeat bogs, make homes more energy efficient.To do anything will involve challenging corporate power and those who own and controlthe land - the ruling class of capitalism.Green Capitalism: Is this what we are fighting for?Without expressly identifying capitalism as the source of the problem, we end upsupporting a system which is identical to the one we have now, but just producingdifferent products and using different sources of energy. It will still be one inwhichthe working class around the world is exploited- in the mines, the factories, andindustrial agriculture, which need to keep going to produce the consumer goodspeople want- and which are the source of profits for the corporations. Land grabbingwill continue, displacing local communities and indigenous peoples.The following two solutions, renewables and electric cars, are the most popular onesput forward, not only by governments and the corporations, but by many climatechange campaigners. This is because they do not require major changes in ourlifestyleand therefore corporations can continue to amass wealth.Switching from fossil fuels to renewablesThis is one of the main solutions put forward to solve the climate crisis and itis an important element of any strategy. However, renewables are not withouttheir own drawbacks. Nuclear power should not be an option because of the safetyrisks and theproblems of storing the waste. It creates more problems than it solves.Wind power will form part of a new energy strategy. However, there are a number ofproblems that are often overlooked or ignored by its supporters. Firstly, windturbines take up a huge amount of space. If we are concerned about the ecologicalcrisis in general- the loss of biodiversity- then we have to be careful aboutputting up hugeindustrial scale windfarms on land that is home to many species. And, turbines stillneed to be produced and transported- all which requires energy and resources. Rareearth minerals are needed (neodymium and dysprosium, plus small amounts ofpraseodymium). These aren't necessarily rare but are very difficult to mine and theconditions for workers are appalling. 85% of these are found in China. Turbines havea life span of 25 years- so they have to be decommissioned, new ones produced andput in place. And, if turbines are erected in remote areas, which they are in placeslike Scotland, then roads have to be built, thus creating more damage to land that isoften valued for its wild qualities. For example, some wind farms in Scotland involvethe destruction of peat bogs which are a major store of carbon. So though windpower is a solution, how, where, and how much needs to be carefully considered.Similar arguments can be made for solar energy and hydro power. Both of theserequire resources, energy and would have an impact on other species.Electric carsElectric vehicles will have to replace the current fossil-fuel dependent models.However, they also require energy to run so will be using electricity. One of thebiggest problems is their resource intensity. Richard Herrington, head of EarthSciences at the Natural History Museum, calculated the amount of commodities,including rare earth elements, which would be needed to convert all the UnitedKingdom's 31 million motor vehicles to electric drive. (Rare earths are a group of 17elements that includes neodymium, an essential ingredient in electric motors.) Theyfound that doing so would require: "two times the total annual world cobaltproduction, nearly the entire world production of neodymium, three-quarters of theworld's lithium production and at least half of the world's copper production during2018."https://thehill.com/opinion/energy-environment/460496-electric-vehicles-wont-save-us-fromclimate-changeThis means that maintaining the same amount of cars now in the world (with demandincreasing all the time) is incompatible with a climate change strategy. Publictransport needs to be increased, and that can be electric, and car usage drasticallyreduced.Reducing consumption and redistribution of resources.Given the problems of renewables and electric cars, it is clear that there is not anobvious technological solution. Though new 'green' technology will have a vitalrole toplay, we have to consider how it is used. Energy should be produced and controlledlocally as far as possible to enable community control and minimise waste. Inaddition, the key to making sure it has the desired impact is to actually reduce ourconsumption. What we need is to reduce growth and address the vast inequality inthe world through redistribution. Degrowth does not mean that our quality of lifewould suffer. If you look at what we do produce, such as the arms industry, it isclearthat we could afford to reduce production and still live very well. Just lookaround atall the waste and unnecessary products. Studies show that we already produce morethan enough food to feed everyone. Yes, those at the top would have to reduce theirconsumption, but we can still share the world's resources and wealth such thateveryone lives well without having to do horrendous jobs in order to provide theconsumer goods valued by the well-off.Obstacles to changeEconomic systemDegrowth and redistribution are the only way of finding a long-lasting solutionto theecological crisis. Such a strategy will require a major change in the system.Capitalism, and the consumer culture on which it depends, needs continual growth.And, those who control and use most of the worlds' resources will fight to keep theirwealth. Capitalism and its pursuit of growth at any cost is the root of theproblem andtherefore cannot be part of the solution.Capitalism will try and adapt if enough pressure is put on. However, it will onlysupport solutions that involve continual growth in production and consumption. Evenif it did rush to become green, there are sections of capitalism which can never begreen. For example, the fossil fuel industry will fight to the death to preservetheirexistence. All over the world this industry continues to expand and no one seems todo anything about it A huge coal mine, owned by an Indian corporation, has beengiven the go ahead by the Australian government. Explorations for new sources ofoil continue apace in places like the Arctic. The fracking industry hasmushroomed allover the western part of the USA. It will not be easy to shut down this immenselypowerful industry.Another industry that will be difficult to deal with is agriculture. It is amajor source ofgreenhouse gases because of the vast amount of livestock and the chemicals usedin industrial monoculture agriculture. This means that to stop climate change we willneed to have a major change in land use- away from using land for livestock andgrowing crops to feed livestock- and minimise the use of chemicals. Achievingthis will be a major struggle. Agribusiness is now a global industry dominated bylargecompanies who control everything from the seeds to the distribution of the products.Like the fossil fuel industry, they will not want to make any changes to the way theydo things. There is too much money at stake.Food is a basic necessity and should not be controlled by those whose onlyinterest isprofit. Major land reform is needed so we can use the land to produce qualityplantbased products at price everyone can afford. Livestock will have to bedrasticallyreduced and raised on pasture, integrated into the ecosystem, rather than having todevote large tracts of land to grow food for them. Such changes in agriculture wouldcurtail deforestation in places like the Amazon and release land forafforestation. But this can only happen if we think of land as a Commons,something to be used for thebenefit of all and managed and controlled by everyone.Political SystemThe power of corporations and all those with a vested interest in the status quo meanthat we cannot rely on government, even one that is genuinely committed, to takethe necessary action. The school strikes, the XR Rebellions, and all the otheractionsof people around the world have succeeded in raising awareness and at least gettinggovernments to pay lip service to the crisis. However, as of yet we have seen noconcrete action from those in power. A major part of this is because the governmentwill not take any action that challenges corporations and powerful economicinterests.The government declared a climate emergency and then agreed to the expansion ofHeathrow. Therefore, we cannot trust the government to do anything. They will onlytake any action at all if they are forced to by mass action, action even bigger andmore challenging than what we have seen so far.Building a mass movementThe movement for change needs to be much, much larger and engage with a widerrange of people and be willing to not only make demands of government but tochallenge capitalism directly. Those at the point of production, who have thepower tobring everything to a halt, have a critical role. Imagine port workers refusingto letimported Brazilian soya into the country. Imagine the fossil fuel workers refusing towork anymore and demanding full pay until they get alternative jobs. In 1976workers at Lucas Aerospace put forward an alternative plan to weapons productionhttps://lucasplan.org.uk/story-of-the-lucas-plan/. Today, workers at the Belfastshipyards,threatened with closure, have plans for producing infrastructure for renewableenergy. This contrasts with the union Unite which supported the expansion ofHeathrow. We need to overcome the jobs vs environment division. Only with acomplete change in the system can we deal with climate change and social andeconomic justice issues.Dealing with the ecological crisis requires some fundamental changes in land use:changing the type of agriculture, afforestation, getting rid of grouse moors,preserving peat bogs, and stopping fracking. The problem is that we do not havecontrol. Most land is in private hands and its use is determined by what isprofitable.Government can control to an extent how land is used through subsidies andpayments but these have been used to prop up the status quo. They are reluctant tochallenge the basic right of the landowner to manage the land. And, government landitself is not well-managed nor do we have much control over policy decisions.Campaigns for land reform are therefore crucial to developing an effective movement.Land should be a Commons, owned by us all and used for public benefit, which mustinclude future generations. In this way we would not only ensure that land is usedsustainably but that its produce is shared by us all.Campaigning around land use can link up many issues and create a bigger movement* anti-fracking* communities fighting injustices of local landowner, seeking to gain control of theland themselves* anti-grouse moor campaigns- fighting to reduce destruction of peat bogs, forreforestation and to support species persecuted by grouse moor owners* land workers aiming to get access to land to growquality, affordable food* housing co-ops wanting land for sustainable housing or those fighting againstgentrification and against demolition* communities fighting to keep a wood or local beauty spot* groups fighting to preserve wild land and to encourage rewilding* campaigns for a better urban environment: air quality and the amount of traffic,community gardens, green spaces and community centresActions from climate change activists will have played a role in bringing more peopleinto the movement and may lead to more politicians giving some verbal commitmentsto take action. However, this is only one step on a very long road. Any commitmentby governments will come up against those who are at the root of the climatecrisisthe corporations (industrial, agribusiness and extractive) and thefinancial institutionsthat support them. These will not listen to reason or emotional pleas. They willdo allin their considerable power to make sure that the government does nothing morethan tinker and make superficial reforms. The essential capitalist system will not bechanged as it is the basis of their profits and their wealth.Therefore, if we are to have any hope of shifting the monster that we are facing, weneed a mass movement, much larger than what we are seeing now, which bringstogether the working class in all its diversity. Developing this movement will not bean easy task. The environmental movement has shown that it can be powerful in thestreets for a short period of time. Now we need to extend that power to the land,communities and the workplaces, overcoming divisions and making connections, bothin the UK and internationally.https://www.anarchistcommunism.org/https://www.facebook.com/Anarchist-Communist-Group-1910429525920383https://twitter.com/AnarcommunistsProduced by the London Group of the Anarchist Communist Grouphttps://www.anarchistcommunism.org/2023/04/16/ecological-crisis-special-edition-of-jackdaw/_________________________________________A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C EBy, For, and About AnarchistsSend news reports to A-infos-en mailing listA-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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