August 11, 2022
The lessons of this year’s climate disasters are being ignored
by Joseph Green, Detroit Workers’ Voice
Every month this year has brought more climate catastrophes; millions of people have suffered in emergencies that always seem to catch governments by surprise; and green house gas emissions keep rising. (1) Yet this year’s disasters aren’t being taken seriously, neither by the climate denialists (2), nor by the establishment environmentalists, who are clinging to the failed market methods of the past and who fail to take account of how far the situation has deteriorated.
They are not taking seriously the lessons of this year’s disasters, which show that money means nothing when there is no food or water to buy, and that nothing serious will be done so long as there is no overall planning of the economies of whole countries and continents. And moreover, planning itself will mean nothing so long as the working majority of the world isn’t involved in formulating the plans and enforcing them, as the rich polluting corporations have captured the main government agencies.
- A year in which one disaster after another affects millions of people
- Lessons from this year’s disasters
- Environmental tokenism as the world burns
- Overall economic planning
- The environmental movement is reaching a crossroads
- Notes