Climate change

Andreas Malm on climate politics: a debate

A debate about Andreas Malm's books on climate politics Fossil fuels and the rise of capitalism, by Neil Laker How class struggle shaped fossil fuel, by Zack Muddle Study guide to Fossil Capital , by Zack Muddle Letter: don't make a fetish of Malm, by Paul Vernadsky Three-part critique of Malm's books, by Paul Vernadsky Argument over Malm: Much ado about nothing, by Zack Muddle Malm: a comedy of errors, by Paul Vernadsky

Climate change, shocks and growth

We don’t know how climate shocks will impact on capitalism. (See Todd Hamer, Solidarity 593 , response to my letter in Solidarity 590 .) We do know that capitalism is adept at making phases of destruction (wars, natural disasters) into prompts for booms, and that its chief trigger of crisis is periods of exceptional construction (booms). Capitalism’s great period of (relatively, and only very relatively) smooth growth was the 1950s and 60s. The last 40 years have brought slower growth (except in some countries, like China) and more and sharper crises. Triumphalism is increasingly shouldered...

Critique of Andreas Malm. 2: Further into the swamp

Since the publication of his celebrated book, Fossil Capital (2016), Andreas Malm has continued to expound his views on climate change. He has published several books, including The Progress of This Storm (2018), Corona, Climate, Chronic Emergency (2020) and How to Blow Up a Pipeline (2021), along with numerous journal articles. Malm’s evolution has been erratic, consistent only with his pseudo-profound pontification. His advice to the climate movement has veered from geoscience to acts of sabotage. Malm ends up peddling an anti-democratic, anti-working class, authoritarian climate politics...

Critique of Andreas Malm. 1: 'Fossil Capital': mired in slurry

Andreas Malm’s writings on climate change have been widely lauded across the left in recent years, including in Solidarity (Zack Muddle, 588, 14 April 2021 ). In my view, Malm is a charlatan, a pretentious poseur, who sows confusion on Marxism and climate change politics. This became clear with his book, Fossil Capital (2016) and has worsened subsequently. Fossil Capital Britain was the first industrial capitalist state. Climate scientists estimate that Britain accounted for 80% of global emissions of CO2 from fossil fuel combustion in 1825 and 62% in 1850. Therefore accelerating fossil fuel...

Letters: Early economic convulsions; More to condemn; Communist for clampdown?

Climate science predicts that different crises will unfold at different time scales and under different emissions scenarios. The purpose of my article ( Solidarity 589 ) was to argue that economic convulsions will be an early rather than a late impact of climate change, and may well begin in anticipation of the major civilisation-rocking crises like sea-level rise. Further, that these convulsions will occur at a time when the dawning realisation of climate change — that the future is one of escalating and multiple crises piling up and compounding each other — becomes hegemonic. I expect these...

Environmentalists in Singapore mobilise on May Day

On May Day, SG Climate Rally, a youth-led environmentalist organisation, held an online public meeting entitled “Workers Rights = Climate Action”. The meeting commemorated Labour Day (1 May in Singapore) and marked the conclusion of SG Climate Rally’s petition for the rights of food couriers and ride-hailing app drivers. The petition was started in response to the government’s new petrol tax hike, announced in its Budget as an environmentalist policy. Ironically, the same Budget allocated $870 million to Singapore Airlines, an aviation firm that is not only incredibly pollutive, but which has...

Don't make a fetish of Andreas Malm

Zack Muddle ( Solidarity 588 ) eulogises Andreas Malm’s book Fossil Capital (2016) as an original analysis of the climate crisis. I think Zack exaggerates Malm’s contribution, overgeneralises from it and ignores big flaws with Malm’s politics. Malm’s central insight is that early nineteenth century English textile manufacturers adopted steam power from coal burning, when waterpower was a viable alternative. As Malm puts it, steam “gained supremacy in spite of water being abundant, cheaper and at least as powerful, even and efficient”. Malm argues that these capitalists adopted steam power...

Climate activists remobilise on 1 May

Hundreds of Extinction Rebellion (XR) supporters took part in non-violent direct action on 1 May over the lack of progress on the climate crisis. Many were arrested as sit down protests blocked major roads in many towns and cities across the UK, including London, Birmingham, Nottingham, Oxford, Cambridge, Bradford, Newcastle, and Swansea. Home Secretary Priti Patel accused them of using “dangerous tactics” and said the protests showed why increased police powers were required, via passing the Tory Police Bill. In Nottingham a Climate Camp has been set up outside the Notts County Hall, by Trent...

Letters: Good climate content, dubious wrapping; Better lockdowns

Good content, dubious wrapping Todd Hamer ( Solidarity 589) argues well that climate change is not just a threat for the future. It is happening now . A lot of further adverse change will come soon even if we can cut carbon emissions very fast. We must address climate adaptation : “climate-resilient infrastructure”, “solutions to the food and fresh water crises”, “the capacity for mass resettlement of displaced people”. And mitigation measures such as “the drawdown and storage of atmospheric carbon”. To do that requires huge economic mobilisation, achievable only if social priorities can...

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