If We Love Our Children, Why Are We Dooming Them? by Ed Ciaccio + The Campaign to Mislead the Public on Climate Change

by Ed Ciaccio
Writer, Dandelion Salad
May 10, 2013

Image by ironmanixs via Flickr

Environmentalist/Climate Catastrophe activist Bill McKibben’s campaign and web site www.350.org has a very specific, vital mission:

“350 means climate safety. To preserve our planet, scientists tell us we must reduce the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere from its current level of 392 parts per million to below 350 ppm. But 350 is more than a number—it’s a symbol of where we need to head as a planet.”

Marxism, Capitalism and The Environment by Deirdre Griswold

Dandelion Salad

by Deirdre Griswold
Workers World
April 29, 2013

Image by Oxfam International via Flickr

Below is a talk on Marxism and the environment given by Workers World Editor Deirdre Griswold to a Workers World Party forum in New York on April 26, 2013.

Karl Marx and Frederick Engels wrote a century and a half ago. Climate change is a modern problem. So why do we say that Marxism is essential to the struggle to protect the environment?

Chris Hedges: What Is The Most Effective Way To Mobilize Against These Entities? I’m For Anything That Fucks The System Up!

Image by Steve Rhodes via Flickr

with Chris Hedges
Writer, Dandelion Salad
April 7, 2013

greenpartyus

Watch at greenpartyus

or Chris Hedges at Green Party New Jersey April 2013

[Hedges starts about 8 minutes into the video.]

Noam Chomsky: Can Civilisation Survive Really Existing Capitalism?

Dandelion Salad

with Noam Chomsky

Image by KeizerStreetArt via Flickr

MyUCD-Apr 3, 2013

UCD Philosophy Society Inaugural Lecture 2013

One of the world’s leading intellectuals and political activists, Professor Noam Chomsky has been awarded the UCD Ulysses Medal, the highest honour that University College Dublin can bestow.

The award was inaugurated in 2005, as part of the university’s sesquicentennial celebrations, to highlight the ‘creative brilliance’ of UCD alumnus James Joyce. It is awarded to individuals whose work has made an outstanding global contribution.

For Sale, Habitable Planet, Too Late by Guy McPherson + Into Eternity: A Film for the Future (must-see)

Dandelion Salad

by Guy McPherson
Transition Voice
March 25, 2013

Image by Topato via Flickr

According to legend, Ernest Hemingway bet his 1920s-era colleagues he could write a complete story in just six words. Hemingway is said to have considered the resulting piece his best work: “For Sale, Baby Shoes, Never Worn.”

Making no attempt to keep up with Hemingway, this article provides an overview of the dire climate-change situation in fewer than 300 words. Perhaps even Twitter users will find time for the entire essay.

Spinning Out Of Control by Lesley Docksey

by Lesley Docksey
Writer, Dandelion Salad
March 12, 2013

Image by tedeytan via Flickr

Being born ‘with a silver spoon in your mouth’ means that you start with an advantage that others don’t have: parents with money, property, influence, business connections and so on, connections that can last for generations.  A silver spoon that appeared recently was the exceedingly generous compensation paid to British slave owners when the UK abolished slavery in 1833, though not one penny went to the freed slaves.  The ancestors of many well-connected people (including David Cameron) benefited. 

The Last Possible Refuge by Tristan A. Shaw

Image by stargardener via Flickr

by Tristan A. Shaw
Writer, Dandelion Salad
British Columbia, Canada
March 8, 2013

Wealth and power is the single greatest force that will lead to our species annihilation. It seems there is little historical antidote to the pathology of this class power. When a plutocracy grows into a rapacious system of exploitation, environmental destruction closely follows. Almost every past civilization has fallen in this manner, and we are not exempt.

Robert Jensen: We Are All Apocalyptic Now: Moral Responsibilities in Crisis Times

Dandelion Salad

Image by adriansalamandre via Flickr

SocialJusticeNOW·Mar 4, 2013

University of Texas Professor Robert Jensen speaks on “We Are All Apocalyptic Now: Moral Responsibilities in Crisis Times” in the First Unitarian Universalist Church Public Affairs Forum.

In his talk, Jensen discusses the need for a “calm apocalypticism” that takes seriously the social and ecological crises we face.

New report: Governments must protect land, food systems as trade liberalization accelerates land grabbing by Sophia Murphy

Dandelion Salad

Image by Marc Wegerif, Oxfam East Africa via Flickr

by Sophia Murphy
Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
March 1, 2013

IATP has always argued that trade agreements need to respect and promote human rights, not drive a process of globalization that privileges commercial interests and tramples on public interests. In a new paper on land grabs, we reaffirm that position.

Can Civilization Survive Capitalism? by Noam Chomsky

Dandelion Salad

by Noam Chomsky
In These Times
March 5, 2013

There is “capitalism” and then there is “really existing capitalism.”

The term “capitalism” is commonly used to refer to the U.S. economic system, with substantial state intervention ranging from subsidies for creative innovation to the “too-big-to-fail” government insurance policy for banks.

Perils of the Keystone XL Pipeline Confront Obama by Ralph Nader

Dandelion Salad

by Ralph Nader
The Nader Page
February 21, 2013

Image by Daniela Kantorova via Flickr

Bill McKibben, a prolific writer and organizer on global warming and climate change, has had a busy year teaching environmentalists not to despair and will soon be learning some lessons himself.

In August 2011, he organized an unprecedented demonstration in front of the White House urging President Obama to deny a permit for the giant Keystone XL pipeline that would haul very dirty tar sands oil from Alberta, Canada down to Texas refineries, largely to be exported.

Sounding the Global Warming Alarm by Peter Rugh + Tens of Thousands March in DC “Keystone Pipeline Got to Go”

Dandelion Salad

by Peter Rugh
SocialistWorker.org
February 19, 2013

Image by tedeytan via Flickr

THERE IS no doorbell at the front gates of the White House–at least not for the public anyway–but the estimated 30,000 to 50,000 people who stood before 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue on Sunday made perhaps the largest human buzzer in the history of the U.S. climate movement.

Thousands Rally in Washington, DC Against Climate Change + James Hansen: Half the Planet is Doomed!

Dandelion Salad

Image by chesapeakeclimate via Flickr

AlJazeeraEnglish·Feb 17, 2013

Thousands of protesters have gathered in Washington DC to demand government action on climate change.

Organisers say it’s the largest climate change protest in US history.

Sanders, Boxer Propose Climate Change Bills + 48 Arrested at Keystone Pipeline Protest

Image by cool revolution via Flickr

Dandelion Salad

Updated: Feb. 21, 2013

SenatorSanders·Feb 14, 2013

WASHINGTON, Feb. 14 — Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) today introduced comprehensive legislation on climate change.

Boxer is chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. Sanders sits on the environment committee and also is a member of the Senate energy.

Capitalism Stands As A Death Sentinel Over Planetary Life by Chris Williams

Image by jeancliclac via Flickr

Dandelion Salad

by Chris Williams
SocialistWorker.org
February 8, 2013

Chris Williams, author of Ecology and Socialism: Solutions to Capitalist Ecological Crisis, looks at the battles ahead for those who will protest for the planet next week.

CAPITALISM STANDS as a death sentinel over planetary life.

Recent reports from institutions such as the World Bank detail how, as a result of human activity, we are on track for a four-degree Celsius increase in average global temperatures.