Socialist Appeal - Science and Technology

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Science and Technology

Global Warming - Why Biofuels miss their target

By Rob Walsh
Wednesday, 10 October 2007
Britain, like all the other capitalist countries, is dependent on burning fossil fuels as our basic energy source. It is obvious that fossil fuels must run out one day. It is also well known that carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels contribute to climate change. One 'solution' put forward to this is to grow your own biofuel.

The problem with the computer industry under capitalism - Free Software the answer?

By Maarten Vanheuverswyn
Thursday, 27 September 2007
The way the computer industry functions today is a perfect illustration of all the faults and massive inefficiencies of capitalism, where the primary goal is not serving the interests of society. Developing, improving and distributing software takes place only where big profits can be made. This stands in sharp contrast to free software, where human knowledge and the produce of human labour is used to the advantage all of society.

The invention of the clock

Thursday, 06 September 2007
In previous centuries, time worked for us, in present times and in modern times, we work for time. Due to the pressures of the clock, stress levels, mental illnesses and breakdowns are on the increase. The clock is more and more being used to hound workers through their everyday lives.

Support stem cell research - the most important development since the discovery of antibiotics

By Kenny McGuigan
Tuesday, 24 July 2007
In the course of human history new discoveries, particularly in the fields of science and medicine, have challenged established thought. This is now happening again with stem cell research. What could lead to curing many diseases that up to now have been fatal is coming under a barrage of criticism because of religious and reactionary prejudices.

Global warming: Financial Times exposes carbon trading fraud

By Harry Nielsen
Thursday, 10 May 2007
A recent six week investigation by the Financial Times found widespread profiteering and fraud in carbon trading, the main mechanism for greenhouse gas reduction proposed by the Kyoto treaty. Many schemes will produce only limited reductions in greenhouse gases and will have little or no effect on global warming.

Capitalism, the environment and the disasters we face

By Mick Brooks
Wednesday, 24 January 2007
The environmental problems we face are creations of the capitalist system. The problem is that there is no planning on and no concern for environmental issues in an unplanned economy. Short-term ‘rational' decisions produced environmental disaster in the longer term. Socialism is the only way we can protect the environment.

The findings of the Stern Report on climate change

By Mick Brooks
Wednesday, 20 December 2006
The Stern Report highlights the problem of global warming linked to the high emissions of carbon. Stern tries to find a solution within capitalism, without understanding that capitalism is actually the problem. The unplanned, chaotic nature of the system, where all is based on immediate profit means no real solution can be found within it. The answer lies in planning and that can only be achieved under socialism.

Socialists and “Green” politics – Letter and Reply

By Phil Mitchinson
Tuesday, 03 October 2006
Earlier this year we received a letter from a reader of Socialist Appeal who says we put too much importance on one factor that contributes to climate change, human-induced emissions of "greenhouse" gases. In his answer Phil Mitchinson looks at the broader aspects of pollution, climate change and so on and stresses the need for a radical, socialist transformation of society if we are even to begin to tackle these vital problems.

Capitalism and the Environment

Thursday, 17 August 2006

Global warming and other environmental issues are always in the news. There is even a party – the Green Party – that claims to put the environment at the centre of its concerns. The Green Party claims to be neither right wing nor left wing as, they say, environmental issues transcend the traditional issues of class and the division between rich and poor that define conventional political discussions and divisions. This is poppycock. Environmental issues are vitally important to us inhabitants of the planet earth. But the environmental problems, and the potential environmental catastrophe, we face are creations of the capitalist system.

The heat is on – global warming is a reality

By Michael Roberts
Monday, 14 November 2005
Dramatic climate change in recent years has led scientists to the conclusion that global warming is the cause. This is bad news for the private owners of the $2trn dollar oil, gas and natural gas industries. If serious action were taken to deal with global warming, their profits would be in trouble. That is why these big monopolies have spent millions on a campaign designed to rubbish the global warming theory.

Global Warming: The Arctic is Melting

By Rob Lyon
Thursday, 18 August 2005
The debate over global warming and the consequences it may or may not have for planet Earth and humanity has been raging for several decades now. Global warming is an endless source of controversy, but one thing is clear - our climate is changing.

GM Products: the Wrong Debate

By Pablo Sanchez
Monday, 19 January 2004
Since last summer we have seen a widespread debate about the pros and the cons of GM products. There are people for and against GM products from all the different political shades. The bourgeois papers have been very keen on giving voice to different people in the debate. What is missing, however, is a class point of view. No one poses the question from the point of view of ordinary working people.

Mad Cow and the Crisis of Food Production

By Rob Lyon
Monday, 19 January 2004
On December 23, 2003 the US government officially acknowledged the outbreak of BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) in a herd of cattle in the state of Washington.This is officially the first case of mad cow in the US, but is in reality the second case of an outbreak in the integrated Canadian and US cattle industry. The farming and cattle crisis is at root a reflection of the crisis of capitalism worldwide and a result of "globalization".

Foot and mouth - a disease of the profit system

By Mick Brooks
Tuesday, 13 March 2001
Over the past weeks the news has been dominated by the story of yet another crisis in farming. The rapid spreading of the food and mouth epidemic in Britain is a direct consequence of capitalist farming methods.

After the Hague "Summit": Global Warming - The deadly threat of capitalist anarchy

By Mick Brooks
Tuesday, 14 November 2000
The collapse of the talks at the Hague has brought the issue of global warming back into the headlines. Mick Brooks looks at the reasons for the collapse of the talks, the failures of the Kyoto agreement, the responsibility of capitalism in the destruction of the environment and the need for a socialist alternative.