The Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico highlights the
real state of US capitalism today. While making a lot of noise, Obama
is not prepared to take on the oil companies in any serious meaningful
way. What he is doing is passing the buck to the US working class.
The huge spillage of oil in the Gulf of Mexico was an accident
waiting to happen, as this brief comment from an ex-oil worker points
out. It shows quite clearly that our environment cannot be left in the
hands of a greedy, money-grabbing coterie of capitalists who own and
control the means of production.
It’s been close to a month since the Deepwater Horizon Oil Rig
exploded and sank into the Gulf of Mexico, just 45 miles south of the
already beleaguered gulf coasts of Louisiana and Mississippi. The
ensuing oil spill may well surpass that which followed the wreck of the
Exxon Valdez, which poured over 11 million gallons of oil into Alaska’s
Prince William Sound in the spring of 1989.
For many people, the idea of a revolutionary change in
society seems like a pipe-dream that will never be possible in their
lifetime. In this respect, Trotsky developed the idea of
the “Transitional
Programme”: a set of demands that could take society from our current
situation
under capitalism, towards our final goal of international socialism. What
would such a transitional programme look like for the
environment? What set of demands should socialists make regarding the
climate
change?
In the previous few months, we have attempted to show how capitalist
‘solutions’ to climate change, such as market-based methods like carbon
trading, are not able to combat the environmental problems facing
humanity and our planet. Similarly,
international treaties that attempt to operate within the confines of
capitalism are also doomed to failure, as was seen in Copenhagen last
year. Capitalism cannot solve these problems – capitalism is the
problem.
Socialist Appeal
The Marxist voice of Labour and youth
The huge spillage of oil in the Gulf of Mexico was an accident
waiting to happen, as this brief comment from an ex-oil worker points
out. It shows quite clearly that our environment cannot be left in the
hands of a greedy, money-grabbing coterie of capitalists who own and
control the means of production.
For many people, the idea of a revolutionary change in
society seems like a pipe-dream that will never be possible in their
lifetime. In this respect, Trotsky developed the idea of
the “Transitional
Programme”: a set of demands that could take society from our current
situation
under capitalism, towards our final goal of international socialism. What
would such a transitional programme look like for the
environment? What set of demands should socialists make regarding the
climate
change?
In the previous few months, we have attempted to show how capitalist
‘solutions’ to climate change, such as market-based methods like carbon
trading, are not able to combat the environmental problems facing
humanity and our planet. Similarly,
international treaties that attempt to operate within the confines of
capitalism are also doomed to failure, as was seen in Copenhagen last
year. Capitalism cannot solve these problems – capitalism is the
problem.