The environment

Fare Free London (FFL), the new campaign demanding free public transport in the capital, took a modest but important step forward recently when it was backed by the London Transport Regional Council of the RMT union, following a motion I moved through my own branch, RMT Bakerloo line. The London Transport Region represents around 13,000 workers across Transport for London, including London Underground and the Docklands Light Railway. In promoting the campaign in union meetings, and discussing the idea of free public transport with workmates, I sometimes encounter the argument that our unions...

In Solidarity 702 , I discussed climate Tipping Points (CTPs) as a way of framing the climate emergency. They are points of warming beyond which changes to elements of the climate system may cause a runaway feedback loop of warming. The article also looked at the UN Interconnected Disaster Risks Report attempts to extend the “tipping point” term. Social and ecological affects of global heating were also considered. Later discussion in the Workers’ Liberty online ecosocialist discussion group has highlighted the danger of muddying the waters by conflating “planetary boundaries” with CTPs...

From discussion in Workers’ Liberty Discussions will continue among us on transformation of land-use and agriculture, growth and limits, and other issues, but we reaffirm the following points. The working class is the agent with the capability and interest in transforming society: through immediate reforms as well as in the battle for democratic, rational control of the economy and society as a whole. Beyond global warming, there are several major independent environmental threats. All major industries should be socialised — taken into public ownership, under democratic control of workers — to...

If the workers’ movement does emerge as a governing power in the next few decades then it is likely to inherit a planet that is already deep into escalating climate chaos. To rule out SRM or any other technological innovation that might alleviate human suffering would be foolish. We have an interest in maximising our knowledge of these technologies, to better understand the risks and the obstacles to controlling those risks. On this basis we are broadly in favour of any research that expands our understanding and knowledge. However, I think Paul Vernadsky ( Solidarity 693 ) underplays the...

The 2023 State of the Climate report (Ripple et al. 2023) paints a bleak picture. A record-setting year, maybe the hottest globally in 100 thousand years.

On 24-25 February Reclaim the Power held a national gathering of climate activists in York to plan a protest camp on 8-13 August at Drax Power Station (a former coal turned biomass power station). Reclaim the Power (RtP) is a network of climate activists who come together to organise protests and direct action against coal and biomass power stations. Beyond this they also campaign for social and economic justice (e.g. against the hostile environment for migrants, and against fuel poverty). RtP was founded in 2013 and since then has organised protest camps and actions against fracking, Didcot...

Labour leader Keir Starmer’s 8 February U-turn on Labour’s £28 billion flagship green investment pledge has been justified on the grounds that it is incompatible with servicing the national debt. He wants to be seen to be scrabbling around after every last penny, lest the Tories label him imprudent. The national debt, with interest payments around £100 billion a year, is a genuine problem. Much of the debt is held outside the UK, so couldn’t be quelled even by full public ownership of high finance in the UK, and even a workers’ government might want to retain links with the international...

Critical to the replacement of fossil-fuel energy by low-emissions electricity generation (renewables and nuclear) is the expansion of the electricity grid. Since Thatcher’s privatisation, the grid is run by private companies, with the prices they can charge for transmission regulated by an official body, Ofgem. Ofgem is now considering its next round of price controls, and says that it will use the com­pan­ies’ “investabil­ity” as a criterion. It will aim to ensure that the companies not only cover their costs, not only make tidy profits, but make profits lush and reliable enough that their...

On Saturday 10 February, the Stop Silvertown Tunnel Coalition met to discuss a campaign for free public transport in London. Over 50 people attended the meeting from a range of different campaigning organisations and unions. The provisional name of “Fare Free London” was decided for the campaign, and a steering committee was elected to carry out jobs between general meetings. Campaign ideas and actions were discussed, including a presence at the next London Assembly on 7 March. There was a consensus to make more links with transport unions in order to grow the campaign and make links with the...

Farmers’ protests have subsided somewhat in France, following government concessions, but continue in many countries across Europe. They were sparked by new European Union rules which require a certain proportion of fallow land, crop rotations, and reduced fertiliser use. The EU is now stepping back. German farmers object to the phasing out of tax breaks on agricultural diesel; Netherlands farmers, to rules curbing nitrogen oxide and ammonia emissions. In Greece, fuel tax is a target; in Bulgaria, food imports from Ukraine. The French Nouveau Parti Anticapitaliste ( Révolutionnaires ) reports...