The Key to Climate Action Is Building Working-Class Power
We can’t address climate change without the working class. Matt Huber argues that an explicit political or rhetorical focus on the climate crisis itself may not be helpful in that effort.
34 Article(s) by: Matt Huber
Matt Huber is a professor of geography at Syracuse University. His latest book is Climate Change as Class War: Building Socialism on a Warming Planet.
The Iraq War Was Not About Oil
As Donald Trump launches a dangerous war on Iran, understanding what really drives US imperial aggression is more urgent than ever. The 2003 invasion of Iraq, which many critics wrongly claim was about oil, offers an illuminating case study.
Another Energy Transition Is Possible
Jean-Baptiste Fressoz’s dizzying history of energy consumption argues that no energy transition has ever occurred: each generation consumes more of past fuels. Not only are his claims ahistorical but they justify an unwarranted pessimism about the future.
Real Abundance Requires Class Struggle
Today liberals lead the call for abundance. But if they really want to deliver plenty for all, they’ll need to confront the entrenched power of the capitalist class.
Trump’s Venezuela Actions Are About More Than Oil
Venezuela’s heavy crude is expensive to extract, it will take years of sustained investment to meaningfully lift output, and it may not even be profitable at current prices. The current aggression is more about power than economics.
The Socialist Case for Nuclear Power
Nuclear energy is still regarded with skepticism. But nuclear power’s critics wildly overstate its dangers, and preserving and expanding this energy source is essential to a just green transition.
Abundance for the 99 Percent
Abundance is the precondition of socialism, but socialism is also the precondition of abundance.
Treat AI Like a Public Utility
It seems increasingly likely that artificial intelligence will mean major changes to the economy and daily life. We need a public jobs program for displaced workers, and we should regulate AI as a public utility.
AI-Driven Worker Displacement Is a Serious Threat
By many estimates, the increasing use of artificial intelligence is set to produce significant job losses. The prospect of serious disruption demands that we start formulating egalitarian policy solutions right now.
What Should Energy Democracy Look Like?
The US electricity system has long been dominated by corporate interests. A truly democratic energy system will require public control and large-scale state planning, with especially significant input from the workers who know how to make that system run.
Marxism, the Land, and the Global Working Class
Solving our global ecological crises today requires understanding how capitalism has transformed humanity’s relationship to the land. Karl Marx’s thought gives us the tools to do just that.
For a Green Transition, Decommodify Electricity
Despite the plummeting costs of solar and wind power, renewables have not been profitable enough to attract adequate private investment. To decarbonize, public investment in clean power and reclaiming electricity as a public utility are essential.
Kohei Saito’s “Start From Scratch” Degrowth Communism
Kohei Saito’s degrowth rewrite of Marxist theory is not only incorrect — if taken seriously, it would lead to political disaster for both the socialist left and the environmental movement.
Carbon Removal Should Be a Public Good
The Biden administration recently announced badly needed investments in carbon capture. But it shouldn’t be handing out money to fossil fuel companies — carbon capture technology needs to be a state-run public service.
The Problem With Degrowth
We need radical change to address climate change. But degrowth needlessly shackles its vision of a socialist future to a program of aggregate reduction.
Only a Mass Working-Class Climate Politics Can Free Us From the Climate Doom Cycle
The latest UN climate report was just released, and it’s brought the usual doom loop of grave headlines as emissions keep rising. The way out isn’t getting people to “believe the science” but building a pro-worker climate politics that can win power.
We Should Celebrate the World’s Population Passing the Eight Billion Mark
Sections of the environmental movement bemoaned the birth of the world’s eight-billionth person, but the Left should have no part in this cynical misanthropy. The cause of food insecurity and climate change is the irrationality of capitalism — not rising populations.
“Green Capitalism” Is a Lie
Policymakers who have belatedly recognized the peril of climate change now promote incremental, market-based solutions to the crisis. But there’s no way we can prevent ecological disaster without tackling the vested interests at the heart of global capitalism.
“Awareness” Will Not Save Us From Climate Disaster
Spreading knowledge and awareness of the climate crisis isn’t enough. There’s no hope for the planet without climate policies that address the material interests of workers.
In Defense of the Tennessee Valley Authority
The Tennessee Valley Authority was one of the greatest achievements of FDR’s New Deal. But a new generation of liberals and leftists are turning against the dream of “big public power” in America.