Critical Times

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The issue of climate change and global warming is a central issue for humanity. There is an enormous amount of literature written and a host of web sites on this topic. How does one make sense of it all?

Both from slightly different perspectives reach the same conclusion – that a scientific approach and application of new technologies can save the planet from a human induced global warming catastrophe, provided there is the political will to do so.

George Monbiot: Heat – how to stop the planet burning
This book analyses the application of fossil fuel and alternative energy systems to four sections of the British economy – domestic (homes), transport, retail and cement manufacturing.

Monbiot uses extensive research from a wide range of sources to conclude that it is possible to reduce carbon emissions globally by 90 percent by 2030.

He reaches this conclusion even though he cannot find a solution at this stage to achieve a 90 percent reduction in emissions in the aviation industry. Aviation is by far the biggest polluter in the transport industry. This of course includes military aviation.

Based on the current level of scientific knowledge in aviation energy systems, he argues that there must be a drastic reduction in the use of aviation as a means of transport, or an even greater reduction in carbon emissions in other sectors to compensate.

Monbiot does not fall for the imperialist line that it is the high economic growth rates of China and India that are the main cause of global warming. He emphasizes that despite much lower growth rates than these two countries, Western Europe, the USA and Japan are the biggest polluters and need to show the way forward. He also points out that these imperialist economies have only grown due to exploitation of the poorer countries, a contributing factor in itself to global warming.

These imperialist countries’ growth rates have been accompanied by a surge of indebtedness among young people. This, along with the World Trade Centre bombing, dampened the “anti-globalisation movement” in these countries at a time when that very movement was on the ascendancy, especially in South America.

Information technology in the form of the internet is no “cure-all” for activism to save the planet, according to Monbiot. “Of course it (the internet) is marvelously useful…but it also creates a false impression of action. It allows us to believe we can change the world without leaving our chairs. We are being heard. But by itself as I know to my cost, writing, reading, debate and dissent change nothing. They are of value only if they inspire action. Action means “moving your legs”.

Helen Caldicott: Nuclear power is not the answer – to global warming or anything else
Caldicott writes with the conviction of an anti-nuclear campaigner of over 30 years.

When she last gave a series of lectures around Australia, she reminded audiences that in 1976 train drivers in this country went on a 24 hour strike and refused to carry yellowcake.

Now Australia is on the verge of a big expansion of uranium mining, disguised as a good thing for the environment because it fuels nuclear power, an allegedly “green” alternative to fossil fuelled power.

She does not buy the argument that uranium mining in Australia is OK because it assists countries like China to cease so much reliance on coal, even if those pushing this line do not support nuclear power stations in Australia.

Caldicott is first and foremost a person with a medical perspective on the dangers of the nuclear energy cycle to human health.

Uranium mining emits gamma radiation through the body which triggers the mutation of cells. Radon gas seeping out during the extraction process also adversely affects human cells. Uranium miners invariably ingest radium dust which attacks the bones and causes leukemia.

According to Caldicott, Olympic Dam owned by BHP-Billiton should not be expanded; it should be closed down.

Cadicott’s book contains a chapter “Nuclear power, radiation and disease”. It is chilling reading and substantiates her description of the nuclear energy process as “wicked”.

For example, 40 percent of European soil is radioactive from nuclear disasters like Chernobyl and nuclear power plant radiation leaks from various sources and stages of the productive process.

In the USA, the government is bribing Indian tribes to store thousands of tonnes of nuclear waste in casks. 50,000 tonnes of waste is stored in Nevada alone, a problem left for tens of generations of people to come.

Put people first
So the peoples of the world need to mobilise to ensure governments put the interests of the people and the planet’s survival before the interests of profit maximisation.

Global warming calls for social transformation and revolutionary change in society for the future of humanity on this planet.