John Bell, a contributor to the publication Socialist Worker, spoke to about 35 people on Thursday on the links between capitalism and environmental degradation, in a lecture as part of U of T’s Environmental and Social Justice Week. The week of lectures, workshops, seminars, and free food was organized by the U of T Environmental Resource Network
Bell began by discussing the state of the environment by quoting from Jack London’s 1903 novel, “People of the Abyss,” which describes the polluted, cramped conditions of turn of the century London.
“Environmental decay is not a new problem; it was a problem in Jack London’s time and it has only gotten worse since then,” said Bell. “There is a scientific consensus that global warming exists; the only ones who doubt it are in the employ of the automobile and fossil fuel industries,” Bell continued. “If nothing is done, then some scientists estimate that one third of Earth’s species could become extinct in fifty years,” he said.
Commenting on a recent article in the Toronto Star that argued that global warming could improve Canada’s tourism industry, Bell said, “This is nonsense; Global warming is more likely to bring malaria and dengue fever to Canada than more tourists, and if that happens, pharmaceutical companies are going to be the only people to benefit.
“The problem here is capitalism,” continued Bell, “which is fixated on short-term profit, and is incapable of dealing with long-term problems such as global warming. Deregulation, privatization, and corporate tax breaks have only made these problems worse. Capitalism’s addiction is to profit and [it] cares for nothing else.”
“We need more regulation, we need massive social spending on things like trains,” added Bell. “We have the technology-hydrogen engines and so forth-it is just a matter of [having the] will to actually use them.”
“The Seattle protest of 1999 is a model for how we can start to fix the problem,” Bell continued. “It was one of the first times where labour and environmentalists, the famous ‘Turtles and Teamsters’ cooperated together in pursuit of common causes. We need more of that to fix the environmental problem.”
Some in the audience debated Bell’s basic premises.
“You’re not going to get anywhere by attacking industry,” said one.
Said another, “Climate is chaotic, it cannot be predicted.”
Others debated the progress or lack thereof that the federal government has made recently to address climate problems. Most of attendees attacked U.S. President Bush for American anti-environmental policies.
“The Bush White House is marching lock step with their supporters in the oil industry,” said Bell.
“We don’t need more laws,” another audience member said, “we just need to enforce existing laws; charge corporations with violating the law or sue them.”
“This is not a problem of the future; global warming has dried up rivers in Sudan, which is forcing people to fight over water resources,” said another audience member.
Bell encouraged the audience to read Boiling Point by Ross Gelbspan, which addresses many of the issues that he raised.
