(en) France, Alternative Libertaire AL #237 - Ecosocialism: See the green revolution (fr, pt)

Far from the exoticism of voluntary misery, Ecosocialist project promotes rational and 
collective production management to ensure use of resources in accordance with the 
capacity of the planet. ---- The reality of climate change as a result of human activity, 
is no longer disputed. And already the implications are significant. Since 1980 the number 
of extreme events has increased fivefold in the world and doubled in Europe. In North 
America more than 30,000 people died and 1,060 billion were needed to repair the 
damage[1]. ---- FAO predicts "a significant reduction in world cereal stocks by the close 
of seasons in 2013 (...). Production has been affected by drought in major producing 
regions, including the United States, Europe and Central Asia "[2]. Finally, a 2004 study 
provides the loss of 15% to 37% of plant and animal species by 2050[3]... The collapse of 
biodiversity weigh on the ability of humanity to live and food on a planet degraded.

The ecological crisis combines poisoning the land with pesticides, massive deforestation, 
over-fishing the oceans empty and climate disruption resulting extreme events, melting 
polar ice caps, rising sea levels, expanding deserts...

At best, decisions taken by governments have been defined on the basis of the Kyoto 
Protocol in December 1997 that the key measure was to establish a market for "pollution 
permits".

There is no solution to the capitalist crisis

They especially created new opportunities for profits. In this sense, the development of 
renewable energy and waste recycling have only slowed the growth in consumption of fossil 
fuels. The verdict is clear: in 2010, he was released 50.1 gigatonnes of CO2 equivalent in 
the atmosphere, 20% more than in 2000. Ever these "eco-liberal" policies will not change 
the capitalist societies toward social and environmental transformation.

Capitalist ideology, conditioning it imposes on the human conscience (frustration and 
violence caused by the appropriation of wealth by a minority, lack of solidarity, the need 
for limitless consumption, individual irresponsibility...), as the need for exponential 
growth to maintain a semblance of stability, render impossible a capitalist solution to 
the ecological crisis.

Revolutionary projects of the nineteenth century already described the process of breaking 
with capitalism: socialization of the means of production, abolish the wage system, 
economic equality, direct democracy... All that remains current and is indispensable for 
the transition to an ecological society. But revolutionaries could not anticipate the 
severity of the ecological situation, nor that every year we would consume more natural 
resources than the planet product, drawing on "natural capital of the Earth."

The question of the development model is at the heart of the concept of ecosocialism: 
reconciling sobriety energy, conservation of natural resources and the ability to feed, 
house, clothe, treat, educate all human beings, implies a break with the capitalist growth 
and mass consumption.

Productive autonomy of each region

The first step is to achieve a drastic reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. The example 
of France (in 2011), where the transport emitted alone 28.1% of greenhouse gas emissions, 
21% agriculture, housing and the tertiary sector 17.5%, the manufacturing 18.6%, the 
energy industry 11.7%, indicates the path to follow.

This is primarily for the transportation issue that is worth considering: the relocation 
of production, the productive autonomy of each region, the freight will be reduced to its 
bare minimum. The transport of persons must also be completely redesigned. Daily transport 
can be controlled by implementing free and widespread public transport, which will end the 
reign of the car, and another land logic, fighting the concentration of populations in 
increasingly dominant megacities. On agriculture, energy expenditure are first consequence 
of the production of "inputs" of agrochemicals. The generalization of biological and 
peasant agriculture is the basis of the necessary agricultural revolution.

Allied Energy renewable energy economy can help make net energy producers buildings. Major 
renovation of real estate will be part of the new planning logic. They incorporate new 
forms of sociability that build within an egalitarian society: the wasteful ownership by 
each "family" of her washing machine, his "home video" of his computer... maybe corrected 
by the establishment of public services offered within each dwelling unit.

These devices comply with the new standards of production output corresponding to the 
needs expressed by the population and abandonment of logic programmed[obsolescence 4]. 
Durability, energy economy and the use of renewable energy will be an obligation on 
producers. Finally, any adverse economic sectors (advertising, packaging...) or does not 
meet the needs presented by the self-management bodies of the company will be abandoned to 
save natural resources and reduce the working time.

Abandonment of harmful economic sectors

We have no penchant for the exotic sees in destitution and poverty a "supplement of soul" 
in this world without pity. Today we intend to fight for the "rich" consume less so that 
the "poor" live better. But the solution to the ecological crisis means an upheaval that 
will be completed as the lead capitalist society.

Our goal is a revolution in lifestyle: a drastic decline in consumption and enrichment of 
social and cultural life, development of social relations, culture, art, knowledge. 
Libertarian communist society that we are calling for will reach the point of balance 
between the productive capacity, the needs of people, and the capacity of the biosphere. 
It will be part of an awareness that our existence is linked to the whole of the living 
world and our future can not be built against him. The ideology of domination must be 
broken so that humanity finds a future.

Jacques Dubart (AL Agen)


[1] Report of the reinsurer Munich Re of 17 October 2012 (for the period 1980-2011).

[2] See www.planetoscope.com

[3] See the article "Extinction risk from climate change," Nature No. 427, January 2004.

[4] The consumer is now scheduled for a certain lifetime, implying their regular replacement.