11 February 2019 — GreenLeft – Marxist Sociology Blog
Climate change is often seen as a “new” kind of crisis of capitalism – one that throws into question the standard Marxist analysis as having a blind spot with respect to nature. This has led to a whole host of intellectual efforts to “green” Marxism, or to argue an ecological Marxism must go beyond class to incorporate the “new” social movement of environmentalism.
Category: Environment
Oil, Agriculture and Imperialism: Averting the Fast-Track to Armageddon? By Colin Todhunter
8 February 2019 — Global Research
US National Security Advisor John Bolton has more or less admitted that the ongoing destabilisation of Venezuela is about grabbing its oil. He recently stated:
“We’re looking at the oil assets… We’re in conversation with major American companies now… It will make a big difference to the United States economically if we could have American oil companies really invest in and produce the oil capabilities in Venezuela.”
Global Breaking News on GMOs and Pesticides Editors’ picks
6 February 2019 — Sustainable Pulse
Sri Lankan Experts Receive Top Scientific Award for Revealing Lethal Truth about Glyphosate
Two public health researchers who battled powerful corporate interests to uncover the deadly effects of industrial herbicides, solving a medical mystery and protecting the health of farming communities across the world, will receive the 2019 Scientific Freedom and Responsibility Award from the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Drs. Sarath Gunatilake and Channa Jayasumana […]
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Bayer-Monsanto Merger: Endangering Our Health, Food, Farms & Planet
1 February 2019 — TRNN
The US Department of Justice finalized its approval of the Bayer and Monsanto merger. A new monopoly will be created over agricultural pesticides and industrial seed production, with farmers locked into industrial farming and of our health endangered (Inc. transcript)
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Organic Bytes 31 January 2019
31 January 2019 — Organic Consumers Association
ESSAY OF THE WEEK
‘Radical Rethink’
A new study calling for a “radical rethink” of the relationship between policymakers and corporations reinforces what we’ve been saying for years: Our triple global crises of deteriorating public health, world hunger and global warming share common root causes.The Political Economy of Half-Earth By Troy Vettese
31 January 2019 — Socialist Project – The Bullet
That the “extermination, enslavement, and entombment of the aboriginal population in mines […and] the transformation of Africa into a warren for the commercial hunting of black skin” was essential to capitalism’s emergence has long been recognized. Few, however, realise that capitalism has been changing the climate since its “rosy dawn.”1
Glyphosate is Carcinogenic: EU Regulatory Authorities Colluding with Agrochemicals Industry By Colin Todhunter
19 January 2019 — Global Research
Complaint Lodged with European Ombudsman
Back in 2016, I posed the question in The Ecologist whether regulators in the EU were acting as product promoters when it came to the relicensing of glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto’s herbicide Roundup. The renewal of the license for glyphosate in the EU was being debated at the time and much evidence pointed to collusion between regulators and corporate interests whose sales of the herbicide add up to many billions of dollars a year.
Monsanto/Bayer Moving to Genome Edit Fruits and More By F. William Engdahl
18 January 2019 — New Eastern Outlook
Not surprising, Monsanto, today hidden behind the Bayer logo, as the world leader in patented GMO seeds and the probable carcinogenic Roundup herbicide with glyphosate, is attempting to quietly patent genetically modified or GMO varieties of fruits using controversial gene-editing. The “beauty” of this for Monsanto/Bayer is that in the USA, according to a recent ruling by the US Department of Agriculture, gene-edited agriculture needs no special independent testing. The developments are not good for human health or safety, nor will it do anything to give the world better nutrition.
OCA: Ben & Jerry’s; Tainted Tortillas; Deer; Pinapple Poison; Farm Talk; Reading Matter
10 January 2019 — Organic Consumers Association
TOP NEWS OF THE WEEK
Good News!
Photo: Julie David, CC BY-ND 2.0 Nothing like starting the year with some good news, for once. We’re happy to report that consumers have won round one in our legal battle to hold Ben & Jerry’s accountable for its advertising and marketing claims. Last summer, OCA sued Ben & Jerry’s for deceptive marketing and advertising. (We explained why, in this article we wrote last July). Ben & Jerry’s tried to get the case dismissed—and lost. |
Open Letter to Bayer CropScience: Bayer Has Never Been Transparent In Its Life! by Colin Todhunter
9 January 2019 — Counter Currents
“Transparency creates trust. At Bayer, we embrace our responsibility to communicate how we assess our products’ safety — and we recognize that people around the world want more information around glyphosate. This month, we published more than 300 study summaries on the safety of glyphosate on our dedicated transparency website. “
The Stomach-Churning Violence of the Agrochemical Oligopoly by Colin Todhunter
6 January 2019 — Dissident Voice
As humans, we have evolved with the natural environment over millennia. We have learned what to eat and what not to eat, what to grow and how to grow it and our diets have developed accordingly. We have hunted, gathered, planted and harvested. Our overall survival as a species has been based on gradual, emerging relationships with the seasons, insects, soil, animals, trees and seeds. And out of these relationships, we have seen the development of communities whose rituals and bonds have a deep connection with food production and the natural environment.
‘Dust Bowls of Empire’ exposes capital’s global assault on the land
2 January 2019 — Climate & Capitalism
Book review
Essential reading for everyone who cares about agriculture, the environment, and social-injustice
The 1930s Dust Bowl presaged today’s global ecological crises. Hannah Holleman’s brilliant new book shows how and why capital destroys the soil that all life depends on.
Hannah Holleman
DUST BOWLS OF EMPIRE
Imperialism, Environmental Politics and the Injustice of ‘Green’ Capitalism
Yale University Press, 2018
reviewed by Martin Empson
