Capitalism can’t guarantee a clean environment

Vanguard September 2010 p. 8
Bill F.

People’s demands for a safe, pollution free environment and a roll-back of climate change are being ignored and frustrated by the major parliamentary parties in their subservient role to local and foreign profiteering monopoly capitalists.

During the election campaign, on the few occasions that the environment was mentioned, all the two major parties had to offer were vague generalisations about ‘consulting the people’ or ‘real action’, but no concrete plans or vision for the future.

The CPA (M-L) has proposed four Immediate Demands on some of the main environmental issues. Our demands put the interests of the working class and working people ahead of the profit-taking of the multinationals and their local collaborators. The demands show what should be possible and achievable in a rich country like Australia where many people have the basic education, skills and enthusiasm to repair our damaged environment.

Make the polluters pay!
Cap and tax carbon emissions – no “market solutions”

No emission reduction costs passed on to the people

This can be done by government regulation. Firstly, a limit should be enforced on the amount of greenhouse gases released by companies, in just the same way other toxic pollutants are restricted. In addition, a carbon tax should be levied to pay for clean-up costs, and the research and development of clean, alternative energies and industrial processes.

There is no need for a whole new army of parasitic brokers and traders dealing in ‘carbon credits’ – just some inspectors with ABCC-like powers to check up on the polluters and enforce regulations!

Phase out coal!
Create clean power using renewable energy

Retrain workers for new clean, sustainable industries

There needs to be a programme to phase out the dirty, coal-fired power stations and replace them with solar, wind and geothermal energy. These technologies already exist and can take up most base power demands relatively quickly. In some locations, natural gas could be used as an interim or supplementary measure.

Nobody should lose their job. On the contrary, workers in the coal-mining and power industries should be assisted to expand their skills and form the core workforce in new clean and sustainable industries.

Similarly, workers in the automobile industry could quite easily shift across to the manufacture of buses, trams and carriages for a massive expansion of public transport infrastructure in the main cities.

Water belongs to all – it’s not for trade or sale!
Capitalism wants to turn everything into marketable commodities. The monopolies would patent and sell the air we breathe, if they could get away with it. Water, like air, is essential to the life of humans and all other living things. If the use of water is only determined by ‘the market’, a rich minority will take as much as they want, with no responsibility for the rest of us or for the land.

Major water systems such as the Murray-Darling should be nationalised and controlled by a central government agency, along with metropolitan water supplies, reservoirs and pipelines, to ensure long-term planning to meet the needs of the people and to repair and protect the natural environment.

No uranium mining – unsafe for workers, communities and humanity!
Australia should cease the mining and sale of uranium ores. At every stage of production, processing and transport, uranium is highly dangerous and toxic to human beings. When used as a source of power, it results in deadly waste that must be stored safely for thousands of years – can we trust anyone to do this, let alone giant monopolies only interested in relatively short-term profits?

There is already sufficient uranium available for nuclear medicine requirements and the people of the world want to see the elimination of nuclear missiles and bombs, not addition to the stockpiles.