Capitalism

Pruitt Threatens to 'Purge' Scientists Who Refuse to Be Fossil Fuel Puppets

Jake Johnson, Common Dreams, October 19, 2017

In what climate researchers and activists are denouncing as a blatant call to "purge" the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of experts who refuse to toe the fossil fuel industry line, EPA chief Scott Pruitt told the conservative Heritage Foundation on Tuesday that he is planning to rid his agency's advisory boards of scientists who have received federal grants, arguing that such funding compromises the "independence" of their

Washington Set Puerto Rico Up for Disaster

Hector Figueroa, New York Times, September 28, 2017

It’s been more than a week since I’ve had any word in New York from my 93-year-old father in Puerto Rico. He lives in Coamo, a town in the path of the worst storm to hit the island since 1928. My experience has been shared by millions of Puerto Ricans in the diaspora since Hurricane Maria wreaked its havoc on Sept. 20.

Harvey’s silver lining: A boost for the economy

Russ Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, September 23, 2017

(Harvey killed a lot of people and ruined a lot of lives, but it's great for capitalism as the article below from the Business Section of the L.A. Times explains. What a system! DK)

Floodwaters in and around Houston severely damaged or destroyed hundreds of thousands of cars and trucks, many of which will be replaced. Those new and used vehicle sales will benefit automakers and the economy, providing a glint of silver lining amid terrible tragedy.

How capitalism is killing the environment

Sam Norton, dailyorange.com, September 21, 2017

In recent months, we’ve seen a slew of environmental catastrophes. From Southeast Asia to North Africa to North America, disasters that took place once in hundreds of years are now happening with stunning regularity and at great cost to human life.

At this point, we know humans are driving this slow-moving climate disaster. More than 97 percent of research on the topic is in agreement, with a recent study finding the remaining 3 percent of research to be fundamentally flawed.

Capitalism: The Nightmare

Paul Street, truthdig.com, September 21, 2017

The neoliberal, arch-capitalist era we inhabit is chock-full of statistics and stories that ought to send chills down the spines of any caring, morally sentient human. Nearly three-fourths (71 percent) of the world’s population is poor, living on $10 a day or less, and 11 percent (767 million people, including 385 million children) live in what the World Bank calls “extreme poverty” (less than a $1.90 a day).

Murdoch-Owned Media's Radical Climate Denial in the Face of Disaster

FAIR, Faireness and Accuracy in Reporting, September 16, 2017

A recent survey by progressive watchdog Public Citizen (9/12/17) on the media’s coverage of hurricanes Harvey and Irma confirms what’s long been known: Corporate media are indifferent to the causal relationship between climate change and extreme weather, and by far the worst offenders are the Rupert Murdoch–owned Fox News, Wall Street Journal and New York Post.

90 Companies Helped Cause the Climate Crisis—They Should Pay for It

Sarah van Gelder, Yes Magazine, September 16, 2017

Pacific Northwest forests are on fire. Several blazes are out of control, threatening rural towns, jumping rivers and highways, and covering Portland, Oregon, Seattle, and other cities in smoke and falling ash. Temperatures this summer are an average of 3.6 degrees higher than the last half of the 20th century, according to the University of Washington Climate Impacts Group analysis published in The Seattle Times.

Naomi Klein and the Quest for Environmental Justice

John Buell, CommonDreams, September 13, 2017

More than a program for economic and ecological renewal Naomi Klein’s No Is Not Enough: Resisting Trump’s Shock Politics and Winning the World We Need is a thoughtful analysis of how we have arrived at this point in our politics. Both rigorous and readable it is hard to put down. It spares no one, not its readers, the media, nor even the author herself. This book can elicit the kind of self-reflective activism we desperately need.

A lesson from Hurricane Irma: capitalism can’t save the planet – it can only destroy it

George Monbiot, The Guardian, September 14, 2017

There was “a flaw” in the theory: this is the famous admission by Alan Greenspan, the former chair of the Federal Reserve, to a congressional inquiry into the 2008 financial crisis.

Climate change and capitalism: We can’t confront one without facing the other

Conor Lynch, Salon, September 11, 2017

As Hurricane Irma approaches Florida this weekend, just over a week after Hurricane Harvey devastated southeast Texas and left at least 70 people dead, the climate change debate has taken on a new sense of urgency.

Capitalism

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