Being Green is Not Enough

by John Maryon

One must applaud the principled stand taken by those caring and concerned people who are determined to defend the delicate balance of nature on our home world. People who recognise the importance of restricting carbon emissions, preventing pollution and the destruction of vital habitats.  Urgent action is necessary to preserve the rich eco-system of plant and animal life, including ourselves.  Sadly there are others, who through greed and ignorance, blindly carry on along a road that can only lead to the possible extinction of the human race leaving  a dead and toxic planet to drift in space. 
There are many important battles to be won, but in order to  achieve a lasting effectiveness it is necessary to understand the reasons for and deeper implications of any course of action.  Under a socialist system there is no reason or excuse to destroy the environment.  However with capitalism, where quick profits and market forces dominate, the well-being of the people is frequently of lower priority than the need to make more money.  Hence  the polluted rivers, deforestation, dumped rubbish, radioactive discharges and poor air quality in many places today.
Many energy systems still rely upon fossil fuel, presenting a difficult problem that will take time and investment to overcome.  In Britain and other countries we face particular challenges for both domestic heating and transport. To cut carbon dioxide emissions it is desirable to replace home heating boilers fired with natural gas with a green alternative which could be electricity, heat pumps or green hydrogen.  Essentially all three alternatives require green electricity as the primary energy source. Carbon free electricity can be produced by wind turbines, solar panels, hydro power, tidal power or nuclear. All come with their own challenges. Wind turbines won't work if there is no wind. Solar panels are unproductive during the night. Hydro and tidal opportunities are limited and nuclear power has its own risks.  A major question is could the national electricity grid cope with the new demands without enormous investment?
 So the solution is not simply a question of banning this or that.  It requires long term investment and planning as opposed to the operation of market forces. It requires socialism. 
Similar problems are encountered with transport. We are encouraged to buy electric cars, but preferably not the cheaper and technically advanced Chinese ones.  Again how will the national grid and local networks cope with the big new demand for electricity.  If you live in a house with room to charge the car on your driveway an electric car offers a good choice. If, however, you live in a flat or congested urban area you have to find a charging station which could be a more expensive option. The government dithers and has put the target date for fossil furled cars back again.  Contrast our situation with that of socialist China.  They have an integrated transport system with  over 50 km of high speed rail and are the largest producer of electric vehicles.  The infrastructure necessary to support their ambitious plans is being built now as an investment for the future and to meet their objective of hitting carbon neutrality before 2060. Clean energy, high-tech innovation including AI and committed leadership from the Communist Party of China will combine to achieve these goals. 
In Britain today the disastrous privatisation of the electricity industry has created serious challenges and  resulted in some extraordinary situations.  Drax power station near Selby was built to burn Yorkshire coal. Today a power company receives billions in subsidies for the burning of wood pellets sourced from the United States and Canada. The process is classified as a renewable one but documents show that some of the wood was obtained from old woods that were rich in wildlife habitats.  In another example of farce, wind turbines connected to the national grid are able to supply electricity when the wind  blows. The problem is that for approximately one third of the time that power is not required and the grid struggles to cope. It is estimated that £1.3 million was paid by the government to temporarily switch them off.  Such occurrences cost the taxpayer dearly and when taken alongside the imperialist sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines contribute to making Britain's energy costs soar.
It is the policy of the New Communist Party of Britain (NCP) to take both the gas and electricity utilities back under full state ownership. To be owned and operated for the benefit of the people and also to expand their scope to cover the production of green hydrogen.  The  planning, construction, and operation of energy systems would be placed into the hands of engineers who could plan long term for future needs free from short term get rich quick scams. A return to sanity would soon see energy costs start to fall. Workers would be represented on the Energy Board and lots of apprenticeships created.
Energy cannot be considered in isolation.  A fully integrated public transport system fully owned by the people is essential along  with more investment into high speed railways. Only a state owned system can look ahead to balance needs with resources and avoid a short term approach that does not build for the future. It is also the aim of the NCP to restore water supply and storage to full public ownership. Jeremy Corbyn's proposals for free broadband to all homes and business by 2023 could be achieved with public ownership of essential parts of the Telecom industry.  Banking and financial services need a shake up. Whole communities are often left without a bank as local closures continue.  We need a secure state owned bank  to provide a full range of services, at competitive rates rates for domestic customers and small businesses.
There are many people in the green and conservation movements who see the problems that we all face today as single simple issues. The threats and challenges are appreciated but they may only have a vague idea of why things are going wrong and what can be achieved to move forward.  Only a socialist approach that tackles the root causes of a growing crisis can provide a lasting solution.  We have to rid society of greed, disrespect and an obsession with profits. The dreams of those who seek a sustainable future within a caring society are values that we share.  Their struggle requires a political element to enable society to move forward.  Come and join the NCP and help us in the class struggle to turn those visions of a beautiful new world into reality.

Nuclear power and the Green agenda

 by Ben Soton

The Poverty of Green Philosophy – A Marxist Case for Nuclear Energy in a Cooperative World by Bill Sacks and Greg Meyerson. Carus Books, 2026. Paperback: 400pp, rrp £21.99.

In this detailed study Sacks and Meyerson deliver a Marxist case for nuclear energy.  They also undertake a critique of Green Philosophy; both its eco-socialist and eco-modernist (pro-capitalist) variants. Their argument centres on the failings of Renewable Energy and they accept the existence of Anthropogenic Global Warming (AGW) –  the process of climate change since the Industrial Revolution.  
Sacks and Meyerson claim that although solar and wind power are free and in abundant supply they are highly inefficient; resulting in a very low Energy Return on Investment (EROI).  Their study points to the high input of land required for both solar power and wind farms, combined with a low output. They state that waste solar panels are highly polluting and that both forms of renewable energy lack the efficiency of nuclear power.  The precious metals required for the production of solar panels would result in price rises for materials already needed for the production of consumer goods such as computers and mobile phones.  Perhaps the crux of their argument is that nuclear fuel can be re-used whilst uranium can be extracted from seawater; making its supply almost endless.    
Strong Nuclear Force, the strongest force in the known universe, holds together the nuclei of atoms.  If released through nuclear fission it can produce enormous levels of energy, with a subsequently high EROI.  Sacks and Meyerson attempt to reassure us about the safety of nuclear power plants and concerns over radiation. The accidents at Chernobyl in 1987 and Fukushima in 2011 were not the same as nuclear bomb blasts but steam turbine explosions and the corresponding damage done by radiation has been exaggerated. Meanwhile they remind us that radiation is omitted from numerous sources including rocks, various food stuffs including bananas as well as mobile phones, microwave ovens and building materials.
Sacks and Meyerson make coherent case against the Green Left. They argue that an economy based entirely on renewables would result a net drop in energy use and a subsequent decline in economic growth and living standards. As one would expect they are highly critical of the “small is beautiful” argument put forward by the economist E F Schumacher. 
Schumacher favoured small scale, handicraft industry over large scale production claiming that capitalism had destroyed locally based handicraft industries. Central to this view is that nuclear power, with its highly centralised power plants is inherently capitalist; whilst renewables, which tend to be much more dispersed are inherently socialist. The authors advocate control over the nuclear industry by a socialist state. In other words socialism means scaling up not scaling down. 
It should be pointed out that renewables are still in their infancy compared to both nuclear and fossil fuels. The first wind farm in Britain opened in 1991 whereas the use of nuclear power dates back to the 1950s.  Why not advocate greater research and development into renewables; with a view to using them alongside nuclear power?
Meanwhile with climate-denialism on the rise, a critique of it might be a good idea; however the book presents some excellent arguments about the failure of capitalism.  Sacks and Meyerson’s argument is nonetheless a highly valuable contribution to the ongoing discussion around the obvious need to de-carbonise energy production.

The socialist answer to the energy crisis

Electric cars: China leads the way!

by John Maryon

The discovery of fire by our ancestors and it's use for keeping warm, cooking food and deterring wild beasts marked a deceive step for the human race.  Since those early days our increasing dependency upon accessible, affordable energy supplies has grown sharply.  Today no advanced civilisation could survive without access to abundant supplies of energy.
A colossal demand for energy during the industrial revolution saw coal become the key source of energy to produce steam to power the factories and trains. Whole families, including grubby children clothed in rags, toiled in the dark, damp and dangerous mines.  For the pit owners vast profits. For the workers harsh working conditions that led to an increased mortality rate.  Both the new gas street lamps, first installed in Pall Mall in 1807 and the first electric trains of the 1890s required the burning of fossil fuel as the primary energy source.  Today in Britain, electricity, a refined energy source, easy to use and clean at the point of use still relies on fossil fuel for over a third of its generation. 
Drax Power Station, located in Yorkshire in an area or rich coal seams, was designed to operate using British coal.  Future plans were based upon carbon entrapment technology.  Today public funding is used to support its operation using biomass fuel – wood-burning.   The wood is imported from America.  It is claimed that CO2 is recycled when new trees are planted to replace those consumed.  The station remains as a large emitter of greenhouse gas.  Opponents claim that a better long term option would be to invest in wind and solar power in conjunction with energy storage systems. Britain has been left dependent upon the USA for its vital needs. 
Under capitalism decision-making is driven by the requirement for maximum profit in the shortest time possible at minimum risk and with the lowest investment. A recipe for disaster.  Responsible and sustainable green development requires a long term approach that is both innovative and ethical and is supported by public investment and control.
Nuclear power is considered necessary as part of a secure energy strategy to provide a constant base load. Early government enthusiasm was influenced by the ability to produce fissionable materials for nuclear weapons. The high risks of nuclear power were exposed in a number of serious accidents which resulted in radioactive contamination. Modern reactors are safer but there is the serious risk from terrorism.  By their obvious complicity in blowing up the Nord Stream pipelines we have to look no further than certain Western powers to see who the main supporters of terrorism are. For the future, electricity production by fusion offers great prospects for abundant energy without the problems of nuclear waste disposal. 
A major green initiative has seen the arrival of Electric Vehicles.  In People's China electric car sales now exceed 50 per cent of total sales. By contrast Britain lags in this field with many drivers preferring petrol engines. The main reason for this is the lack of a suitable charging point infrastructure. For those who can charge up on their driveways and who do not undertake long journeys electric is fine but if you live in a flat or high density development the search for affordable and available charging points can be a problem.  Hydrogen, a viable contender for motive power, has not been seriously considered. With either its use with a fuel cell or by combustion with the only by-product being water it has many advantages. The problems are again a total lack of infrastructure in addition to how its made (from gas or the green electrolysis method).  The socialist countries are in a good position to make a responsible long term approach. China is looking at wireless charging with electric coils beneath the road surface. 
Given the rapid progress in science and technology, the whole world should soon be able to benefit from an abundance of cheap energy. So why are German factories closing due to high energy costs and rationing.  And why are people freezing in their homes afraid to turn up the heating.  Europe is on the verge of a self-inflicted energy crisis. A bizarre and dangerous situation totally of their own making. Future generations may look back in amazement at the incompetence and betrayal of its leaders. Bismark must be turning in his grave as Germany, once the powerhouse of Europe, faces de-industrialisation and recession. 
Europe's enthusiastic endorsement of Project Ukraine, led by the US and coordinated through NATO, has ended to disaster and tragedy. When the Soviet Union collapsed Western nations promised not to expand NATO to the east. Of course preparations were immediately made to break this promise with a military build-up carried out on Russia's borders. Ukraine formed one piece of the jigsaw but it's voters had elected a government that sought to remain neutral.  Western response was to engineer the notorious Maidan coup that overthrew the democratically elected government in 2014.The new regime, which included neo-nazis harshly repressed the Russian speakers and committed atrocities such as the Odessa massacre and shelling of civilians in Donbas.  Russia had the courage to respond with it's Special Military Operation.
The proxy war quickly turned into a war of attrition that the imperialists have lost. Sanctions imposed against Russia with the ultimate aim of regime change in Moscow have failed and dramatically backfired. Following the shutting off of gas pipelines from Russia and their complicity in blowing up Nord Stream, Europe now faces a severe gas shortage with soaring prices. Secure long term contracts for cheap Russian gas have been replaced with a reliance on a limited supply of much more expensive LNG from US shale gas deposits. As a result German industry, once a world leader, has become uncompetitive and is being forced to flee overseas. Inflation and unemployment are rising in Germany and European GDP rates are falling. The people are being forced to pay a high price for government incompetence.
The problems for Germany has been made far worse by it's decision to close all its nuclear power stations. The situation has been made worse still by the decision of the Ukraine regime to stop the flow of gas from Russia across its territory.  This will reduce imports of gas by at least another 5 per cent and pose particular hardships for Slovakia, Austria, Serbia and Hungary. Turkstream remains, in spite of failed attempts to blow it up, the last source for Russian gas supplies apart from Russian LNG.  Recently a tanker, believed to be carrying Russian gas, was mysteriously blown up in the Mediterranean. Ironically, at a touch of a button, supplies could be restored via the remaining Nord Stream link and via Poland. 
Blinded by arrogant illusions of elitism carried over from the colonial era, Western leaders double down on one disaster after another.  With no thought of peace talks they continue to stoke the flames of war. And it is the ordinary people who continue to suffer from the greed and warmongering of Western leaders. 
Whatever the conditions prevailing capitalism cannot undertake a sustainable and coherent policy for energy. A balanced long term energy policy is eclipsed by profiteering. It's time for the people to wake up to reality and say enough is enough. Bring on Socialism! Bring on the Revolution! 

People’s China leads the way

 The UN Climate Change Conference kicked off in Baku, the capital of the former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan, this week, amid hopes that the COP29 summit will bolster climate finance, carbon trading, and the global transition from fossil fuels. Keir Starmer was there, pledging to reduce carbon emissions by 81 per cent relative to 1990 levels by 2035. But this did little to off-set the fear amongst the leaders of the Global South that the new Trump administration in the United States will seriously undermine international efforts to deal with the ecological crisis.
Donald Trump is a climate change denier who serves the interests of the big American oil and gas corporations. “We have more liquid gold than any country in the world,” Trump said during his victory speech, a statement backed by the CEO of the American Petroleum Institute who said that “energy was on the ballot, and voters sent a clear signal that they want choices, not mandates”.
During his first presidential term Trump withdrew from the Paris Agreement, the 2015 international climate accord that guides the actions of more than 195 countries; rolled back 100-plus environmental rules and opened the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling. The Biden administration managed to undo some of these measures but Trump has pledged to reverse them during his second term. Climate change campaigners believe that this could lead to a rise of an additional four billion metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere – equalling the combined annual emissions of the European Union and Japan.
But while the Trump Team turns its back on scientific opinion at home and abroad People’s China is leading the way with its carbon peak and carbon neutrality goals, accelerating the comprehensive green transformation of its economy and society.
China is now an indispensable nation for global climate efforts, says former UN Under-Secretary-General Erik Solheim adding that it is essentially "impossible for the world to go green without China”.
China plays an important role in the global green energy transition, accounting for 60 per cent or more of global production in key green sectors, including solar, wind, and hydropower, as well as electric cars and batteries. The former UN official stressed the need for more investment to tackle climate challenges, saying multilateral platforms, like BRICS, are increasingly significant for addressing climate change.
"BRICS has become very important since that's an avenue for the Global South to come together and lead the world," he said, adding that the initiative will move to countries of the Global South. "The 'Belt and Road Initiative' has recently turned into a major vehicle for green investment in the world, in solar, wind, hydropower and green corridors".
Whether COP29 can be a climate conference that upholds commitments and makes progress in climate institutional innovation remains to be seen. Time is of the essence. During the opening ceremony, COP29 President Mujtar Babaiev, the Azerbaijani Minister of Economy and Natural Resources, warned that “we are heading for ruin. And it's not about future problems. Climate change is already here, the moment of truth has arrived”.

The ever-changing Earth

 by Ben Soton

The Earth Transformed – An Untold Story by Peter Frankopan, London, Bloomsbury Publishing 2023, 736pp, £27 rrp.

The Earth Transformed – An Untold Story is the latest work of Peter Frankopan, professor of Byzantine History at Worcester College Oxford. His previous works include The First Crusade: The Call from the East (2012), The Silk Roads: A New History of the World (2015) and The New Silk Roads: The Present and Future of the World (2018). All of Frankopan’s works are published by Bloomsbury.

    The book’s underlying theme is how ecological, geological and climatic factors have influenced the history and pre-history of our planet. What is noticeable about the book, other than its length (over seven-hundred pages long), is the degree of scientific research and primary historical research that contributed to its publication. Examples of sources cited include extracts from diaries describing climatic events to tree ring data showing metrological change.
    The story begins with our planet’s creation around four and a half billion years ago; covering the Eons that pre-date humanity. However, most of the book covers the human period from the emergence of agriculture and first city states. The author goes on to point out that agriculture may not have been possible were it not for the climatic changes that took place around 13,000 years ago. Namely a period of limited global warming that took place at the end of the last Ice-Age; starting what has been called the Holocene Period.
    The Earth Transformed has similarities with Frankopan’s earlier work The Silk Roads: A New History of the World. Both books place considerable emphasis on global trade and it’s impact on ecosystems, culture and even diet. This discovery of the Americas by Europeans saw a major shift in world trade away from the ancient Silk-Route across the Eurasian land-mass towards both the transatlantic crossing and routes around the Cape of Good Hope. Whereas the Silk-Route involved a number of small-scale exchanges the new trade system involved a much smaller number of traders as well as states. The degree of wealth accumulated became concentrated in fewer hands; eventually resulting in the development of capitalism.
    Meanwhile the author points out that whilst we associate tomatoes with Italy; they are a South American product. A customer in an Indian restaurant in Britain see icons of chillis to indicate the level of spice in a meal; again, chillis have their origins in South America not India. Whilst we associate chocolate with Belgium or Switzerland; it once again comes from South America. All examples of man-made changes to global ecosystems. In later chapters he correctly points out the damage done to the Global South caused by slavery, colonialism and imperialism. However, the book is unfortunately marred by Frankopan’s attacks on aocialist countries; the USSR and China in particular. Again, a major flaw of liberalism; willing to attack the excesses of capitalism but God forbid anyone who offers an alternative. However, in mitigation he points out measures by the present Chinese government that are helping to mitigate and even reverse climate change.
    Human induced climate change is the subject of the last chapter of the book. He correctly cites irrefutable evidence in favour of this phenomenon and the book should be a warning to climate change sceptics and deniers. Although an incredibly long book, a reason why this column has not appeared for some time it is worth reading as a source of some useful information and interesting facts.

The Road to Sharm el Sheikh

So Rishi Sunak is going to Egypt after all for COP27 – or to give it its full name the 27th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. There he’ll meet his master, Jo Biden, as well as the leaders of Franco-German imperialism and the rest of the imperialist pack gathering at the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el Sheikh for the largest annual conference on climate change.
    The woman Sunak kicked out of Downing Street not only shunned the UN jamboree but put the block on the King’s attendance as well. This was not surprising. Liz Truss filled her mercifully short-lived government with climate-change deniers like Jacob Rees-Mogg. She had ties with the anti-climate change lobby and she was also a vocal advocate for the role of gas as a transition fuel.
    Sunak initially followed Liz Truss’ footsteps saying he was far too busy to go to Egypt next week. But mounting pressure from his own camp and fear that his absence would be exploited by Boris Johnson changed his mind.
    Johnson, who is going to grandstand at Sharm el Sheikh, was the host at last year’s conference in Glasgow. There imperialist leaders and their minions trumpeted their self-proclaimed green credentials while the largest delegation came from the fossil fuel industry.
Not surprisingly little came out of the COP26 conference apart from the usual platitudes.
    Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer says “caving in to criticism is not leadership. Real leadership is seizing your seat at the table”. But by overturning another of dismal Truss diktat the new Tory leader shows that he’s at least prepared to listen to the global demands for international action to cut planet-heating emissions
    All the imperialist leaders, with the obvious exception of Donald Trump, pay lip-service to the environmental protection and climate change lobbies. None of them however are prepared to challenge the super-profits that the banks and corporations get from their fossil fuel investments.
    The wave of record heat-waves, floods and the wild-fires that swept across the world in the summer has added a new sense of urgency to the call for action to tackle the climate emergency. While recognising that climate change was the ultimate cause of all these disasters the imperialists ignore the eco-lobby’s call for sustainable developments and continue to put profits before people
    Last year the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issued a report that said climate change is “widespread, rapid, and intensifying, and some trends are now irreversible, at least during the present time frame”.
    But there is still time to limit climate change. Strong and sustained reductions in emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases could quickly improve air quality, and over the next 20 to 30 years global temperatures could stabilise.
    “There is no long-term prosperity without action on climate change,” says Sunak. “There is no energy security without investing in renewables”. But whether his government is prepared to take action to urgently reducing greenhouse gas emissions and deliver on the commitments to finance climate action in developing countries remains to be seen.

A planned energy policy now!

Extinction Rebellion (XR) campaigners are back in town this week doing their best to “tell the truth about climate change” in colourful street protests to demand the urgent action needed to tackle the climate and ecological emergency.The ecology movement was established following a call from several academics and veteran green campaigners in 2018 to set up a movement that embraces Gandhi-style civil disobedience to take their demands to the streets and fire a common sense of urgency to tackle climate breakdown.
    Their sit-down protests and efforts to paralyse traffic in London over the last two weeks are part of XR’s long-term campaign to compel government action to avoid tipping points in the climate system, biodiversity loss, and the risk of social and ecological collapse.
    Few would disagree with them on this. Twenty or so years ago the jury was still out on climate change. The capitalists deployed battalions of well‑paid ‘experts’ to deny global warning, to claim renewable energy is costly and that nuclear energy is cheap and clean. Now only the likes of a Donald Trump are in denial. UNICEF has warned that a billion children are now exposed to a deadly combination of climate and environmental crises and with some changes to our climate now inevitable and irreversible, humanity has now been given an unequivocal ‘code red’ warning.
    XR says that if we are to have any hope of coping with the emergency, we must move beyond the politics that have so far held us back and into listening, dialogue and towards unity and action. The eco-warriors say they don’t want to seize power but simply want to place power in the hands of citizens through “citizens’ assemblies”.
    Members of a citizens’ assembly are typically assembled at random from the general public – like a jury – to look at an issue and then make recommendations to parliament or other elected bodies. To a limited extent they already work as advisory committees to bourgeois parliaments. The Climate Assembly UK is one of them.
    All bourgeois politicians, left, right and centre, now pay lip-service to the eco-lobby but few, if any, are prepared to challenge the super-profits that the banks and corporations get from their fossil fuel investments.
    The key issue is winning over the unions and the working class their leaders claim to represent to an ecological agenda to meet the pressing demands of the day.
    The Johnson government has set an ambition for two million green jobs by 2030 – jobs in insulating homes, making electric vehicles and rolling out wind turbines. And last year the Government launched the independent Green Jobs Taskforce, which includes representatives from the TUC and the Prospect union as well as industry and academia – to ensure that the climate transition delivers quality jobs and leaves no workers behind.
    Back in 2010 a major academic study, Zero Carbon Britain 2030, showed that with existing technology Britain can almost entirely eliminate its dependence on fossil fuels in two decades.
    Britain’s onshore and offshore wind and wave potential alone could provide two‑thirds of future carbon‑free energy need; available energy‑efficient construction can cut domestic housing energy needs by 70 per cent; and transport energy use can be cut by 63 per cent.
    What we now need is a planned and integrated national energy policy to reduce Britain’s dependence on energy imports and giant energy corporations, and to create skilled employment in new technology industries.

Protecting our Beautiful Blue Planet

 By John Maryon

Yuri Gagarin was amazed as he observed the natural wonders of the Earth from the Soviet spacecraft Vostok 1 on 12th April 1961. The world's first cosmonaut said " Orbiting the Earth in the spaceship, I saw how beautiful our planet is. People, let us preserve and increase this beauty, not destroy it".
    Pollution and the depletion of natural resources affect our quality of life but the greatest threat to all life on Earth comes from global warming caused by a build-up of greenhouse gases. The most important are Carbon Dioxide, Methane, Nitrous Oxide and Fluorinated Gases in addition to the presence of water vapour. These gases allow sunlight to pass through but have far less transparency to infra-red radiation reflected back from the Earth's surface. This greenhouse effect could develop into a runaway form such as is believed to have destroyed the environment on Venus causing the oceans to boil away.
    Carbon Dioxide, (CO2), released from burning fossil fuel is the major cause of global warming and climate change. The problem is being made worse by the destruction of rain forests in Brazil and other areas which retained large quantities fixed carbon. Until recently the US administration was in denial of the problem, driven by political and commercial motives. They have now rejoined the Paris Climate Accord and accepted that action has to be taken. Global temperatures have almost reached the 1.5 °C limit and urgent action is required.
    The Paris agreement to limit temperature rise allowed individual countries to set their own targets taking account of trees, soil and oceans to absorb CO2. Climate finance would be made available to enable poorer countries to adapt and switch to renewable energy.
    The New Communist Party's policy for a Planned and Integrated Energy Strategy highlights the challenges facing Britain and puts forward active measures to overcome the problems. Privatisation of energy utilities has made essential planning virtually impossible due to the desire for quick profit and short termism. We call for full public ownership of the power generating capacity and supply networks. The infrastructure does not exist for a rapid transfer to all electrical vehicles making the shift from private car and road freight to public transport and rail goods transport important. Investment is required to convert all existing diesel rail links to electric, restoring rural bus services and for the development of hydrogen engines that only exhaust water vapour as they produce power.
    A balanced and safe energy mix for electricity generation will require more investment into land and off-shore wind farms, solar power, tidal and wave energy. It may be possible in the near future to collect solar energy from space with large collectors and beam it down to Earth.
    Coal fired power stations could possibly be equipped with carbon entrapment technology. CO2 is then captured at source and transported to an underground storage area. Such power plants or a new generation of much safer nuclear units are required as base stations for those times when the sun does not shine or the wind does not blow.
    Nuclear power remains an option but it is controversial and comes with its own risks including the problems of nuclear waste storage, high decommissioning costs and possible pollution. Current proposals for joint Chinese/French ventures are in jeopardy as the government comes under increasing pressure from the US to cut investment ties with China. Energy from nuclear sources is a risky proposition due to the catastrophic events which may result due to human error, technical failure, cyber-attacks, natural disasters, war or terrorism. Reactors may be of a type that can breed fuel for nuclear weapons or to produce further energy. Future developments may include more advanced types of Reactor such as the Molten Salt unit that uses Thorium as fuel and may have certain advantages from safety and security considerations. Many now consider that Fusion will be the power source of the future.
    The New Communist Party is firmly opposed to fracking technology to extract gas from rock formations; a process which can pollute water tables and cause subsidence. Fracking increases CO2 levels by producing more fossil fuel, that was locked away, now to be burnt. During the operation there is the risk of releasing methane into the air and water systems.
    Many northern British cities still bear the scars of the Industrial Revolution. Blackened stonework on buildings being testament to the grim reality of the environmental destruction that was caused. Moths and butterflies developed into new sub-species to blend with the soot.
    Britain possess the technology to become carbon zero. The NCP calls for all new homes, schools and public sector buildings to be developed in this manner. A combination of solar power, heat pumps to upgrade ground-heat and solar heated water, along with improved levels of thermal insulation can make a big contribution. Tree planting and green spaces are essential to absorb CO2.
    It is not only climate change that causes concern. We live in an age of colossal waste and rampant pollution in which we are consuming our natural resources faster than they can be replenished. A build-up of microscopic plastic particles and nuclear waste dumping by Japan into the Pacific along with oil spills all contribute to the contamination of the seas. Fish and small mammals struggle to cope in our polluted rivers. Greater efforts should be made to make the polluter pay the price.
    One of the more obvious areas of concern is that of packaging. Plastic bags are out but but the problem goes much deeper. Most packaging includes plastic rather than card or paper. In many cases it is totally unnecessary being solely a means of making the product more attractive. It should be made a legal requirement that almost all types of packaging should be capable of being recycled. More domestic appliances are now unrepairable and often it is not possible to even replace batteries. We have become a throw away society. It is less costly to dump in developing countries than to bother with recycling. Inbuilt obsolescence, trendy fashion and dubious marketing gimmicks are the hallmarks of a capitalist market.
    We clearly cannot continue in this manner. A strong political will and the acceptance of a shared responsibility for our actions are required. The NCP calls for new policies and a new way of thinking that puts environmental issues above the greedy pursuit of profits. Communists will respect and live in harmony with the natural world including all the other creatures with which we share a common home.
    In 2019 China manufactured 80 per cent of the world's solar panels. The US instead of applauding this achievement has made attempts to wreck the industry by making unfounded allegations of human rights abuses to curb sales. It is the gas guzzling US itself that is a major cause of world pollution and shows little respect for both its own citizens or others with its permanent aggression to bomb and sanction the world.
    The New Communist Party stands with the Greens in their sincere and noble aims of protecting our planet. We also believe, however, that success involves a greater political dimension that tackles the ideological causes behind the problems. Environmental protection cannot be considered in isolation. It needs to be seen as a part of the larger class struggle.

Crawling to the Americans

Licking the boots of the Americans comes as second nature to those sections of the ruling class who believe that their global interests are best serve through the might of US imperialism.

They call it the “special relationship”. They no longer talk about the “English speaking peoples”. It’s the “Anglosphere” these days. But they still claim that the political and cultural ties that supposedly bind the Britain and the USA have created a common destiny to lead what some of them still call the “free world”.

Although grovelling to US presidents has been reduced to a fine art by Tory politicians, it is not the exclusive preserve of the Conservative & Unionist Party. Labour’s Tony Blair liked basking in the reflected glory of the Stars and Stripes when he strutted across the globe posing as US imperialism’s chief henchman during the Bush era.

Boris Johnson is now going along the same road. Last week we went along with Franco-German moves to undermine the nuclear deal with Iran to justify support for the US economic blockade of Iran and any future US attacks on the Islamic Republic.

He tells the Russians that relations will not return to normal until the Kremlin stops the alleged “destabilising activity that threatens the UK and our allies and undermines the safety of our citizens and our collective security".

And this week Johnson welcomed the US lackey, Juan Guaidó, who calls himself the “interim president” of Venezuela despite the failure of repeated attempts to overthrow the legitimate left government of Nicolas Maduro.

Johnson won the election promising to get Brexit done and dusted. But all he wants to do is replace the Treaty of Rome with a ‘Treaty of Washington’ that will open up British markets to US vulture capitalism for little in return apart from cheap food that we could get from a ‘No-deal’ Brexit from any country in the world.

Brexit is a golden opportunity for Britain to expand its trade all over the world. A UK–China Free Trade Agreement would clearly be of great benefit to both sides, along with similar agreements with India, Russia and our old Commonwealth trading partners. But Johnson clearly can’t see beyond a one-sided trade agreement with the USA.

The Words of Trump

Whilst glaciers melt and massive bush-fires sweep across Australia, Donald Trump is still in denial over climate change. The US president was on top form this week telling fellow world leaders at Davos that: “We must reject the perennial prophets of doom and their predictions of the apocalypse. They are the heirs of yesterday's foolish fortune-tellers."

The 50th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) at the Swiss resort of Davos focused on green and environmental issues, and called on attending companies to move their business models towards greener choices.

But this was ignored by Trump, whose clique sees their demands as threats to the big US energy corporations responsible for much of the pollution in the USA today.

Catastrophic climate change is not inevitable. The technologies that could dramatically reduce our dependence on fossil fuels already exist and have been proven to work. There is no shortage of energy in the world, more development of wind, hydro-power, tidal- and solar- power could provide enough energy for global needs.

Real action is needed to put more pressure on governments to provide more funds and put in place meaningful policies to ensure that an environmental catastrophe does not happen.