Nov. 18, 2009 - Issue #735: Parkland Conference 2009
Issues
Capitalism and the Environment
Deeper transformation: 'Greening' capitalism is not enough to fix the climate
As the next round of international climate change talks in Copenhagen
approaches, the Canadian and Alberta governments are both doing everything
they can to reinforce their long-standing position that doing something
meaningful and effective about climate change would be impossible without
destroying the economy.
At the same time, many of Canada's environmental and activist organizations
are working hard to show Canadians, and Albertans in particular, that we can
indeed have it all—we can have a real impact on climate change, create
jobs and re-stimulate the economy and secure economic growth and prosperity
in perpetuity.
The literature supporting the concepts of "green jobs" or a "green economy"
has been around for some time now, but it really took off last year after the
bottom fell out of the global economy and governments world-wide began
engaging in stimulus spending. The theory was that, by directing their
stimulus spending intelligently, governments could accomplish the dual goals
of kick-starting the economy and beginning the transition toward a green
economy.
In Alberta, for example, the Alberta Federation of Labour, Greenpeace and the
Sierra Club collaborated on a report which showed how many Albertans could be
put back to work through government support for things like home energy
retrofits and public transit. The Parkland Institute followed this up with a
report outlining how much more effective government stimulus would be if it
was directed toward public services and renewables instead of toward royalty
breaks and oil patch incentives.
It wasn't long before the focus of the message became economic growth
itself—green policies were soon touted not only as the key to economic
recovery, but also long-term economic growth. In the last two months alone,
for example, we have seen a major report by the Pembina Institute and the
David Suzuki Foundation showing how Canada could meet scientific-based
emissions targets while continuing to grow our economy at nearly the same
rate as if we did nothing. We have also seen a book by an Alberta consultant
suggesting that we could continue to grow Alberta's energy-intense economy,
and continue exploiting the tar sands, while being entirely
carbon-neutral.
There is no question that all of this research is important and
valuable—the evidence is now incontrovertible that we can meet short
term environmental goals while promoting economic recovery and growth. The
danger is that these short-term goals have become confused with the long term
picture of what a "green economy" could and should be.
Anyone who has read Dr. Seuss's The Lorax understands fundamentally that a
green economy is incompatible with one based on perpetual growth. In fact, it
was exactly as the book's Onceler was in the middle of a rant defending his
need and right to keep growing that the last Truffula Tree gets cut down,
killing the forest forever.
So while it might be true that, in the short term, we can reduce our impact
on the environment while continuing to grow the economy, in the long term it
is not enough to simply reduce our negative impact—We have to eliminate
it. And that is incompatible with economic growth. At some point we will need
to come to terms with the reality that capitalism as a system depends on
perpetual growth, and that if we want a truly green and sustainable economy,
then we need to come up with a different system. "Greening" capitalism may
buy us a bit of time, but in the end its growth imperative will still
completely consume our limited resources.
We must also keep in mind that neither Alberta's economy nor environment
exist in a vacuum. By focusing our energies on finding ways to make
capitalism greener, we ignore the many environmental, social and global
injustices inherent in capitalism. Where will the factories for solar panels,
wind turbines, high-speed trains and buses be built? Whose labour will they
exploit and whose rivers will they pollute? Will green capitalism still
result in five percent of the population accumulating 95 percent of the
wealth? Will those indigenous populations around the world who are currently
the victims of uncontrolled economic expansion be victimized any less by
"green" economic expansion?
Van Jones, the US based green jobs guru, has suggested that because climate
change is putting our very survival in jeopardy, it is necessary for us to
focus first on greening our existing economy. Once that has been
accomplished, he argues, we can then turn our efforts to building a new
economy which will be just and sustainable.
History tells us a different story however. Once we make advances, our
energies are turned out of necessity toward protecting those same advances,
not making new ones. Consider, for example, the extent to which our social
programs and health care have been under attack since the day they were
implemented. Have we been able to fight for more justice, or have we been too
busy fighting to keep what little we've got?
We have an opportunity today to push and fight for the creation of an economy
that is truly green, sustainable and just. Yes, it is critical that we take
immediate steps to deal with climate change, but if we don't also work to
deal with the long-standing social, environmental and global injustices
wrought by our economy, then we will truly be no further ahead. We can't
bring a green and just economy to be by simply making capitalism greener and
kinder. We need a total overhaul. If we lose sight of that, we will never get
there. V
Ricardo Acuña is executive director of the Parkland Institute, a
non-partisan public policy research institute housed at the University of
Alberta.
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