01) COMMUNISTS SAY: ENVIRONMENT BEFORE PROFITS
By Kimball Cariou
The question of "environment or jobs" has become one of the central debates of the 21st century, including in Canada. At all levels of political discussion in this country, this crucial topic is a matter for sharp disagreements. But does placing the question in such an "either-or" way really help us to understand the options?
On one point, there is a wide consensus, both in Canada and internationally: the Harper Conservatives are one of the most dangerously anti-environmental governments on the planet. At virtually every major global gathering around environment issues, activist movements have condemned Canada's expansion of greenhouse gas emissions, in particular the rapid escalation of tar sands projects. For PM Harper and his clique, tied closely to the profit interests of the major energy monopolies, even to debate these issues is considered treasonous. Popular grassroots movements in opposition to tar sands expansion, natural gas fracking and other forms of CO2 emissions are subject to relentless scrutiny by security services, and the few politicians who dare to speak out against the energy giants are bitterly attacked by the Tories and the corporate media.
The NDP is no exception to this development. Federal leader Thomas Mulcair has moved his party closer to the neoliberal agenda of big capital, with the significant exception of opposition to the tar sands expansion. For this, Mulcair is constantly painted as either naive or as an elitist opposed to the interests of working people. Similarly, the BC NDP is in the process of choosing a new leader, having (incorrectly) blamed their 2013 election defeat on the decision by outgoing leader Adrian Dix to speak out against the unpopular Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline project.
The emergence of a manufactured "consensus" in favour of oil and gas interests simply avoids the reality that a majority of Canadians are both deeply concerned about the impact of human activities on the global climate, and also that there are many ways to create jobs through environmental protection.
There is one political party which projects such a strategy. The Communist Party of Canada has advanced a wide-ranging set of proposals designed to protect the environment and to create jobs.
This is in sharp contrast to the major opposition parties, including the Greens, which base their policies on "market-based" tinkering with the "real costs" of human economic activities. The Communist Party argues that capitalism itself, a system based on the extraction of maximum profits, is inherently a threat to human survival. The goal of the Communist Party is public ownership of key industries and resources, which would allow for democratic control and economic planning to protect the interests of working people and the environment.
In recent years, the corporate-backed Harper Tories have made Canada a key opponent of global plans to tackle the deepening global climate crisis. The Communist Party demands emergency action on this issue, as well as support for reparations to countries affected by capitalist-driven climate change.
The Communists call for legislation to slash greenhouse gas emissions, including a phase-out of coal‑fired plants. Rejecting the claim that such measures will "kill jobs," the CP urges investments to create jobs through renewable energy and conservation programs. This would include more stringent vehicle emission controls, expanded urban mass transit, and the eliminate of fares by subsidizing fare collections. The Communists call for funding high‑speed rail lines, and the development of a fuel-efficient Canadian car.
Radical change is advocated by the CP, aiming to remove the private profit motive as the driving force behind economic decision-making. The party's platform for the most recent federal election included a call to adopt a People's Energy Plan, based on public ownership and democratic control of all energy and natural resource extraction, production and distribution.
In the short term, the Communists call for a 100% tax on the windfall profits of the oil monopolies, and to "stop and reverse the privatization, deregulation and break‑up of public energy utilities."
The Communists urge a freeze and reduction of energy exports to the U.S., and instead propose to expand shared power flows among provinces through an East‑West power grid. The Party opposes any new development of the Alberta tar sands, and calls to close these operations within five years. Jobs should be guaranteed for workers in more sustainable industries at equivalent wages, and compensation provided for Aboriginal peoples and communities affected by the tar sands. The Party opposes the Enbridge and Mackenzie Valley pipelines, and oil and gas exploration and shipping on the west coast. It calls for a moratorium on the development of shale gas resources in all provinces.
To protect working people hard-hit by declining incomes, the Communist Party supports restoration of the "two price" system, with higher prices for energy exports, and lower prices for domestic uses, especially home heating.
On other environmental issues, the Communist platform includes a ban on "biofuels" derived from feed grains; heavy fines and jail terms against polluters and destructive corporate practices, such as clear-cutting, in‑ocean fish farming, and deep‑sea draggers; and no industrial development in parks.
The Communist Party also calls for action such as income supports to defend family farms and protect Canada's food sovereignty. The Party's platform urges stronger action to support organic farming: reduce the use of antibiotics, fertilizers, and pesticides, a ban on "terminator" seeds, and mandatory labelling of genetically‑modified food products.
(The above article is from the April 16-30, 2014, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading socialist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $45 US per year; other overseas readers - $45 US or $50 CDN per year. Send to People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, BC, V5L 3J1.)