Winter 2023 (New Politics Vol. XIX No. 2, Whole Number 74)
An Interview with Alyssa Battistoni
Alyssa Battistoni teaches political theory at Barnard College. She is the co-author of A Planet to Win: Why We Need a Green New Deal (Verso 2019) and is currently writing a book titled Free Gifts: Capitalism and the Politics of Nature. Phil Gasper spoke with Alyssa on behalf of the New Politics editorial board on November 4, 2022.
Given the scale and complexity of the transition away from hydrocarbons, some worry that economic analysis has been given short shrift in the policy planning process. A clear-eyed assessment of the transition's prospects requires a deeper understanding of at least four major challenges.
Cars. Toasters. Paper clips. The buildings we live in and the machines we use rely on one of the most polluting industries on Earth: steel. Production of the iron-based alloy is responsible for some 7 to 9 percentof human-caused carbon dioxide emissions. But according to a new analysis, committing to zero-emission steel will also require committing to less steel overall.
By 2050 electric vehicles could require huge amounts of lithium for their batteries, causing damaging expansions of mining
The US’s transition to electric vehicles could require three times as much lithium as is currently produced for the entire global market, causing needless water shortages, Indigenous land grabs, and ecosystem destruction inside and outside its borders, new research finds.
“ Reducing demand for lithium by increasing the lithium efficiency of the transportation sector will be an essential strategy to improve the sector’s prospects for timely decarbonization while protecting ecosystems and meeting the demands of global justice.”
Direct Air Capture Promises To Suck Carbon From The Sky.
But its proponents — including Big Oil — are hiding some dirty downsides. Here are five.
We know that the window is quickly closing for us to slash emissions and avoid climate change’s worst effects. So it’s easy to get excited about direct air capture: technology designed to suck carbon dioxide straight from the atmosphere.
This story was originally published by The Guardian and appears here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration.
The world’s reliance on high-tech capitalist solutions to the climate and ecological crises is perpetuating racism, the outgoing UN racism rapporteur has warned.
Website editor: Ecosocialists will find this interview lacking on such questions as consumption, profit and inequality and yet: "Is your faith in governments or in individuals to force that change? Neither, my faith is in movements. I think the most important thing individuals can do is be a little bit less of an individual and join together in movements with others large enough to make change happen"
