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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.

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'Alternative' energy and less energy

US Emissions of the World’s Most Potent Greenhouse Gas Are 56 Percent Higher Than EPA Estimates, a New Study Shows

04/02/23

Author:

Phil McKenna

Link:

Inside Climate News

Electricity pylon and power cables. Credit: Tim Graham/Getty Images

Jan. 31, 2023

Electric utilities are likely responsible for the nation’s higher than expected emissions of sulfur hexafluoride, a greenhouse gas 25,000 times worse for the climate than carbon dioxide.

While emissions of sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), the world’s most potent greenhouse gas, have fallen sharply in the U.S. in recent decades, actual emissions are significantly higher than the official government estimates, a new study concludes.

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"Citizens' Insurrection": Huge Protests in France Aim to Kill Macron Pension Plan

02/02/23

Author:

Kenny Stancil

Link:

Common Dreams

Protesters march in Paris on January 31, 2023. (Photo: Alain Jocard/AFP via Getty Images)

Jan. 31, 2023

"It's not often that we see such a mass mobilization," said leftist leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon.

Hundreds of thousands of enraged workers across France walked off the job and hit the streets Tuesday to protest President Emmanuel Macron's unpopular plan to raise the nation's official retirement age from 62 to 64.

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Brace yourself for hellish El Niño heat waves this year

01/02/23

Author:

Damian Carrington

Link:

National Observer

Livestock lost to the drought. Ethiopia is facing the worst El Niño-induced drought in 50 years. Photo by EU Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid /Flickr (CC BY-ND 2.0)

Feb. 1, 2023

This story was originally published by The Guardian and appears here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration.

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From Kapital to COVID, it’s clear: Unlimited growth is bad for earth

30/01/23

Author:

C. P. Rajendran

Link:

the Hindu

The International Space Station snapped this view of earth on March 2, 2015. | Photo Credit: NASA

Jan. 28, 2023

We need to replace consumerism with “quality of life, human solidarity, and ecological sensibility”.

Much has happened in the interval that separates us from James Watson, who, by inventing the steam engine in 1784 formally marked the beginning of the Industrial Revolution and the world’s first fossil-fuel economy. If the Anthropocene epoch had begun by now, the revolution heightened its fervour, anticipating the emergence of modern human society.

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The Energy Transition Confronts Reality

30/01/23

Author:

Daniel Yergin

Link:

Project Syndicate

Jan. 23, 2023

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.

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Category:

'Alternative' energy and less energy