A healthy majority of First Nations in British Columbia have joined the opposition to federal government approval of the Northern Gateway tar sands pipeline, arguing that it fails to respect the human rights of Indigenous peoples and violates Canada's legal obligations under both federal and international law. In particular, the "right to exclusive use and occupation of land" and the "right to choose to what uses land can be put" -- is specifically excluded from Joint Review Panel's mandate.
Sam Gindin's recent contributions to the The Bullet and Jacobin explore the lost potential of the working class in revolutionary politics. On the economic and ecological fronts, he argues, working-class politics has been incapable of catalyzing widespread and consequential societal mobilization, or becoming vital sites of theoretical and practical struggle.
A very large and loud event is about to reshape New York City once again this September – and likely propel social change across the continent. A convergence of organizations under the banner of the "People's Climate March", have pledged to make this event in New York City an opportunity for an unprecedented climate mobilization.
But certainly for the present age, which prefers the sign to the thing signified, the copy to the original, representation to reality, the appearance to the essence… illusion only is sacred, truth profane. Nay sacredness is held to be enhanced in proportion as truth decreases and illusion increases, so that the highest degree of illusion comes to be the highest degree of sacredness. Feuerbach, Preface to the second edition of The Essence of Christianity
In a recent speech, environmental journalist George Monbiot argues that opposition to the central drivers of climate change (neoliberal economic policies being the key) is consistently neutralized by environmentalists themselves. He says environmentalists shape their strategies to appease people who do not share their values.
The first lesson we must learn, therefore, is that if it looks like class struggle and acts like class war then we have to name it unashamedly for what it is. The mass of the population has either to resign itself to the historical and geographical trajectory defined by overwhelming and ever-increasing upper-class power, or respond to it in class terms (David Harvey, 2005: 202).
The BC Expansion Committee of the People's Social Forum held an assembly in Vancouver on April 24, 2014 to discuss climate change and oil and gas pipeline issues in BC. Watch this video session on 'Trade unions and climate change'.
Speakers:
- Gary Engler - Longtime Vancouver journalist who is currently vice-president of Unifor Local 2000 and author of The New Commune-ist Manifesto—Workers of the World It Really is Time to Unite.
'Oil, tar sands, coal, natural gas: What's behind the expansion drive of Canada's and North America's fossil fuel industries?' talk by Roger Annis of Vancouver Ecosocialist Group, at University of California Santa Barbara, April 11, 2014
On Saturday, April 12, a number of VESG members participated in the walk, rally and flotilla opposed to Kinder Morgan’s plans to expand the Trans Mountain pipeline carrying tar sands bitumen to the Burrard Inlet. The day was organized by the Burnaby Residents Opposing Kinder Morgan Pipeline Expansion (BROKE) and North Shore NOPE. Below is a collection of news stories related to the event.
