Don Fitz's response to Robert Pollin Climate change is an existential problem confronting humanity and Robert Pollin offers well thought-out plans in his first and second articles. There is only space here to respond to these themes: (1) We can reach zero CO2 emissions by 2050; (2) An enormous expansion of alternative energy (AltE) can create far more jobs than would be lost … [Read more...] about Be Careful What Energy You Wish For
Green New Deal
A Green New Deal Program for California
C.J. Polychroniou: California has been at the forefront of the climate fight for years now, but the truth of the matter is that its efforts have been falling short. Now, you and some colleagues of yours at the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst have just completed a commissioned climate stabilization project for California … [Read more...] about A Green New Deal Program for California
What Would a Deep Green New Deal Look Like?
DON FITZ The Green New Deal has attracted perhaps the greatest attention of any proposal for decades. It would guarantee Medicare-for-All, Housing-for-All, student loan forgiveness and propose the largest economic growth in human history to address unemployment and climate change. But the last of these hits a stumbling block. Creation of all forms of energy contributes to … [Read more...] about What Would a Deep Green New Deal Look Like?
Notes from the Editor – Left Turn #8
Let us Burn All Illusions in 2021 Left Turn welcomes the year 2021 without any illusions about the nature of the system that produced the severe political, economic, and public health crises of 2020 and the new horrors surely on their way if we as a society fail to counteract the ingrained tendencies and deliberate policies that have produced the present unsustainable … [Read more...] about Notes from the Editor – Left Turn #8
Jobs, the Environment, and a Planet in Crisis: Unions vs. Environmentalists or Unions and Environmentalists?
by Aviva Chomsky When it comes to heat, extreme weather, wildfires, and melting glaciers, the planet is now in what the media increasingly refers to as “record” territory1, as climate change’s momentum outpaces predictions. In such a situation, in a country whose president and administration seem hell-bent on doing everything they conceivably can to make … [Read more...] about Jobs, the Environment, and a Planet in Crisis: Unions vs. Environmentalists or Unions and Environmentalists?
Notes from the Editors (Left Turn #2)
Left Turn is now published seasonally. On October 2, 2018, Amazon announced that it will implement a $15-an-hour across the board wage floor for all its 350,000 workers, including part-time and contract workers. It also announced a commitment to work to lift the national federal minimum wage (stuck at $7.25 per hour since 2009). It’s fair to say that pressure from … [Read more...] about Notes from the Editors (Left Turn #2)