Grünen Kapitalismus - Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung

not be listed as criteria air pollutants on the basis of their effect on climate
change.” 206 There can be little doubt that such language reflects the direct
input of various fossil-fuel lobbies.
The US ruling class’s success in resisting – or rolling back – progressive
reform has deep historical roots. Its most powerful current reinforcement
(since about 1945), however, derives from the US position of global
military dominance. The many ideological reflections of this position
foster an illusion – extending even to popular sectors – of collective
omnipotence. This is what feeds the assumption that for every material
problem there is a technological solution. That assumption is continuously
restated at the highest levels, and stands as an enduring obstacle
to any effective change of course – any real innovation – in environmental
strategy.
The supposed consensus around green capitalism is fraudulent. Insofar
as it is capitalist, it is not green; as a “consensus,” it does not extend
beyond the two-party duopoly. The “we” of “we’re all green” is among
the many myths of a class-divided society whose dominant class claims
to speak for everyone. Particularly ironic is the fact that the corporations
which purvey this clean image are its biggest violators. Their ecological
virtue is skin-deep. It is violated not only by their own business practices,
but also by their role in sustaining policies and – through the mass
media – a cultural climate that obstruct any wider attention to the needed
changes.
An ecologically informed Left response must begin, I think, by addressing
this cultural climate, on the assumption that mass action from
below is what has to drive a progressive ecological agenda. The cultural
receptivity to ecological transformation is no doubt further advanced in
Europe than it is in the US, partly because of European countries’ greater
historical awareness of the need for collective approaches to such
matters as transportation and urban space. Nonetheless, even in Europe,
much remains to be done in terms of organized activity to restrain
market-driven expansion.
206 Section-by-Section on Discussion Draft of “The American Clean Energy And Security
Act Of 2009” http://energycommerce.house.gov/Press_111/20090331/acesa_sectionsummary.pdf
(accessed June 13, 2009).
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