Capitalism is cooking the earth
Thousands of people are dying in the United States and Europe during the current heat wave. An estimated 20,000 people perished in Europe during June. Deadly conditions are continuing into July and will probably persist at least through August.
None of those killed were named Donald Trump or Elon Musk. It’s poor and working people — especially those living in Black, Brown, Indigenous and immigrant communities — who are the first victims of capitalist climate change.
Seniors are the most vulnerable. So are children. Just between June 18 and 29, 530 people 85 years and older died in Belgium, a country of less than 12 million people.
Meanwhile the super rich are spending millions to build “snow rooms” — which are something like frozen saunas — for themselves. These winter wonderlands can come “in rock, luxury marble, wood, whatever you can imagine,” according to one of their makers.
The misery and deaths caused by extreme heat should remove any doubt that climate change is real. According to the United Nations’ World Meteorological Organization, the high temperatures in Europe broke records set in the 1970s.
None of this is natural. The billionaire class refuses to put any real controls on greenhouse gas emissions produced by using petroleum, gas and coal. They don’t want any limits on their profits.
The biggest culprit is Big Oil, whose founder John D. Rockefeller — the world’s first billionaire — regularly dumped gasoline from his Cleveland refinery into the Cuyahoga River. For a century this waterway caught fire over a dozen times until 1969.
ExxonMobil, the direct descendant of Rockefeller’s Standard Oil trust, denied for decades that global warming even existed.
Beat back the fascists
All deaths due to extreme weather, whether hot or cold, are preventable. Factories and other workplaces can be cooled. Farm workers and other persons employed outdoors can be protected from the heat.
Capitalists resist these absolutely necessary safety measures just like they seek to junk the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Landlords don’t want to spend any money protecting their tenants either.
Western Europe has had milder weather compared to the United States due to the Gulf Stream. This has led many in France to question the need for air conditioning.
While air conditioners can cool a house or office, they also help warm the atmosphere. New York City’s subway platforms are hotter than 60 years ago because the cars are now air conditioned and are giving off heat in the tunnels and stations.
This helps cause sweltering conditions for passengers waiting for a train and makes it more miserable for Transport Workers Union members who labor on the tracks and in the stations. Yet nobody wants to give up air conditioning inside the subway cars.
Many scientists believe the Gulf Stream is breaking down. France had to shut down three nuclear reactors because of the heat wave. It shows the limitations of using nuclear power as a stopgap measure to fight global warming.
Only about a quarter of French homes are air conditioned compared to 60% of homes in the socialist People’s Republic of China. Is this resistance to air conditioning natural or a reflection of French capitalists who don’t want to pay higher wages so workers can afford air conditioning?
At the very least, every hospital and school should be cooled in both France and the United States. So should every home for seniors. Cooling centers need to be set up and made accessible to all.
The French fascist Marine Le Pen is demagogically calling for more air conditioning at the same time she bashes immigrants and spews racism. Le Pen’s National Rally shouldn’t be allowed to use the heat wave to get more support.
The power of the people can beat back the heat wave and the fascists.
Join the Struggle-La Lucha Telegram channel