the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
Apr 25, 2022
April 22 was Earth Day 2022. Earth Day is an annual event started in 1970 to demonstrate support for environmental protection. It was supported by some politicians and many environmental activists. More than 20 million people in the U.S. are estimated to have protested on Earth Day 1970 for environmental protection.
Soon after that first Earth Day the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was created, and legal limits began to be set on how much air and water pollution businesses, cars and other transportation vehicles are legally allowed to emit.
But where are we today? Actually, the main pollutants causing climate change—carbon dioxide and methane—are going up rather than down. The U.S. and other countries all over the world are not meeting the reduction targets they set for these two most important pollutants causing climate change. And according to a recent United Nations report, even if they met these targets, there would still be a 14% increase in emissions by the end of this decade.
The main reason is because in most cases it is cheaper for businesses to use the air and water as dumping grounds for the wastes they produce than to recycle or eliminate them.
This is the normal functioning of capitalism—to maximize the profits of the capitalists. If it continues, the entire planet may become unlivable for humans and many other species.