By Anna I., Red Phoenix correspondent, Ohio.

Since the first week of June, toxic smoke has blanketed cities in the Midwest and on the East Coast. This smoke, wafting from wildfires burning in Quebec and Ontario, Canada, has caused air quality alerts across the eastern United States. Inhalation of the fine particulates in this smoke has been found to cause burning eyes and shortness of breath, and is linked to the development of respiratory illnesses. Now we are learning that this harmful smoke could continue until winter. Millions across the nation are being told to stay indoors to avoid breathing the polluted air, but they have no choice other than to venture into it to go to work. For many Americans, the decision to take a day off and avoid the smoke might mean coming up short on rent or food. The capitalists require that the economy continues operating as if nothing is going on, regardless of the air quality and its effects on workers’ health.

The situation playing out this summer in US cities is a sign that the bourgeois governments of the US and Canada cannot let go of capitalism, even to stop the existential threat of climate change. It is also an ill omen of what the regular working person will be expected to suffer through as a result of capitalist indifference in the future.

In the past, individuals in the Midwest and on the East Coast thought that wildfires and their smoke was only a West Coast issue. They heard about the wildfires in California, for example, but it seemed far away, a thing that just didn’t happen here. With the current circumstances, they are forced to reckon with the fact that climate issues affect us all. It is a reminder that climate change effects are international, and require international action. The capitalist governments of the world can only deign to give lip service to international cooperation. The ruling class that they actually represent will never allow them to go against their profits. The task falls to the world proletariat alone to solve.

The recent wildfires in Canada were caused by a combination of drought and higher temperatures brought on by climate change. These conditions are also perfect for lightning, which is thought to be the spark that started the fires that darken the skies of the US and Canada. As the planet’s temperatures continue to rise, we can only expect more wildfires and more smoke-filled skies.

It is not just heat waves and wildfires in our future if climate change isn’t adequately addressed. Higher ocean temperatures feed hurricanes and higher humidity in wetter areas fuel extreme thunderstorms. There could be flooding in the Midwest and insect outbreaks across the country. As wild fluctuation in rainfall increases, even the food supply could be drastically threatened. These quantitative changes in temperature turn to qualitative changes in long-term weather patterns resulting in climate catastrophes.

Scientific socialists understand that capitalism scourges the land, always ripping out resources faster and faster, causing mass environmental and ecological crises. Indeed, the force of capitalism has no ability to stop or to even slow down without major consequences. Large stoppages or slumps in economic growth are simply called recessions under capitalism, accepted as a “natural” or unavoidable occurrence even when thousands of workers lose their livelihoods. These facts are ignored by the capitalists, who religiously assert in the face of it all that capitalism is compatible with climate change reduction. They offer up meek solutions in the form of “green capitalism.” Proposals such as the Green New Deal and Biden’s climate tax credits, all of which could be revoked at whim, cannot solve the contradictions inherent in the system. It is very simple to the capitalist: any strategy that reduces their profits cannot be considered a viable option, and that includes any real action on the climate. They find it much better to offer empty words such as those found in the Paris Agreement in 2015 which would have been too little even if the signatory countries actually followed through. When faced with a choice between their profits or the sustainability of our climate, bourgeois governments in Canada and the US – and internationally – will always choose the former.

The smoke is not just smoke. It represents the climate catastrophe that is already upon us: one that will enact its full environmental and ecological destruction if not dealt with. While the government squanders precious time considering ways to make capitalism more “green,” progressive and socialist forces must recommit themselves to a line which includes solutions to climate change. We must issue and enforce directives on this now. The climate will not wait.

Categories: Environment, U.S. News