The environment

On Saturday 1 August, about 200 demonstrators marched in the rain from Newport town centre to the occupied Vestas wind turbine blade factory on the St Cross industrial estate. As they rallied outside the factory entrance after the march, the police and Vestas security guards, for the first time, allowed Vestas workers to take food in to the occupiers. In another boost to the campaign, the TUC is expected to release a statement on Monday 3 August supporting the workers' demand for nationalisation of the factory. This will, at least by implication, commit the Unite union to supporting the...

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At the 6pm rally on Friday 31 July outside the occupied Vestas factory in Newport, Isle of Wight, a letter of support was read out from the Danish Red-Green Alliance. Once nationalised, the letter said, the wind turbine blade factory should be run under workers' control. The call for workers' control brought loud applause from the whole crowd. In conversations with Vestas workers a week ago, a question about what sort of management they would want in an occupied factory more usually brought the answers "I don't know", or "any sort of management, as long as it's fair". Also at the rally, a well...

Over the past decade or so, John Bellamy Foster has been one of the principal architects of the revival of Marxist ecology, arguing that the relationship between nature and human society is best conceptualised in terms of metabolism. Foster’s new book, The Ecological Revolution (2009) brings together many of his essays on the subject and together with his earlier book Marx’s Ecology (2000), makes a significant contribution to historical materialism. Metabolism (stoffwechsel) was widely used in Marx’s main published work, Capital volume I, and it can be found in successive drafts of his mature...

Workers Climate Action is a network of socialists, anarchists, environmentalists and trade unionists seeking to build a mass working-class response to climate change. We don’t believe that climate change can be averted by a bit of green consumerism, whether that is individuals buying organic veg or multinationals buying “carbon credits”. We respect, but see the inadequacy, of the direct action environmentalists, like Greenpeace — elitist bands of brave individuals pulling off media stunts. Climate change requires an urgent and appropriate response — we believe the working-class needs to stand...

The government’s UK Renewable Energy Strategy, published on 15 July along with its UK Low Carbon Transition Plan, makes a number of arguments for wind power. It stated: “Wind power is currently one of the most developed and cost-effective renewable electricity technologies. The UK has the largest potential wind energy resource in Europe. While offshore wind is more technologically challenging and more expensive than onshore wind, it has a larger potential due to a stronger and more consistent wind resource out to sea, leading to higher power outputs per turbine and more hours spent generating...

Ed Miliband’s statement on Vestas blames NIMBYism for the failure of Vestas. The NIMBYs in question are no doubt well-off people who can afford expensive lawyers. Certainly, there wasn’t this problem when the government evicted the East London working-class communities to make way for the deeply unpopular Olympics site. But fundamentally Miliband is saying that there is no market for onshore wind farms at the moment. The supporting documents to the White Paper suggest that Miliband might be contradicting his own policy. The Renewable Energy Strategy document states: “Our lead scenario suggests...

The government’s White Paper, “Low Carbon Transition Plan” sets out the first legally binding carbon targets and a plan for a transition to a low carbon economy. As 600 Vestas workers struggle to keep their factories open, the government has been embarrassed by its claim that 1.2 million workers will be in the green energy sector by 2020. The paper was released in advance of international talks on these issues taking place in Copenhagen this December. The government is trying to position itself at the green end of the capitalist consensus that dominates establishment environmentalism. But...

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What follows is the text of a speech written by a Vestas worker for delivery at trade union and environmental movement meetings, edited only slightly. It gives an excellent insight into the background of the struggle, and its wider political significance. Taken from the Save Vestas blog . Hello there – my name is Matt and I’ve come today to speak about a little factory called St. Cross on the Isle of Wight – otherwise known as Vestas; you may have heard about it before… It is currently in occupation as it’s due to close at the end of the week [31 July]. Over 625 jobs will be lost at the three...