Review - A Planet to Win:Why We Need a Green New Deal

By x344543 - IWW Environmental Union Caucus, May 11, 2023

In spite of this book's straightforward sounding title, A Planet to Win, Why We Need a Green New Deal (Verso, 2019), by Kate Aronoff, Alyssa Battistoni, Daniel Aldana Cohen, and The Riofrancos, this relatively short and concise book would be much more accurately titled, "Why we think our version of the Green New Deal is the best one of the lot," because there isn't a single "Green New Deal", but several, as we have noted here on ecology.iww.org. This, however, is not necessarily a negative aspect of this book.

The authors, all of them ecosocialists with a transformative approach, are quick to explain that the particular Green New Deal they seek is one that addresses most critiques of the Green New Deal in general. 

• Would the Green New Deal repeat the mistakes of the original New Deal and exclude BIPOC people? Not the authors' version.
• Would the Green New Deal rely heavily on social democratic Keynesian state intervention? Not the author's version!
• Would the Green New Deal perpetuate endless growth in hubristic ignorance of the natural limits to growth, not if these authors have any say in the matter;
• Would the Green New Deal further the continued exploitation by the Global North of the Global South? Not if the authors have anything to do with it!
• Would the Green New Deal merely be a case of the capitalists saving themselves, with a putatively green branding? Absolutely not, the authors say.

Certainly, if given the choice, that sounds quite good to me. Clearly these authors aren't content with a naive faith that just because something is called a "Green New Deal" it will actually be a good deal.

And these aren't just rhetorical posturings. There is an analysis behind each specific response to the common left criticisms. A good example of this involves addressing the challenge of sourcing rare earth minerals and lithium, either from the Global South or indigenous lands, to manufacture renewable energy generation technology.

Where this book is lacking is offering a comprehensive and detailed plan on exactly how these goals are to be achieved. It's all well and good to take a stand and say, "We won't accept anything less than a transformative and revolutionary Green New Deal that is fair, just, and anti-capitalist," it's quite another to actually build a movement capable of making it a reality. The capitalist class won't hand us this on a silver platter. Even if the "greener" wing of the capitalist class might be sympathetic to some of the less revolutionary aspects of a Green New Deal, the fossil fuel capitalist wing most certainly isn't.

To their credit, these authors are well aware of this problem and understand that building a revolutionary movement is essential--for example, they note that even the original New Deal wouldn't have happened without revolutionary union organizing at the point of production--but unfortunately, this book offers little in the way of concrete steps, beyond noting the fact.

While this oversight could be chalked up to the book being intended as a short, aspirational call to arms, without more specific suggestions on how to organize, most people won't automatically know how to begin. While visionary thinking is essential for inspiring people to action, the truth is that without concrete nuts-and-bolts organizing, these utopian visions will be limited to a destination without any reliable roadmap.

Disclaimer: The views expressed here are not the official position of the IWW (or even the IWW’s EUC) and do not necessarily represent the views of anyone but the author.