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"The second decade of the twenty-first century ended with catastrophic bushfires across the Australian continent. In some states the bushfires began in September, well before the onset of summer. As early as 12 November 2019 a catastrophic bushfire warning was in place across most of NSW including greater Sydney. In an ominous start to the bushfire season, on this day fire threatened Sydney suburbs, and in some suburbs residents were told to leave or stay at their own peril. Almost 600 schools were closed. Those at risk from fire were told by NSW Rural Fire Service: “If you are threatened by fire, you need to take action to protect yourself…there are simply not enough fire trucks for every house. If you call for help, you may not get it. Do not expect a firetruck”. A thick cloud of toxic smoke descended on Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne, and travelled even as far as New Zealand, resulting in poor visibility and burning eyes and lungs for any who dared to venture outside.... [...] the contempt shown towards NSW residents has a simple commodity at its heart: coal. Coal is a central feature of Australian capitalism and, as I will argue in this article, its importance to the economy means that the interests of the coal industry take precedence over other considerations, regardless of the party of government. In order to understand this dynamic I will discuss the history of the industry with a focus on NSW and Queensland, as well as exploring some of the dynamics around the development of Australia’s domestic energy supply. I will then move on to discuss what I consider the key driving factor of the Australian coal industry: the vastly profitable export market, which saw the Australian extraction industry expand faster than any other country’s between 2000 and 2017.8 Finally, I will consider the influence the coal industry wields in the sphere of parliamentary politics, as well as providing a critique of the politics of several ideas that dominate the climate justice movement in Australia. The crucial underlying argument I make is that any serious attempt to challenge the coal industry will by necessity need to challenge Australian capitalism as a whole. https://marxistleftreview.org/articles/fuelled-by-coal-piercing-the-mirage-of-a-sustainable-capitalist-australia/ -- Subscribe to Socialist Alternative's fortnightly newspaper - *Red Flag* <http://www.redflag.org.au> Check out our theoretical journal - *Marxist Left Review* <http://www.marxistleftreview.org/> And put away the Easter Weekend for our annual conference, *Marxism 2019* <http://marxismconference.org/> _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: https://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
