Bill Blackwater is a freelance writer and journalist living in London. He is an associate editor of the quarterly Renewal: A Journal of Social Democracy and author of the blog We Are All Wotan. His recent articles include The Denialism of Progressive Environmentalists...
infrastructure
Green energy won’t save the earth without social change | by Ian Angus
The most popular techno-fix for global warming is green energy. If energy companies would only deploy wind, hydro, solar, geothermal or nuclear, then emission-intensive fossil fuels will eventually disappear. But will that actually work? A new study by Richard York of...
The Green Paper on Land Reform: no change for the landless | by Stephen Greenberg
In 1994 the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) set a target for the transfer of 30% of land to black ownership within 5 years. But 17 years later, no more than 7% has been transferred. What are the causes of this dismal performance?First, the ‘willing...
What We Are For | by Richard Heinberg
Every activist engaged in combating human-caused climate change or specific elements of the current energy economy knows that the work is primarily oppositional. It could hardly be otherwise; for citizens who care about ecological integrity, a sustainable economy, and...
NHI will be cheaper in the end | by Zwelinzima Vavi
COSATU GS says the current two tier system is wasteful and unsustainable. Zwelinzima Vavi's Keynote address to the Emerging Market Healthcare gala dinner, Cape Town, November 19 2011: Thank you very much for inviting me to speak at this prestigious gathering of...
The World Is Locking Itself Into An Unsustainable Energy Future | by Marianne de Nazareth
The door to 2°C is closing,but will we be “locked-in” ? The world is locking itself into an unsustainable energy future which would have far-reaching consequences, warns the International Energy Association (IEA) in its latest World Energy Outlook report released in...
Are South African elites paying attention to these underlying economic dynamics? | Patrick Bond
Not judging by this year’s long-range response from the National Planning Commission’s talented technical, political, civil society and business thinkers. Its fascinating diagnostic analysis of why South Africa is beginning to slide off the rails is negated by the...
Is Water the Hidden Agenda of Agricultural Land Acquisition in sub-Saharan Africa? | by P Woodhouse and A S Ganho
Introduction: Land Grab and water requirements Availability of adequate moisture is a fundamental requirement for agricultural use of land. Designation of exclusive rights to use land provides prior rights to ‘green’ water (rainfall and plant transpiration) on that...




