What have SSY been up to lately? Well, the weather hasn’t exactly encouraged doing much aside from huddling to keep warm. In the meantime, it’s important to bear in mind that, despite the cold in many parts of the Northern Hemisphere, it’s still quite likely that 2010 will be one of the hottest years on record. If you’ve encountered folk in everyday life who are as daft as John Redwood, then be sure to point them in the direction of this Monbiot article on the Guardian site.

In fact, one of the important points to remember about climate change is that it makes the future highly unpredictable. One of the possible consequences, disruption of ocean currents like the Gulf Stream, could actually lead to the removal of a factor that helps keep the British Isles temperate. An unusual set of circumstances that has led to exactly that appears to be the cause of our current cold snap. The current situation is just an unusual freak event, but in fact global warming in the tropics actually pushes water north that by the time it reaches us is pretty cold. The Gulf Stream is thought to have slowed 30% in the last 12 years. The past couple of weeks for those of us in Scotland could really be a taste of how winters might get in years to come.

Things are hotting up (quite literally, haha!) over in Copenhagen as the world’s great and good arrive in the Danish capital, and begin gearing up to save the world from its continuing descent into climate oblivion. Or at least this is what we’re being told.
In reality, what these summits achieve is normally very little. It gives world leaders a nice chance to stand around for awkwardly posed group photographs and pretend that they’re doing something to alleviate world poverty/ rescue the world economy/ save the universe. Then maybe sign some kind of vague, watered down agreement that was carved up in closed doors negotiations two weeks previously.

And with very little forthcoming among all the diplomatic wrangling that’s taken place in the weeks leading up to Copenhagen, it now looks likely that, at the very best, we’ll get ‘an outline agreement to be firmed up next year, and even this would depend on the compliance of the US Senate, hostile towards anything resembling an effective deal’.
So says the environmentalist George Monbiot, who lays much of the blame for this stalemate situation on the fact that almost every US Senator is tied up with corporate interests who aren’t really that keen for effective emission targets to be implented. You know the type.. big oil, big pharma, the petro-chemical industry…
It becomes evident pretty quickly that capitalism can’t save the planet. An economic system built purely on growth, greed and increasing profits cannot possibly bring about the dramatic cut in carbon emissions we need to prevent the 2C temperature rise, which climatoligists say is key if we’re to avoid the worst effects of global warming.
When the global economy crashed, the IMF and national governments were on hand to bail out the crumbling financial institutions to the tune of trillions of dollars, and pretend everything was okay again. Mass unemployment, sweeping cuts, job losses, a generation lost, tearful bankers – but hey, we’ll get over it, right?
Unfortunately, the same can’t be said of nature – it doesn’t do bailouts. There can be no second chances as far as the climate goes.

Whatever pathetic agreement eventually comes out of Copenhagen in the months or years to come, it isn’t going to be enough: a 15% drop in 1990 emission levels will not be nearly enough to stave off environmental catastrope. 
The necessity of socialism – of an economy that’s planned with human and environmental concerns at the forefront of its agenda, rather than the chaotic, unrelenting madness of capitalism which pits profit ahead of all else - is being proved more than ever, and time is running out.

JOIN SSY ON THE WAVE DEMONSTRATION IN GLASGOW THIS SATURDAY 5 DECEMBER – assembles 10.30am at Bellahouston Park. www.the-wave.org.uk/scotland

I did started getting pretty suspicious when I found out that they don’t even accept cardboard for recycling.
And now, as if we needed any further evidence  that Glasgow City Council LOVE the global rise in temperatures caused by human activity that’s probably going to KILL US ALL, news reaches Leftfield that they’ve gone and denied the annual demonstration against climate change their intended route through the city centre.

The demo, monikered ‘The Wave’, is being billed as Scotland’s largest ever demonstration against climate change, and is taking place on December 5th. However, rather than taking its planned route from Glasgow Green through to Kelvingrove Park, the powers that be at the council parades committee have decided to reroute it to a starting point at Bellahouston Park on the southside, from where it will march the 2.5 miles up to Kelvingrove Park, managing to completely avoid the city centre. The reason?
Christmas, of course! Yes, seems that the annual festival of capitalist consumption, consumerism and um, Jesus (so I gather anyway), is being given greater priority than an issue which the entire planet’s future depends on, all because it might interfere with a few shoppers doing some no-doubt-vital-to-the-planet’s-survival Christmas shopping.
Oh, and because the police are saying that there’s the ‘risk of disorder’ on the route that was initially applied for. What, are we really to believe that the Climate Change Denial Nutcase Brigade are marching the same day? Nah, I didnt think so. Glasgow City Council are just being bastards, and quite clearly sending out a message that they’re willing and able to stop marches in the city centre if they want to, having announced earlier this year that they want to curtail them by 90%. The idea ostensibly being to clamp down on the hundreds of Orange marches that take place each year – but as we’re seeing, they’ll use it against anyone.

Now, as it happens, the last lot of protestors to be taken out the city centre and abandoned somewhere in the Paisley Road West area were none other than… the scumbag Scottish Defence League. Coincidence? I THINK NOT.
On the bright side, let’s all just be really fucking grateful that Glasgow City Council aren’t in any way involved in the Copenhagen summit. Although, to be fair, they probably couldn’t make much more of a mess of it than Ed Miliband and co will no doubt do…

march with SSY on The Wave – assembles 10.30am, Sat 5 Dec at Bellahouston Park
more info  and a map of the route here: www.the-wave.org.uk/scotland