Global temperatures are rising as environmental pollution intensifies and the destruction of nature accelerates. This is the latest phase in the antagonistic contradiction between the interests of the masses and those of capitalism. Capitalism’s assault on nature threatens the existence of humanity, yet obsessed with expanding the value of their property, the bourgeoisie push on regardless. The business machine that pushed Donald Trump into his second presidency aims blindly to remove any obstacle to US capital accumulation.
‘Accelerationism’
‘Accelerationism’ is now the fashionable philosophy among the techno-leaders of US imperialism. It is a crude political expression of capitalism’s continuous need to recycle capital at a faster pace, to raise the total profit from any investment in any period. To achieve this the Trump government has launched both an all-out rapid attack on domestic barriers to US capital gain, while mixing threats and bribes to profit better from the US’s economic and political relations with other states.
The reactionary ideas of ‘accelerationism’, currently thriving on X, are promoted by Vice-President JD Vance (a Peter Thiel protégé). By tearing down current trading rules, and seizing and destroying social institutions domestically and internationally which they believe are controlled by the left, they expect technical innovation to be ‘freed’ to keep US imperialism ahead of its rivals. The ‘accelerationists’ desperate drive to expand their capital is a reaction to the fact that US capitalism is being displaced from its global perch by its competitors. The main competitors US capitalism fears are not simply China and the EU, but all the growing BRICS member countries, with Indonesia joining this co-ordinating forum in January.
A campaign to bolster US capitalism
This aggressive campaign by the technocrats of US imperialism involves destroying those limited measures, reluctantly passed by previous administrations, to reduce environmental destruction. The huge cartels dominating global production are desperate to prevent their polluting capital investments being prematurely closed by environmental legislation. Tragically, they aim to work their assets until forced out of action by climate change itself, irrespective of its consequences for humanity. Misleading notions of a ‘green capitalism’ allow environmentally damaging businesses to continue while building less destructive systems, which would have been built anyway, and which are fraudulently recorded as ‘offset’ arrangements.
Even before Trump returned in January, the Supreme Court – packed by Trump in his first term – abolished the administration’s capacity to constrain pollution. It removed the ‘Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council’ legal precedent (June 2024), which had allowed the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to determine the source of pollution. This had then been used thousands of times in courts to obstruct polluters.
By January this year, large monopolies were quickly retreating from their timid commitments to reduce destructive activities. The large US banks withdrew from their collective agreements to stop funding polluting industries, the international oil corporations abandoned any pretence of cutting oil output and expanded exploration, drilling and pumping oil.
Double-speak announcements contrived by the White House, such as (in April) ‘On Earth Day, We Finally Have a President Who Follows Science,’(!!) cover up the trail of destruction of previous environmental protections, while international treaties are abandoned. Some Democrats whine about ‘Trump’s fossil-fuel- funded gangster government’ but the party has no intention of fighting this. The Democratic Party understand the precarious economic position US imperialism faces and the need ruthlessly to extend its control over materials and markets.
Accelerating destruction of the environment
On day one in office Trump ordered withdrawal from the 2015 Paris environment pact, halted federal approvals for new wind farms, initiated plans to open up wilderness in Alaska for oil drilling and mining, and rescinded 78 of former President Biden’s executive orders. In February, regulations requiring companies to admit their impact on climate began to be removed and climate standards on household products ended. By March, tree logging was extended to half of US forests, and environmental regulations on emissions and protections for wetlands were removed. The new EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin attacked ‘climate change religion’ as he removed environmental protections. The main science division of the EPA, the Office of Research and Development, is being shut down. The oil and gas industries’ American Petroleum Institute praised the EPA’s 31 new deregulatory actions. In April, Trump set dates to close environmental provisions in the Federal Code of Regulations.
Trump has dismissed everyone working on the Congressionally mandated 5th National Climate Assessment for 2027, undermining preparations for future weather disasters. He called for the elimination of the scientific research division at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. He threatened the federal state’s efforts to combat climate change. Coal mining and burning is encouraged. Commercial fishing in one of the world’s largest ocean reserves, the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument, is now allowed by redefining ‘harm’ for endangered species. Half a century of reform faces defeat.
Beyond legal challenges, at present there is only the weakest reaction in the US to these disastrous steps, which if endorsed by the Republican-controlled Congress and a conservative Supreme Court, will enormously strengthen central government. This prepares the way for a form of autocracy, which has already stepped up US imperialism’s confrontations with foreign governments. The Democratic Party remains paralysed by its support for US imperialism, with no alternative open to it but to concur or be ripped apart by dissent.
The fight to defend the environment is the fight for life. The shadow of the infamous cry of Millán Astray, the fascist founder of the Spanish Legion – ‘Death to intelligence! Long live death!’ – skulks behind Trump’s preparations to resolve US imperialism’s economic and social crisis at the expense of the biosphere and lives of the workers of the world.
James Martin
FIGHT RACISM! FIGHT IMPERIALISM! 306 June/July 2025
