Today the world is facing a very serious environmental crisis. Some of the important concerns for the environment today are:

• air pollution
• the destruction of the ozone layer
• vast quantities of toxic waste
• massive levels of soil erosion
• the possible exhaustion of key natural resources such as oil and coal
• The extinction of plants and animals.

Crisis and Solution

• Dangerous, environmentally destructive technologies and substances (for example, coal power stations, non-degradable plastics which do not rot in the ground) have become essential not only for the survival of urban and sub-urban areas but also the rural areas.
• The rise in mortality and the rise of an urban middle class and ruling class which consumes most goods in the world.
• The blame for the environmental crisis must also be laid at the door of capitalism and the State. The accumulation of wealth and power in the hands of the few is associated with excessive and unjustifiable high levels of consumption by the ruling elite. The poverty caused by the system also creates environmental problems. For example, by forcing the poor to cut down trees for firewood exhaust the tiny bits of farm land that they own in a desperate attempt to provide food pollute rivers because they lack proper plumbing facilities etc.
• Capitalists also build many goods to break as soon as possible (forcing people to buy replacements), thus resulting in unnecessary waste.
• The military activities of the State are a major cause of the environmental crisis. Massive amounts of resources are wasted on the building the repressive arms of states.
• It is the workers who have to work in the factories that spew out toxic waste, who have to spray the pesticides which poison the land and water.
• It is the communities of the poor which are built next to the polluting industrial areas. It is the working peasantry whose land is destroyed by soil erosion.
• The environment is not just the forests and the wild animals, it is also where people live and work.
• A safe environment is thus a basic need for the masses. Only the masses have a direct and immediate interest in fighting against the environmental.