The Russian statelets in the Donbas are no "people's republics"

The Kremlin-controlled territories are dominated by military rule and the repression of organised labour and civil society. Published by Jacobin, 3 March

Russia sacrifices economic goals for military aggression

Germany’s decision to halt the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline may cause long-term damage to Russia – but Putin doesn’t care. From Open Democracy, 25 February

Roads to an energy commons

 A discussion between Larry Lohmann, David Schwartzman and me on the role of fossil fuels in capitalist society, and the meaning of “energy” and related concepts. The discussion covered issues about the transition away from fossil fuels, and away from capitalism. From the People & Nature blog.

Ukraine's energy policy and prospects for the gas sector

An Energy Insight, published by the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, that surveys the energy sector and prospects for the energy transition

How energy was commodified, and how it could be decommodified

This article discusses what "energy" means, how it was commodified in the development of capitalism, and how social movements can resist and reverse that commodification. It is based on a paper presented at the Energising Political Ecology session of the on-line conference of POLLEN (Political Ecology Network) in September 2020

Ukraine 1917: socialism and nationalism in a world turned upside down

My review of The Workers' Movement and the National Question in Ukraine, 1897-1918 by Marko Bojcun: “by far the most comprehensive account of its subject, filling a gap in writing about Ukraine’s revolution – that has most often been seen through lenses focused primarily on Russia”.

Stop the climate-wrecking Silvertown Tunnel

This Briefing, published by the Transport Action Network, answers some of the claims made in support of the £2 billion Silvertown tunnel road-building scheme. I am a supporter of a local campaign against the tunnel project, which is incompatible with London making a fair contribution to climate targets and undermines efforts to move London's transport system away from car dependence

Everyday life and capitalism's ecological crisis

A review of The Imperial Mode of Living: everyday life and the ecological crisis of capitalism, by Ulrich Brand and Markus Wissen.  

Unused Tools: How Central Banks are fuelling the climate crisis

Oil Change International's report, to which I contributed research. "While some central bank executives claim that tackling the climate crisis is beyond their mandates, at the same time they have positively reinforced fossil fuel financing, and even directly financed fossil fuel production. [...] Central banks have the tools to catalyze and accelerate the end of financing for fossil fuels — through monetary policy, regulatory action, and excluding fossil fuel assets from their own portfolios. But, with only limited exceptions, they are not using these tools."  

Don’t Expect Real Climate Solutions From COP26. It Functions for Corporations

 My comments on the upcoming climate talks in Glasgow, in Truthout.

Azerbaijan's gas sales strategy at a crossroads

The natural gas sales contract between the Shah Deniz consortium and Botas of Turkey, covering 6.6 bcm/year from the first phase of the project, expired last month and was not renewed. Deliveries stopped. In an Energy Comment for the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, I wrote that this throws a shadow over the future of the Southern Gas Corridor and the timing of Azerbaijan gas development.

Strategies for the new climate war

My review of The New Climate War by Michael Mann, in The Ecologist. “Enemy weapons, Michael Mann argues, include greenwash, illusory technofixes, and deflecting attention to individuals not companies. Agree. But the further Mann goes into the social implications of transition from fossil fuels, the greater problems I had.”