Northern California

Committees of Correspondence

for Democracy and Socialism

522 Valencia St.

San Francisco, CA 94110

(415) 863-6637, fax: (415) 863-5543

staff@ncalcofc.org

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MS Word Version

August 21, 2008

Dear Concerned Global Climate Change activist.

The Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism (CCDS) believes that every region of the earth needs to face the coming dislocations of our ecologies, our economies, and our public health that global climate change is bringing.

We think that the coming (and in some ways current) crisis provides the greatest evidence that capitalism has failed.   We also believe that socialists and socialism will, and must, be part of the fight back against the social effects of this crisis; that a socialist perspective can provide a necessary analysis of the roots of the problem; and that a socialist transformation is likely to be linked arm in arm with saving our planet - as we see with the thousands of folks joining forces to ensure that global climate catastrophe is averted.

To that end, we, along with other groups and individuals, are calling for a  "West Coast Ecosocialist Conference", to be held in January of 2009.  As currently projected this would be a two-day weekend conference, with a couple of plenary session, multiple workshops, and an evening presentation.

As many of you may know, an "Ecosocialist Manifesto" was promulgated by Joel Kovel and Michael Lowy in 2001.  They stated:  "The deepest shadow that hangs over us is neither terror, environmental collapse, nor global recession.  It is the internalized fatalism that holds there is no possible alternative to capital's world order."  There have been several meetings held in Europe to address this vital question.

CCDS therefore calls upon socialists, environmental activists, and working class and community organizations to come together to study the science, share experiences on physical mitigation and the social fight back, and to discuss the likelihood that only a socialist transformation can stop capitalism from killing the planet.  In other words, preventing capitalism from killing the planet will take an extreme concentration of social (people) power, a socialist transformation.

We are seeking others to join with us in planning and building this conference.  If you would like to participate, either in planning or as a panelist or workshop facilitator, please contact us at the address, phone number or email address listed above.

Please respond with your thoughts and ideas, so that, together, we can launch a fight back against the coming global climate catastrophe and run-amok capitalism.

In solidarity,

Betty Brown, Michael Kaufman, Karl Kramer, Jonathan Nack, Larry Shoup and Steve Willett

for the CCDS.