INTRODUCTION

Climate change is the issue that looms over all others. A livable planet is prerequisite to every policy goal. Without one, nothing else matters. Yet humanity has generally failed to meet the moment. Our addiction to growth, creature comforts, and heavy industry — most pronounced in the West — is driving us to the abyss. We live for the day, and forfeit tomorrow. As a result, our planet is hurtling toward irreversible tipping points — and may have already passed them. 

Our recklessness has eliminated entire species of animals and insects critical to our ecology, created countless climate refugees in parts of the world having already endured generations of colonized existence, and cost us billions (if not trillions) of dollars. Yet the political class has done little to mitigate this crisis. Many summits have passed. Task forces have convened. And what we have to show for it is the Paris Agreement— an unambitious, largely unbinding pledge that’s proven ineffective.

Climate change is a global problem. As such, it calls for international collaboration — especially between the world’s two biggest emitters, the United States and China. So far, that has been lacking. America has been all too happy to jettison cooperation for a policy of saber rattling and encirclement. Not only is the United States continually announcing the construction of new bases in the Asia-Pacific region, it pushes forward in a Cold War logic of seeking to humiliate China rather than honoring its basic needs and interests. Infamously, America sacrificed climate talks through Nancy Pelosi inflaming tensions over Taiwan and blatantly violating established precedent in US-China relations. Unfortunately, this has become the norm. The Americans would seemingly rather destroy the globe if it means winning a few political skirmishes with China and the Chinese people.

Such antagonism is incredibly distressing. As the world’s two largest emitters, the two powers should be working together to prevent and even reverse ecological breakdown. Quite literally everything depends on it. Instead, the U.S. has continued its ravaging of the environment for short-term economic gain when in fact, it should not only be working with China, but learning from the ways it has mitigated carbon emissions over the last few decades. It is clear Washington will not lead us into a more sustainable future. Beijing might.

UNCLEAN HANDS

In the 10 years since negotiators drafted the Paris Accords, the United States has been an unmitigated climate disaster. Less than a year after drafting, Americans elected a president who called climate change a Chinese hoax. Trump, once assuming power, began his regime by withdrawing from the Paris Agreement. The United States stood alone as the only “major emitter… to repudiate the agreement.” Of course, Trump was not done. He then moved to the domestic front. Trump allowed oil and gas drilling in wildlife refuges, coastal waters, and other formerly protected areas. A particularly sweeping executive order directed all federal departments to eliminate any rules restricting energy production. Further orders sought to accelerate “approval and construction of fossil fuel projects by limiting state environmental reviews.” And this just scratches the surface. A Pulitzer-winning environmental reporter described the first Trump administration as a “relentless drive toward fossil energy development.”

During those dark years, the White House suppressed “climate and related science” to conceal the harm of its boneheaded policies. The administration infamously “edited a major Defense Department report to downplay its climate findings.” It altered the contents of government websites to reduce public access to scientific data. While hiding the truth, Trump also muddied the waters via his own “climate denial and denigration of renewable energy.”

After him came Joe Biden, who supporters heralded as the first climate president. It was not to be. He let the world know early on that environmentalism was categorically not “his thing.” In March 2021:

Biden approved the Willow Project — an Alaska oil drilling venture of appalling scope. The development includes 200 oil wells connected by multiple pipelines.

Under Biden, the Department of Interior “auctioned an Italy-sized chunk of the Gulf of Mexico for drilling.” Biden also reopened “massive tracts of the Gulf for extraction.” Amazingly, the rate at which his administration approved oil permits actually outpaced Trump. Not to be outdone, Trump’s second term has arguably been the greatest calamity of all.

In Trump’s first 100 days this year, he instigated more rollbacks of environmental rules than during his entire first term. After Biden reentered the Paris Agreement, Trump again withdrew. He has earmarked massive expanses, including in the Arctic, for new drilling. After erroneously declaring a national “energy emergency,” Trump exempted dozens of coal-fired power plants from clean air rules. He also blocked “the approval of new solar projects and wind turbines, which he has called ‘ugly’ and ‘disgusting.’” In September, Trump revoked the $7,500 federal tax credits for electric cars. Analysts fear this could spell “big trouble” for the industry and, by extension, the environment.

The pace of destruction has been frenetic. On March 12th alone, “Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency… announced 31 actions” revising pollution standards projected “to save 200,000 lives.” The agency’s head, whose job is to protect the environment, celebrated “driving a dagger into the heart of… climate change.” And the worst is likely yet to come. “[T]he pressure on our regulatory system and our democracy will… ramp up,” said Michael Burger, a climate law scholar.

STARK CONTRAST

In addition to their climate malfeasance, radicalized Republicans are rabidly sinophobic. Relative to the current administration, previous American diplomats were sometimes more neutral on China. Just two years ago, special envoy on climate John Kerry advocated “genuine cooperation” between America and China on environmental issues. “China and the United States are the two largest economies in the world,” he stressed. “It’s clear that we have a special responsibility to find common ground.”

Naturally, the backlash from what became the new guard was fierce. Republican representative Michael McCaul of Texas criticized Kerry’s willingness to negotiate, labeling China “not an honest broker.” McCaul’s colleague Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, representing the far-right Freedom Caucus, attacked Kerry for caring about climate change at all. Perry dubbed global warming “a problem that doesn’t exist.” He then accused the scientific community of “grifting” — lying for pecuniary gain. Of course, this is not just false but highly hypocritical. If anyone is grifting, it’s Perry himself. His denialism probably has something to do with the massive bribes he gleefully accepts from the fossil fuel industry. Unfortunately, inmates like him are now running the asylum.

But the rot has infected members of both parties. Yes, Kerry has had lucid moments. But, overall, he too has a deeply flawed climate record. Under Barack Obama, Kerry abetted an administration which took “disastrous steps that worsened the climate crisis.” This included lifting “the ban on exporting crude oil… thanks to… multiyear lobbying efforts… by… industry groups.” Kerry was hardly a bulwark against special interests trying to destroy the environment.

Kerry also actively supports fracking, which belches methane — one of the most dangerous greenhouse gases — into the atmosphere. Moreover, as recently as 2020, Kerry led the advisory council of a bank that dumped massive sums into fossil financing. That’s not all. Kerry is notoriously weak on climate mitigation funds, insisting the United States can’t afford to assist the developing world. While special envoy on climate under Joe Biden, he said “under no circumstances” would America pay any climate reparations. This contradicts the advice of experts, including economic anthropologist Jason Hickel, who see reparations as necessary for ecological justice.

Yet, in a country as environmentally disastrous as the United States, Kerry seems like a climate hawk. America is history’s worst carbon emitter by far. Today, it ranks among the top per capita emitters according to the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). The United States also finds itself toward the very bottom of the Sustainable Development Index (SDI).

Compare that to China. UNEP data shows that China’s per capita emissions are 40% less than America’s. China also ranks 21 spots above the United States in the SDI. And the country is taking considerable steps to further green itself.

In the first four months of 2023, China added a whopping 62 gigawatts of solar and wind capacity. No other country has made comparable strides, with 80 percent of China’s new power capacity coming from renewable sources. China alone accounts for over 35 percent of all global investment in the transition to clean energy in 2021. These facts have led scholars, including the University of Michigan’s Tom Lyon, to remark that “green is everywhere in China.”

Rather than resting on its laurels, the Middle Kingdom is upping the ante. Even otherwise unsympathetic observers, including the capitalist press, cannot help but marvel. The Economist recently acknowledged that “[t]he scale of the renewables revolution in China is almost too vast for the human mind to grasp.” By the end of last year, “the country had installed 887 of solar-power capacity — close to double Europe’s and America’s combined capacity.” In 2024, it deployed over 24 million tons of steel to build new wind turbines and solar panels. This “would have been enough to build a Golden Gate Bridge on every work day of every week that year.”

Yet there is great room for improvement. Despite historic expansions in clean energy, China remains heavily dependent on dirty sources for its energy demands. Coal still comprises a majority of its energy production. Air pollution is consequently a major problem in Chinese cities. Sulfates fill the skies, typically tracing to coal and fuel oils. Their concentration peaked in the early 2010s, which commentators dubbed an “air-pocalypse.” But China got serious. As The Economist reports:

[C]hemical devices were installed to remove sulphur from the flue gases pumped out by power stations. These steps, along with others, greatly improved air quality in Chinese cities. Its citizens’ lungs are much the better for it, and their lives the longer.

But China’s “war against pollution” is far from over. When it comes to the most harmful particulate matter, China still vastly overshoots World Health Organization standards. This causes a slew of health problems including even premature deaths. Much of the blame for that, however, lies with the United States and its rich allies. As Roger Bybee, a Milwaukee-based freelance writer, explains in his article ‘Scapegoating China,’ “U.S.-based corporations, their contractors, and other Western multinationals… are responsible for a majority of China’s fossil-fuel effluents.” Economist Rob Larson makes a similar point in his book Bleakonomics. American multinationals, he writes, play a “crucial role in exporting polluting industries.” Consequently, residents of major Chinese cities often wear face masks to avoid inhaling harmful amounts of toxic smog.

But at least they wear them, rather than turning masks into a political maelstrom — as was, embarrassingly, the case here. The Trump administration demonized masking and vaccines, continuing its push against the latter to this day. China, meanwhile, treated the pandemic with requisite seriousness. It was easily the world’s largest producer of personal protective equipment, generously exporting excess supply to help other countries cope. While COVID ravaged America, and arguably still does, China conquered it — with a tiny fraction of the death rate. On public health, Beijing showcased its immense superiority.

Many have dubbed tensions between these two great powers, the United States and China, a “New Cold War.” This New Cold War mirrors the old one. In years past, for all its flaws, the Soviet Union led on guaranteeing basic social rights. Citizens enjoyed free college and healthcare alongside universal housing which basically abolished homelessness. Meanwhile, the Soviet Union’s Western counterparts — namely, the United States — spread death and destruction abroad as greed ran rampant domestically. The difference could not have been clearer. 

We see this contrast today too. As the United States descends into fascism, embracing old ways of thinking, China is revolutionizing itself for humanity’s betterment. The Middle Kingdom is greening industry, innovating technologically, and continues opening itself to the outside world. For all its flaws, chief among them cowardice (or indifference) amid Zionist criminality, China is leaping into the new age. In the New Cold War, it is plainly the preferable option. The choice is between civilization and barbarism. Socialists the world over should act accordingly.

LESSONS

There is much to learn from China’s successes. For one, they show the power of innovation. A common narrative in the West is that China is merely an appropriator, and not an originator. China, the story goes, ruthlessly poaches Western technology with little regard for intellectual property because it cannot solve problems itself. But “any doubts about China’s ability to produce… innovative solutions have been disproven with its rapid uptake of green technology.”

Look no further than its booming vehicle industry. Over the years, more than 500 electric car companies have sprouted in China. Although, for efficiency’s sake, that number is rapidly falling due to consolidation. China manufactures over 70% of the world’s electric cars and accounts for 40% of global exports. This is thanks partly to generous government subsidies and otherwise supportive policies to buttress that critical sector.

And that brings us to another common Western common narrative. It is the idea that capitalism promotes innovation better than any other economic system, with socialism paling in comparison. Yet China’s immense environmental progress was produced by a careful series of five-year state plans guiding a largely socialist economy. The ruling Communist Party does not allow the country to fall prey to the anarchy of the market. Its planning outlines $16 trillion of investment to reach carbon neutrality by 2060. A particularly noteworthy proposal is China’s Biodiversity Conservation Strategy and Action Plan. It “aims to vigorously develop green finance… and integrate biodiversity data into… environmental disclosures and sustainability reports.”

There is a lesson here for the United States. More state intervention in the economy can work wonders, and breathe new life into this decaying power. The tools to do so already exist. One is the Defense Production Act, a congressional response to Harry Truman’s 1950s call to supply the Korean War effort. Today, the Defense Production Act is a powerful tool in the presidential arsenal to mobilize private industry to fulfill social priorities. 

Namely, “the executive branch could use the Defense Production Act… to accelerate the clean energy build-out.” Importantly, it could do so while bypassing Congress and subfederal authorities and “without regard to the limitations of existing law.” The ability to override contrary “federal, state, and local laws that privilege corporate short-termism” is bursting with promise.

But none of that matters absent the requisite political will. The United States remains committed to the path of climate doom. A bold transition to renewables is not on the horizon. The Green New Deal, though blindingly necessary, is nothing more than a few bits of paper. America is refusing to face the growing environmental crisis that threatens organized human life as we know it.

Therefore, the global masses — especially in developing nations, which are most at risk — look to China for vision and leadership. And the reason is clear. In staking our collective future, Beijing — and its commitment to expanding green energy — is a safer bet and steadier hand. There is no debate. And there never was.

Hey everyone!
There’s a good cover and interview with a few people from SYR DSA around the topic of ICE contracts. If you’re interested in reading more, feel free to check out this blog:
Local advocates want to ‘melt’ Syracuse’s links to ICE. Will lawmakers listen?

Atlanta DSA condemns the murder of Renee Good, the violence ICE has brought to Minneapolis and other communities, and the racist, authoritarian immigration enforcement regime that made this killing possible.

On January 7th, 2026, ICE agent Jonathan Ross murdered Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis while she was exercising her right to protest. This comes just days after an ICE agent murdered Keith Porter, a black man, in Los Angeles on New Year’s Eve. ICE, created within the Department of Homeland Security after 9/11, has long used raids, detention, and deportation to terrorize black, brown, and immigrant communities, facilitating systematic human rights abuses and deaths. ICE does not keep people safe; it cages and kills them. Today, ICE functions as the secret police force of an increasingly authoritarian state, granting masked armed agents sweeping powers to strongarm local governments and surveil, harass, and arbitrarily arrest working-class people.

The murder of Renee Good — an unarmed activist peacefully observing ICE operations — shows an agency that treats public scrutiny as a threat to be eliminated. ICE’s immigration enforcement operations must be halted immediately. ICE must be stripped of funding, its detention network dismantled, its political power broken, and the agency itself abolished. In its place, this country must build a system rooted in unconditional respect for migrants’ human rights, family unity, and free movement—not militarized borders and mass incarceration.

We are reminded of the similar killing of Tortuguita by the Georgia State Patrol three years ago during an extended campaign to protect vital forest and public space. The red thread of violence weaved between local, state, and federal law enforcement on our bodies, especially queer and black and brown bodies, strangles us from Minnesota to Georgia. Our collective resistance inflames these tools of capital because it reminds us that our liberation comes when we are all free.

Atlanta DSA stands in solidarity with Renee Good’s family, with immigrant communities in Minneapolis, Atlanta, and across the country, and with all those resisting ICE violence. Twin Cities DSA is joining a broad coalition of unions and community groups to call for a day of action on January 23rd to shut down the city and demand that ICE get OUT of Minnesota! We encourage our communities to donate to the grassroots organizations on the front lines organizing resistance against ICE, including Tending the Soil in Minnesota and the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights. On Tuesday, January 20th, the DSA National Labor Commission is hosting a national call and phone bank in support of the January 23rd day of action.

We call on our members, our labor and community allies, and elected officials to join us in the struggle to defund, disarm, and abolish ICE, and for ICE to leave immigrant communities in Minneapolis and nationwide immediately, because the only people qualified to protect these communities are the citizens, the workers, the parents, and the families who live in them.

Hello there!

Come check out our interview with WAER on the DSA, Mamdani, Ehrenreich and public policy. You can find audio of the interview half way down the page.
https://www.waer.org/news/2026-01-14/syracuse-democratic-socialists-say-election-wins-by-mamdani-ehrenreich-can-improve-public-policy

Brian Owendoff sent racist text messages about Portland City Councilors to a group chat of local pro-corporate political agitators. Our research reveals he’s just one node in a network of powerful people trying to cut taxes for the rich, balloon the police budget, and make it harder for Portlanders to survive.

Brian Owendoff, the commercial real estate developer and recently-unmasked bigot, is many things to many people. 

To the City’s well-heeled real estate class, he’s a longtime wheeler and dealer of Portland’s prime commercial parcels. To the Portland Metro Chamber (Portland Business Alliance) he’s a former registered lobbyist and frequent collaborator. Owendoff is also a noisy critic of the Left; he’s published dozens of articles to his Substack attacking DSA. 

The Owendoff network is far-reaching. Democratic Party elites like City Councilor Dan Ryan rely on his counsel. Corporate power players like Jordan Schnitzer have rubbed elbows with Owendoff in multiple board roles over the past decade-plus. He’s also a central figure in the emerging ecosystem of right-wing and corporate dark money PACs trying to intervene in Portland’s elections.

Online Agitator

Tuesday’s revelations, first reported by the Portland Mercury, was not the first time Owendoff made headlines for disparaging local politicos. Years before he called Portland City Councilor Angelita Morillo a “burrito”, Owendoff was in hot water for attacking another sitting Portland official. In 2011, Owendoff was fired from his job at real estate firm C.B. Richard Ellis after he was linked to anonymous comments posted to the OregonLive website, which disparaged then-Mayor Sam Adams.

Despite his toxic political persona, Owendoff’s rise to become a powerful real estate and influence broker continued unabated. 

Owendoff is currently a member of and contributor to the real estate industry’s latest political venture, the Revitalize Portland Coalition (RPC). RPC is a coalition of interests who benefit from Portland’s housing and homelessness crisis, led in part by real estate magnate Jordan Schnitzer. The Coalition spent lavishly to sink Measure 110 and has previously endorsed a slew of corporate-friendly candidates, including bike cop Eli Arnold and Bob Weinstein (more on Bob below), both of whom lost their recent City Council races.

Another Owendoff connection: Schnitzer Industries has long occupied a board seat at the Portland Metro Chamber, where Owendoff was formerly a registered lobbyist and board member.

Big Business

Schnitzer and PRC together represent a significant nexus of power in Governor Tina Kotek’s effort to sabotage Preschool for All, which is also a frequent target of the PACs in Owendoff’s orbit. 

Among those invited to the group-chats where Owendoff sent racist text messages last week were a host of right-wing political hopefuls and activists with their own ties to Portland’s business lobby. 

Bob Weinstein co-founded dark money PAC Partnership for Progress (PfP) with failed City Council and County Commission candidate Vadim Mozyrsky.  PfP promoted Eli Arnold, the bike cop endorsed by Schnitzer’s Revitalize Portland Coalition. Arnold is also an Owendoff group chat member.

The incestuous political relationships within Portland’s ruling class are headspinning, but no analysis would be complete without reference to Vikki Payne. Payne is another Owendoff group-chat participant, who founded the Future Portland PAC to attack local labor unions and non-profits. 

Dark Money

Until she was fired last year, Payne worked for the campaign and office of Multnomah County Commissioner Julia Brim-Edwards. According to the Mercury, “…while Payne was working for Brim-Edwards, Future Portland propped up Brim-Edwards’ proposed legislative policies and statements…” 

Despite her outside support for Brim-Edwards’ priorities, including her longtime effort to cut Preschool for All, Payne got the axe after being caught hosting PAC events on County  time.  

Payne isn’t just an Owendoff compatriot. Future Portland is a “pragmatic partner” of the Schnitzer-led Revitalize Portland Coalition and the right-wing Northwest Fresh podcast, hosted by now-fired Dan Ryan staffer Andy Chandler (more Councilor Ryan public records to come!). Northwest Fresh is a regular platform for local anti-trans activists, Republicans, and anti-public school advocates, as well as current City Council member Dan Ryan and Mayor Keith Wilson.

Phew! Unraveling the political machinations of Portland’s ruling class can make your head spin. But remember: the enemies of Portland’s working class are not an unknowable Illuminati; they are real people with names, prejudices, and weaknesses. We are uncovering new connections all the time, and since these folks can’t help themselves, we expect this map to grow. Watch this space!

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If you enjoyed this article, please donate an hour of your hard-earned pay to each of Portland DSA’s working class champions for office:

For Portland City Council, we endorsed Councilor Angelita Morillo, she joins now re-endorsed Councilors Mitch Green, and Tiffany Koyama Lane.

In Salem, we re-endorsed Incumbent Farrah Chaichi for House District 35, alongside our earlier endorsement of Tammy Carpenter for House District 27. Salem DSA also endorsed incumbent Leslie Muñoz for House District 22.