Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Shanghai to ration electricity due to power shortage

Click here to access article by Chris Hogg of the BBC. 

I believe that this report is an early warning sign of a more limited energy future that does not bode well for the growth imperative of capitalism. Whether we, as a human race, can stop this addiction to wealth and power by the 1% of the world's population is the critical challenge facing working people today. If we continue to tolerate the wasteful use of scarce resources by the 1%, then we are doomed.  If we are to survive, we simply must design a social-economic system where production and resource planning are guided by environmental concerns and for the benefit of the vast majority who want to live on a peaceful, sustainable, and healthy planet.
...this year, in what the Chinese newspapers are describing as an unprecedented move, 3,000 non-industrial businesses - mainly shopping malls and office blocks - will be asked to close their doors too.

When power is running out, households are the priority for the authorities here.