The fossil fuel industry will inevitably have to experience major cutbacks and, over the longer term, near-total demise. … - Robert Pollin

Same topic Authors

Quote of the day

Growing up, I was obsessed with Michael Jackson. I saw him at Wembley when I was 7 years old, it was my first proper show. He was like a god to me.

Robert Pollin

The fossil fuel industry will inevitably have to experience major cutbacks and, over the longer term, near-total demise. There is simply no choice in the matter if we believe the research produced by climate scientists. The profits of oil, coal, and natural gas companies will have to yield to the imperative of sustaining life on earth.

Believe, Choice, Coal, Oil, Yield

Same Author Quotes

The profits of oil, coal, and natural gas companies will have to yield to the imperative of sustaining life on earth.

Coal, Companies, Life, Oil, Yield

Student debt in the US has exploded in the past decade. One of the reason is that the private costs of attending college have risen sharply, with public higher education funding having been cut sharply. Average public funding per student was 15 percent lower in 2015 than in 2008, and 20 percent lower than in 1990. The burden of the public funding cuts has been worsened by the stagnation of average family incomes. By 2014, this figure had nearly doubled, to 35 percent of median household income.

Attending, College, Cutting, Debt, Past

There are many good reasons for young people to go off to college, open their minds, develop their skills and enjoy themselves. But probably the major attraction is the fact that income disparities have increased sharply between those who go to college versus those who do not. This pattern corresponds with the stagnation of average wages since the early 1970s. The reality under neoliberalism has been that, if you want to have a decent shot at a good-paying job with a chance for promotions and raises over time, the most important first step is to get a college education.

1970S, College, Good, People, Reality, Sharply

Virtually all student debt in the US is now held by the federal government. It would therefore be a relatively simple matter to forgive some, if not all of it. This would enable young people to transition much more easily into creating their own households and families. At the same time, if the government is going to enact a major program of student debt forgiveness, it should be at least equally committed to relieving the heavy mortgage debt burdens still carried by tens of millions of non-affluent households in the aftermath of the 2007-09 financial crash and Great Recession.

Crash, Equally, Forgiving, People, Simple, Tens

I think it is inevitable that leftist forces in the US would be divided, if not balkanized, to some extent. Among the full range of people who are committed to social and economic equality and ecological justice - i. e. to some variant of a leftist vision of a decent society - it will always be the case that some will be more focused on egalitarian economic issues, others around the environment and climate change, others on US imperialism, militarism and foreign policy, others on race and gender equality, and still others on sexual identity.

Climate, Divided, Identity, Justice, People, Thinking