The first power system of the Industrial Revolution was flowing water. Malm argues that this means understanding power in both its senses, the power that was required to make engines work, and the power that was needed to make the workers operate those engines, or use the energy they produced. Much of the book then is a detailed study of the way that the Industrial Revolution took place and why the switch to fossil fuels took place. How is it that we have ended up in a situation where “vested interests” can prevent action on global warming? He argues that we must re-examine the Industrial Revolution in order to understand precisely how it ended up “welding growth to fossil fuels”. Malm begins by asking precisely this question. It is a brilliant Marxist critique of capitalism and the origins of the fossil fuel economy and should be read by every activist.
#CAPITALISM II STEAM MANUAL#
Malm’s book could almost be a manual on why it is that capitalism, the fossil fuel economy whose evolution he describes, is so unable to reduce its addiction to coal, oil and gas. It proved to be a prescient choice of reading material for a conference that produced lots of promises but was short on agreement of what to actually do to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. I read Andreas Malm’s Fossil Capital while travelling to and from Paris to participate in counter-conferences and protests at the time of the UN COP21 climate talks. The Rise of Steam Power and the Roots of Global Warming