The Limits to Entropy : the Continuing Misuse of Thermodynamics in Environmental and Marxist theory

The continuing use of Georgescu-Roegen’s theory of entropy by neo-Malthusians as foundational support for their views comes as no surprise. Lately, those warning of a Hubbert Peak apocalypse have commonly drawn from the same conceptual well. But unfortunately even Marxist scholars still do the same. Paul Burkett’s recent paper supporting Georgescu-Roegen’s fourth law of thermodynamics attempts to seek convergence of Marxist theory with ecological economics. However, this attempt is undermined by the very shaky foundations of Georgescu-Roegen’s theory. In particular, Georgescu-Roegen’s proposed fourth law conflating isolated and closed systems is in contradiction with thermodynamic theory and leads to false conclusions regarding recycling and the prospects of a solarized economy. Red-green theory and practice should be firmly based on robust thermodynamic theory. With this guide and subject to the contingencies of political struggle, an ecosocialist transition in this century is within reach. Can an effective strategy to achieve a society sustainable for both humans and nature rest on a fallacious theory of how energy and matter interact? The answer should be obvious, but unfortunately this is not a rhetorical question because such a theory now has wide currency among environmental and even Marxist writers. This discussion will provide a critique of this theory and suggestions for a more defensible approach. I submit that only a red green practice informed by the most robust theories and knowledge derived from the natural and physical sciences and an historical materialist approach to social change can measure up to the immense challenges now facing humanity. There is now strong evidence that catastrophic effects of global climate change will occur unless radical steps are taken in the coming few decades to effect a solar-based energy transition from the present reliance on fossil fuels (e.g., Leggett, 2006; Milliken, 2006; Harvey, 2006). Further, defeating the main obstacle to this transition, the US imperial project, is likely necessary to its achievement. This struggle on a transnational scale will open up new possibilities for 21st-century Ecosocialism, adding the ecological dimension to Hugo Chavez’s inspiring vision, green to red.