From the introduction:
According to the apologetic ideology of “environmental economics” the disturbance of the ecological balance of the planet, the accumulation of pollutants and toxic substances, i.e. the destruction of the natural preconditions for the satisfaction of human social needs, is a result of the inherent conflict between humanity and extra-human nature. The origin of these changes in the capitalist mode of production is not recognized. Extra-human natures, i.e. the natural conditions and resources that cannot be (re)produced by capitalist production are considered to be “gifts of nature” usurped by capitalists free of charge. When environmental degradation puts obstacles to the expanded reproduction of capital because it leads, for example, either to a slowdown of agricultural productivity or to an increase of spending on combating pollution-related diseases and, therefore, to an increase of the value of labour power, the phenomena of environmental degradation are characterized as “environmental externalities” or “external economies”.

Before proceeding to a more detailed critique of the “solutions” proposed by “environmental economics”, which mainly revolve around the monetization of nature, i.e. the “internalization” of natural resources and conditions into the capitalist market, we will attempt, through the use of the weapons of the Marxian critique of political economy, to show why the domination of the capitalist mode of production is interwoven with the permanent devaluation of both human and extra-human nature. In the last part of the text we will try to critically present some dimensions of the social struggles that have erupted against the devaluation of nature and to exercise critique on the ideologies that have emerged and impede their development.