United States of America

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27 07, 2023

The Color of Grass Roots: Diversifying the Climate Movement

2023-12-05T13:24:30-05:00Tags: , |

Heather McTeer Toney highlights the immediate intersectionality of the climate crisis and the historic and contemporary struggles, work, and hope of BIPOC communities throughout it. Toney is Greenville, Mississippi’s youngest and first Black female mayor and has been fighting for water rights in her area, not realizing that she was continuing a legacy of environmentalism that goes back hundreds of years. Black communities have been at the frontlines of environmental and climate related issues for centuries as environmental justice is inextricably linked to their experiences of social justice. Toney highlights the need for affected communities to be involved in decision making in the future. She then shifts the conversation to hope and perseverance by uplifting faith communities that have provided safe and empowering spaces for Black communities throughout various movements. This hope has often been missing from the climate movement. Recognizing the climate crisis as part of a contemporary continuation of historic systems of oppression and learning from the communities leading the way to justice is how we can make radical change.  Photo Credit: United Women in Faith

22 05, 2023

For a Just Transition, Recruit More Women Electricians

2024-02-14T17:04:31-05:00Tags: |

The trades in general and electrical work specifically are largely male-dominated industries. Only 2% of electricians are women, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Nevertheless, to transition away from fossil fuels and toward electrifying cars and buildings, the United States will need approximately one million more electricians.  Unfortunately, women are often excluded from well-paid jobs because of widespread harassment and abuse, lack of visibility, exclusionary unions, childcare, and a lack of support for caregivers. Tonya Hicks was able to overcome various challenges on the basis of her gender and race and become an electrician, and opened her own firm, Power Solutions, in Atlanta. Hicks and her staff of nine specialize in renewable energy projects, home retrofits and electric vehicle chargers manufacturing. Photo Credit: Greg Morris Photography/Nontraditional Employment for Women

17 04, 2023

Imagining a World Without Prisons

2023-11-28T18:55:42-05:00Tags: , |

Molly Lipson, a journalist and community organizer, discusses the intersections between carceral and environmental justice. She highlights the ways that prisons contribute to environmental degradation and the perpetuation of systems that work against historically underserved communities. Lipson showcases the discussion of the progress and tensions between sustainable futures and grassroots abolition movements with Andrea Johnson from the Renewable Rikers project and Jordan Martinez-Mazurek from Fight Toxic Prisons. Johnson is the architect of the Renewable Rikers project, which works to stop the toxicity of Rikers Island prison for inmates and those living in surrounding communities. Lipson captures her conversation with Martinez-Mazurek about the importance of making change for people actively impacted by the carceral system and its contingencies, as well as ensuring that society works towards an abolitionist future. Justice movements go hand in hand, and it’s necessary to understand the nuances of their intersections to achieve a better future for all. Photo credit: Nico Krijno

27 01, 2023

We need native seeds in order to respond to climate change

2024-09-13T16:02:04-04:00Tags: , |

After the catastrophic wildfires, floods, and droughts in recent years across the United States, landscape restoration efforts are becoming more important than ever. In this article data journalist Kaitlyn Radde, reports how native seeds and habitats must play a central role in this endeavor, but in a new report experts warn that the US is experiencing seed shortages. Native seed banks and ecologists are fighting the clock to save native seeds given the dual threats of biodiversity loss and habitat destruction. Seed diversity and supply issues are high barriers for land restoration efforts, according to both the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management. Native seeds are a powerful resource because they are locally adapted and more suited to specific biomes, making them more resilient and beneficial to local fauna. There is also a pressing necessity to keep expanding the storage capacity, expertise, and genetic diversity of the seed bank to meet the growing challenges of climate change.

5 01, 2023

Nature’s Tools Help Clean Up Urban Rivers

2024-02-14T10:16:22-05:00Tags: , |

This article, written by Katherine Rapin, explores the work of various organizations dedicated to restoring freshwater ecosystems through the reintroduction of bivalves (oysters and mussels) and aquatic plant species. These organisms improve water quality in numerous ways including nutrient cycling, acting as carbon sinks, and holding sediment together. Rapin highlights the work of Danielle Kreeger, the science director of the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary, which oversees a freshwater mussel hatchery in the Philadelphia area. One important dimension of reintroduction work is retaining the genetic diversity of wild populations, while also not introducing any diseases. Kreeger mentions the work her team is conducting on biosecurity to ensure the safety of bivalve populations. As well, experts emphasize how reintroduction measures must be conducted in conjunction with other frameworks to decrease contaminants, especially the addition of excess nutrients in these waterways. According to Kelly Somers, the senior watershed coordinator of the EPA’s Mid-Atlantic Region, in recent years, there have been discoveries of healthy seagrass beds along the Delaware River which are signifiers of improved water quality. Through decades of aquatic plant work, scientists attribute the growth of these populations to nature’s own capabilities in self-restoration and reductions in excess nutrients.  Photo Credit: Katherine Rapin

22 11, 2022

How Floating Wetlands Are Helping to Clean Up Urban Waters

2023-12-07T17:35:07-05:00Tags: |

As urban waters continue to face increasing pollution and degradation, researchers are installing artificial floating wetlands to combat the issue. Susan Cosier, an environmental and scientific journalist, reports on how these efforts are playing out in Chicago’s rivers. Instead of the uniform steel walls that usually surround urban river edges, Urban Rivers, a Chicago-based nonprofit, is replacing them with floating wetlands to recreate a natural river system. The floating islands host a diverse selection of native flora which help to filter contaminants and capture chemicals and metals in the water. The removal of surplus agricultural nutrients prevents harmful algal blooms that block out crucial oxygen and sunlight from reaching aquatic life. One researcher found that one acre of floating wetland is able to absorb the nutrient pollution produced by 7 to 15 acres of urban development. These wetlands also provide habitat for other plants to grow and aid invertebrates like mollusks and crustaceans in repopulating in the Chicago River. These efforts are multiplying globally, with projects taking place across the United Kingdom, Brazil, Australia, and the United States. While these wetlands have incredible environmental benefits, researchers emphasize that they are just one tool that must be accompanied by other efforts to regulate and reduce pollution at the source. Photo Credit: Dave Burk/SOM

15 12, 2020

Focus on Housing and Jobs or the Climate Fight ‘Goes Nowhere’

2023-11-28T21:50:46-05:00Tags: , |

Elizabeth Yeampierre, executive director of Uprose, has been leading a movement to stop new developments in Brooklyn’s Sunset Park neighborhood that would displace local communities. She has presented an alternative project that would give back to the community and help meet climate goals. Yeampierre has proposed that instead of the waterfront being bought and rebuilt by private developers, which would result in gentrification and the displacement of many BIPOC communities in the neighborhood, that a bustling green industry hub be built. This would support the shift to renewable energy through development of wind turbines, solar panels, and low-carbon technology, while providing fair salaries for neighborhood residents and also benefit immigrants and undocumented individuals without much formal education. These developments would sustain and develop communities that are at increased risk from the climate crisis. Photo credit: Pete Voelker

23 05, 2019

How Black Farmers Are Trying To End Centuries Of Racism In America’s Food System

2023-11-08T12:36:18-05:00Tags: , |

Kiesha Cameron is part of a movement of Black farmers pushing for reparations and equal opportunity in agriculture. America’s wealth and power is due to the hard work of exploited enslaved people. Their work in tobacco and cotton fields in today’s terms would have been a multi-billion dollar industry. Now, systemic racism has pushed Black farmers to the margins of these practices through violence, lack of legal support, prejudice, and poverty—in turn, barring them from opportunities to create sustainable, wealth-building communities. Savi Horne, the director of the Land Loss Prevention Project, emphasizes the need for land rights to be central in reparations. This is a complicated process and there is much more work that needs to be done on governmental levels. Cameron, Horne, and many others are working to reclaim farming for Black communities. They are taking back power and control to combat centuries of exploitation and racism, instead replacing it with autonomy and healing. Photo credit: Lynsey Weatherspoon/HuffPost

10 01, 2018

Why you should listen to ‘racist sandwich’ podcast series

2024-09-13T16:12:23-04:00Tags: , |

Soleil Ho and Zahir Janmohamed launched the podcast "Racist Sandwich" to tackle race, class, and gender issues in the food industry. Through interviews with chefs, restaurateurs, and cultural critics, they dissect topics such as the impact of food photography on racial stereotypes, workplace harassment in kitchens, and the issues surrounding "wellness culture." Their platform aims to amplify diverse voices and challenge the predominantly white narrative in food media. Ho's experiences working in restaurants have shaped her perspective on discrimination and abuse, leading her to advocate for marginalized individuals in the industry. She emphasizes the need for diversity and structural changes in restaurant ownership and food media to address systemic issues of inequality and exploitation.

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