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Now Playing | Dayna Reggero has been listening along the beaches and the bayous of the Gulf Coast to artists who are remembering, healing, and building a safe movement to vision a better future in the dangerous world of oil and gas.

Now Playing | Rebel Bells is about an all-girls radical collective located in the Calumet region connecting southeast side Chicago, Illinois and East Chicago in northwest Indiana. The Calumet region is an economically precarious, environmentally-polluted industrial corridor in the U.S. Midwest. The Rebel Bells was started in 2016 by three mothers who are leaders in the environmental justice movements in their respective communities. The goal of the Rebel Bells collective is to teach young girls about social justice and community activism in an empowered and safe environment.

Past Presentation | Hungry for Justice: Spotlight on the South provides a snapshot of the injustices present in our current food system and introduces one of the promising market-based solutions that has arisen—Food Justice Certification. It tells the story of one farm in the South and their commitment to focus on social justice issues for their farmworkers by seeking this certification and market label. Food Justice Certification, a project of the Agricultural Justice Project (AJP), is a unique program in the domestic fair trade movement as it is the only verification program in the marketplace that has included farmworkers and farmworker representatives in the development of the certification standards and includes them in the verification process.

Now Playing | Heavily armed officers of the University of Florida police department in Gainesville, FL, responding to a 911 call from a neighbor who heard screams, break into the campus apartment of Ghanaian graduate student, Kofi Adu-Brempong. Clad in SWAT gear and ready to attack, they see the disabled doctoral student, sitting with a metal table leg in his hand and within a minute of entry, shoot the unarmed man in the face. Adu-Brempong, who because of childhood polio, needed a cane to walk, and had been suffering from mental illness, now has severe facial injuries, and is charged with resisting arrest. He is guarded outside his hospital door, his legs shackled together when going to the bathroom. The officer who shoots Kofi, and who had previously been caught cruising through town throwing eggs at residents of a Black neighborhood, is not suspended or fired. Student protests lead the administration to drop charges but calls for revoking SWAT-like teams on campus go unheard. Kofi’s shooting is not an isolated incident but part of an ongoing pattern of police brutality against Blacks and a stark reminder of the dangers of increasingly militarized campuses nationwide. In His Own Home came out of outrage by a small group of concerned community members committed to seeing social justice happen on a local level. This documentary is an educational and organizing tool, especially calling for our communities to be safe from violence by racist and over-armed police.

Past Presentation | A documentary short that examines the dark history of environmental injustice around a creosote plant in southeastern North Carolina.

Past Presentation | A Swedish mining giant dumps hazardous waste in Arica in northern Chile. Subsequently thousands of inhabitants are damaged.Now the survivors are seeking justice in a groundbreaking transnational corporate accountability trial.

Past Presentation | A once in a lifetime filming experience, #Whilewewatch is Director Kevin Breslin’s passionate, raw and sensitive inside story about some very great people during Occupy Wall Street protests, which came out of nowhere and created a media revolution.

Now Playing | The Lakota people on the Rosebud Reservation of South Dakota welcome buffalo back to their land with hopes that this reunion will restore their cultural, physical, spiritual, and economic health.

Past Presentation | Bhopali is an award winning documentary about the survivors of the 1984 Union Carbide gas disaster of Bhopal, India. What was one of the world's worst industrial disasters of the past continues to cause suffering of thousands to this day, prompting victims to fight for justice against Union Carbide (now owned by DOW Chemical), the American corporation responsible.

Past Presentation | Water is the essence of all life. It draws the Earth and the history of mankind, but it can turn into danger and even poison. The rivers of Bolivia, veins of the heart of South America, are turning black, red and even disappearing.

Now Playing | Hear the voices of five resolute fisherwomen – mothers, daughters, sisters, wives, nurturers, feeders, providers, leaders – tell their Story of resilience in the face of social and environmental injustice. Stand in solidarity and join them in the fight to affirm their role as ocean custodians and protectors ...

Now Playing | Becoming Fossil invites viewers to become time travelers through kaleidoscopic sensations of touch and elemental change. Join in and travel backward and forward in time around our small precious planet. Ride the waves of climate emergencies, and experience both extinction and resiliency in human and more-than-human touches.

Now Playing | Lead in the Land is a documentary focusing on the harsh reality and far-reaching effects of lead poisoning, an invisible and insidious threat afflicting thousands of children in the United States. The film sheds light on the circumstances around lead poisoning, examining its causes, effects and potential solutions.

Past Presentation | Juan ‘Accidentes’ Dominguez is on his biggest case ever. On behalf of twelve Nicaraguan banana workers he is tackling Dole Food Co. in a ground-breaking legal battle for their use of a banned pesticide that sterilized workers. Can he beat the giant, or will the corporation get away with it? In the suspenseful documentary Bananas!, filmmaker Fredrik Gertten sheds new light on the global politics of food.

Now Playing | LA LUCHA SIGUE (THE STRUGGLE CONTINUES) is a feature length documentary that combines breathtaking cinematography with intimate access and creative storytelling as it follows COPINH and OFRANEH, two grassroots Indigenous and Black organizations leading the struggle for justice in Honduras.

Now Playing | "Again, Together" is a film created in partnership with Ronald L. Jones, bringing stories from communities across Houston that have been impacted by environmental racism — namely redlining, segregation, underinvestment, exposure to pollution, gentrification, inequitable disaster recovery resources and freeway development.

Now Playing | In the rainforests of Madagascar, vanilla offers hope to farmers hindered by the relentless tide of poverty and cyclones. How will the women responsible for vanilla cultivation weather the storms that threaten their livelihoods? Join us on this journey to uncover the truth behind one of the world’s most beloved spices and to support the women farmers at the heart of the vanilla industry.

For more than three decades, Jane Goodall has inspired generations of conservationists through her youth-led action program Roots & Shoots. Now it’s time to take this approach into schools.

Now Playing | The other tale of two cities - both plagued by decades of lack of investment and racial discrimination in their wastewater infrastructure and facing further challenges amidst climate change - told by community members, advocates, utility operators, and elected officials. As the nation grapples with how to fund long overdue infrastructure needs, this film brings to light the need for urgency and equity in these decisions.

Now Playing | The documentary film “Descended: The Fight for Harris Neck” explores an ongoing land battle in Harris Neck, Georgia. In 1942 the U.S. war department seized 2,687 acres of land from a self-reliant community of seventy-five African American families. Since 1962 the land has been a national wildlife refuge. The film seeks to answer the pivotal question: How has a community been shaped by its common goal to reclaim their land?

Past Presentation | In the West African nation of Guinea-Bissau, this thought-provoking film takes you on a journey that follows brave local women who challenge patriarchy by building institutions that promote self-sufficiency through agroecology. They also defy social norms by standing up against female genital mutilation and rejecting forced marriage. Carrying forward the legacy of Amílcar Cabral, the Bissau-Guinean independence leader who placed women's rights at the center of the struggle for liberation, the women of a rising generation are taking their power back.

Civil Society Calls for a Stop to Geoengineering our Oceans *Technofixes are a dangerous distraction from real climate action* Over 70 civil society organizations including NGOs, climate justice networks, social justice movements, and Indigenous Peoples groups from across the world have expressed deep concerns about the growing number of open air and water marine geoengineering […] The post Civil Society Calls for a Stop to Geoengineering our Oceans first appeared on Indigenous Environmental Network.

Now Playing | Thousands from across the political spectrum were inspired to travel to Standing Rock and join the resistance to the Dakota Access Pipeline. In Spring 2016, the call went out, and no one would have guessed the movement would gain so much support around the world. The fight is not over: The sacred fire has been kicked out, but the embers are still ablaze in water protectors everywhere as Native Americans lead the important challenges to protect our environment.

Now Playing | This film tells the story of the victims of the flood of 2019 in Iran, which happened in the three provinces of North, Central and South of the country and left a lot of damages. The main narrators are three women who reveal the causes of this incident and mismanagements and tell the story of the people who were left to fend for themselves during the flood and after.

Now Playing | Environmental activists have been camping in Sodros for more than four months with the purpose of stopping the trees from being cut down. In the past few days Chinese company CRBC workers have been showing up at the site accompanied by the police and gendarmerie forces. The activists have been requesting to see the permits and the documentation for the work they are planning to conduct from the CRBC workers. The CRBC workers haven’t shown any of the permits. Also, the work has begun without a construction board being clearly visible, which is mandatory by law.

Now Playing | Join Maya van Rossum, Founder of Green Amendments For The Generations, in her exploration of New Mexico’s biggest environmental issues and the role a NM Green Amendment could play in the fight for environmental justice with: Senator Antoinette Sedillo Lopez, legislative sponsor of the New Mexico Green Amendment; Emma Rose Cohen, CEO/Founder of the sustainable business Final; Beata Tsosie-Peña, Environmental Health and Justice Program Coordinator for Tewa Women United; Artemisio Romero y Carver, founding member of Youth United for Climate Crisis Action (YUCCA); and Dee George and Penny Aucoin, fracking waste accident victims impacted residents of Otis, NM.

Now Playing | When will the ""last"" time be the LAST time? Chris Oledude's single ""George Floyd"" has now been re-presented in the powerful video, ""George Floyd: Say Their Names."" America's struggle for equality and fairness throughout law enforcement parallels those struggles faced by minority groups in every society where the majority feels empowered to disregard civil and human rights. The powerful protests that erupted worldwide after George Floyd's murder in May, 2020, are celebrated here. The enduring power of Black women as determined healers of a torn community is celebrated here. The victims had names. We honor their lives by saying their names. ‍The pressure for change must continue. No justice? No peace!

Arguments abound on the benefits and dangers of trophy hunting. We need a careful, measured approach to analyzing how it’s justified and promoted. The post Greenwashing and Social Justice: Pro-Trophy Hunting Narratives Need Careful Examination appeared first on The Revelator.

At environmental charter schools, students are taught about the effects of environmental degradation — and how to be advocates for their community.

Now Playing | Alegria - A Humanitarian Expedition tells the story of an epic solo expedition across the Himalaya that changed the life of thousands of people in need. Supporting leprosy patients and mentally destitute women in India, Christoph von Toggenburg cycled 3200km on the world’s highest tracks pulling a 40kg trailer packed with survival gear. With little air to breathe and facing temperatures between -15°C to +45°C he crossed mountain passes higher than 5500m mastering a total of 50’000m, Christoph fell altitude sick and was hit by rock fall. Crossing Nepal during the Maoist unrests, conflict stricken Kashmir, Christoph encountered wonderful hospitality, found new friends, and saw some of the world’s most spectacular landscapes. He became film-maker, actor, fund-and awareness-raiser in one person capturing this epic adventure entirely by himself.

Now Playing | Together We Grow is a 40-minute documentary telling the story of Common Unity, in Aotearoa New Zealand. Introducing a thriving hub helping to build resilience into its local community by growing, sewing, repairing, sharing – you name it, Common Unity is doing it! Too many of our communities, here and around the world, are facing housing crises, food insecurity, social isolation, and more. In addition, the multiple impacts of the Covid pandemic and climate change are current and ongoing. How can we most effectively confront these challenges, and help our communities thrive in an economic system that leaves many feeling trapped in poverty? Founder Julia Milne and her team have created a completely replicable model for developing strong, connected, resilient communities – a model that could be put in place across thousands of communities in Aotearoa and millions of communities across the world. They’ve proven it can be done, this film was made to help them share the story!

The Biden administration has issued new guidelines aimed at accelerating clean energy projects while considering their environmental and community impacts.Coral Davenport reports for The The New York Times.In short:The new rules modify the National Environmental Policy Act to speed up project approvals while ensuring environmental and social justice considerations.Agencies must complete environmental impact assessments within two years, a reduction from the previous average of 4.5 years.The guidelines prioritize projects with long-term environmental benefits, allowing some to bypass extensive reviews.Key quote: "These reforms will deliver smarter decisions, quicker permitting, and projects that are built better and faster." — Brenda Mallory, chair of the White House Council on Environmental QualityWhy this matters: Revised regulations aim to streamline the implementation of critical clean energy projects without compromising on environmental integrity or community well-being. Read more: Western Pennsylvania can meet its climate goals — if the region stops subsidizing natural gas.

Climate activists advocate for a return to Earth Day's protest roots, opposing the commercial exploitation of the event.Kristin Hostetter reports for Outside.In short:Earth Day began in 1970 as a significant protest and has since morphed into a marketing tool for companies.Activists emphasize the day's origins and the need to focus on genuine environmental change rather than superficial corporate shows.Despite the commercialization, the activists interviewed maintain that Earth Day can still inspire valuable ecological behaviors and community actions.Key quote:"I urge anyone who wants to take action for climate to see the undeniable link to social justice.— Pattie Gonia, co-founder of The Outdoorist OathWhy this matters:Understanding the shift from Earth Day's activist roots to corporate greenwashing is important for distinguishing genuine community actions over superficial corporate initiatives. Read more: Earth Day: Amidst the greenwashing, it's still a good thing..

You may be profiting financially from the war in Gaza. It's easier than you think to change that.

Cinema Verde presents an interview with Director Malini Schueller about her film "In His Own Home" in which heavily armed officers of the University of Florida police department in Gainesville, FL, responding to a 911 call from a neighbor who heard screams, break into the campus apartment of Ghanaian graduate student, Kofi Adu-Brempong. Clad in SWAT gear and ready to attack, they see the disabled doctoral student, sitting with a metal table leg in his hand and within a minute of entry, shoot the unarmed man in the face. Adu-Brempong, who because of childhood polio, needed a cane to walk, and had been suffering from mental illness, now has severe facial injuries, and is charged with resisting arrest. He is guarded outside his hospital door, his legs shackled together when going to the bathroom. The officer who shoots Kofi, and who had previously been caught cruising through town throwing eggs at residents of a Black neighborhood, is not suspended or fired. Student protests lead the administration to drop charges but calls for revoking SWAT-like teams on campus go unheard. Kofi’s shooting is not an isolated incident but part of an ongoing pattern of police brutality against Blacks and a stark reminder of the dangers of increasingly militarized campuses nationwide. In His Own Home came out of outrage by a small group of concerned community members committed to seeing social justice happen on a local level. This documentary is an educational and organizing tool, especially calling for our communities to be safe from violence by racist and over-armed police. Our full catalog of video interviews and streaming films is available to members at cinemaverde.org.

At a climate change summit at the Vatican, Gov. Kathy Hochul positioned New York State as a leader in pursuing environmental goals, but also recalled her late father.

Young climate advocates are challenging the U.S. government in court, demanding accountability for climate change inactions.Ruxandra Guidi reports for High Country News.In short:Young activists, including a notable 23-year-old plaintiff in the Juliana v. United States case, leverage legal battles to hold the U.S. government accountable for climate negligence.These legal challenges, rooted in the Atmospheric Trust Litigation principle, assert the government's failure to protect the constitutional rights of its younger citizens.Historical context shows that youth have always been pivotal in driving significant political movements, emphasizing the enduring power of young voices in societal change.Key quote:“There are simple things you can do in your own homes, like not let the water run, or turn off the lights when you’re not using them. You could teach these things to your children. Every choice we make is for or against our future.”— 6-year-old Xiuhtezcatl MartinezWhy this matters:The impact of youth activism is undeniable. It has reinvigorated older generations of environmentalists, brought climate issues to the forefront of political debates, and even influenced the strategies of nonprofit organizations and advocacy groups. Their call for action is not just about reducing carbon emissions or protecting natural habitats but encompasses a broader vision of social justice, equity, and intergenerational responsibility.Youth environmental activism has moved us forward in many ways—but to maximize this impact we need coalitions that learn from the past in order to prepare for the future.

Past Presentation | The last indigenous people of Mentawai, a small archipelago south-west of Sumatra, are fighting with creative resistance to preserve their ancient culture and rainforest. A culture on the verge of extinction - with the latest geopolitical developments, the destruction of their habitat reaches the point of no return. Smashing the hopes of thirty years of democratization in Indonesia, Jakarta in relapse to authoritarian rule is enforcing deforestation in Mentawai. In collaboration with investigative journalist Febrianti and indigenous foundations, our film portrays indigenous culture, history and resistance up to the most recent developments in geopolitical of Indonesia's growing environmental degradation. Connect with all your heart and senses: see, feel, touch, smell life in the jungle. The cinematic and compassionate camera conveys an intimate and sensual experience of the indigenous life on Mentawai with its beauty and vulnerability. Three shamans are the main characters in the film, hunter-gatherers in a culture predating even traditions of weaving or pottery, archaic traditions with their own complexity. The film portrays daily life of the indigenous tribe, their spiritual cosmos and their commitment to preserving their own culture and natural habitat. Logging companies threaten the fragile eco-system of the islands. Rare historic footage and archive materials tell the story of decades of oppression of the indigenous culture – but also of the resilience of our main characters and the last tribes living in the jungle. The main character, Father Laulau had been a leader in this struggle for decades, meeting the governor on Sumatra in a key point of history. The latter part of the film explores the geopolitical context and shows a new generation joining our main characters in the fight for the preservation of both their environment and culture – as part of a larger movement in Indonesia. The project started by indigenous initiative: Martison Siritoitet from Indigenous foundation Suku Mentawai (http:/sukumentawai.org) invited director Joo Peter to Mentawai and a long-term collaboration started including also Mentawai Indigenous Education Program (http://IEFprograms.org) The film is one of a planned series of films celebrating the diversity and richness of the Indonesian indigenous culture.

Civil society organisations demand home secretary protects the ‘safety valve’ of democracyEnvironmental groups are among 92 civil society organisations who have warned Yvette Cooper against “the steady erosion of the right to protest” in the UK, and called on her to reverse the previous government’s crackdown on peaceful protest.“The right to protest is a vital safety valve for our democracy and an engine of social progress,” the letter, delivered on Friday, said. “The achievements of peaceful protest are written on the labour movement’s own birth certificate.” Continue reading...

MusiCares, an organization that helps music professionals who need financial, personal or medical assistance, will honor the Grateful Dead as its 2025 Persons of the Year

Former officer alleges colleague John Dines inflicted injuries on himself in bid to be seen as high-performingA former undercover police officer has accused a colleague of lying about being beaten up by police while he was infiltrating leftwing protest groups in the UK, a public inquiry has heard.The officer alleged that his fellow undercover officer, John Dines, inflicted injuries on himself after he was arrested under his fake identity at a demonstration. Continue reading...

The 10 Design Fellows are MIT graduate students working at the intersection of design and multiple disciplines across the Institute.

For California laws, the buck does really stop at Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk. While the Legislature approves hundreds of bills each session — and will add to that list before adjourning Saturday — Newsom decides whether they become law.  As of Aug. 15, Newsom had signed 164 bills and vetoed four. He has until Sept. […]

Past Presentation | After observing exceptionally abnormal rates of cancer in his Minden patients in the mid 1980s, Pakistani-born oncologist Dr. Hassan Amjad became the southern West Virginian town’s greatest champion, advocating fiercely for recognition of the persistent risk to human health caused by carcinogenic PCBs left from the mining industry. Some thirty-five years and three EPA clean-up attempts later, Minden remains largely ignored even as its population has dwindled from over 1200 to just under 250. When Hassan passes from a massive heart attack at the age of 70, his unsuspecting daughter Ayne, also a physician, inherits his decades-long advocacy efforts overnight. Grief-stricken but spurred by her father’s mandate to “help others” at all costs, Ayne hatches an ambitious plan to relocate the entire town to a 97-acre plot of land purchased by her late father as a retirement site. As she mobilizes allies in Minden and beyond, she is surprised to discover that her biggest challenge is an attachment to home that makes the town’s most endangered residents reluctant to leave. When a global pandemic unexpectedly thrusts Ayne into a powerful state government position, she sees an opportunity to move past her stalled relocation efforts and expand her locus of impact well beyond Minden. Ironically, the more Ayne pours herself into this new role, the more distance she creates from her closest allies – the Minden activists that have been involved since her father’s work began some four decades earlier. What’s more, her new work requires that she abandon her private practice and her hopes for a family of her own, subsuming her identity almost completely. As pressures mount on all sides – the creeping sickness of Minden’s aging residents, the growing sense of futility around achieving meaningful change in the cancer-stricken town, and the never ending political stresses associated with working at the state level – Ayne enlists the help of her personal lawyer to build a class-action lawsuit against the EPA in a last-ditch effort to help. Minden’s activist residents bristle at the new attorney’s aggressive approach, and this partnership implodes in dramatic fashion when small town gossip leads to accusations of fraud. Left with few options, Ayne feels stuck between a deeply ingrained mandate to “help others” that is the legacy of her late father and the increasing realization that she is sacrificing her own life in an attempt to do so. With the cathartic acknowledgment that her father’s death continues to haunt her, she must choose between her sense of duty and her own happiness. IMPOSSIBLE TOWN shows us tireless social and environmental struggle through the eyes of a cast of characters that complicate common rural Appalachian stereotypes. Dr. Ayne Amjad alone is a study in contrasts: a devout Republican with a strong activist bent, a daughter of immigrants who is a pillar of her largely white community, and a wealthy physician-turned-public-servant who spends her time advocating for her disenfranchised and low-income neighbors. With Ayne and the rest of our cast, nothing is as it seems. In addition to adding to the breadth of stories about how environmental catastrophes disproportionately affect the poor, IMPOSSIBLE TOWN has much to say about our complex relationships with home – the connections we form with the places we’re from, and the difficulty we have in letting go of those places, even when they’re killing us. Through the ambitions of Ayne and other Minden activists, the film explores the persistent modern American fantasy that complex issues are best solved through singular heroes and miracle solutions rather than the decidedly grittier work of slow and patient social, political, and legal exercises. Most poignantly, IMPOSSIBLE TOWN is an ode to the way we commune with our parents long after they’ve left this plane, their aspirations and legacies lighting our paths to unanticipated destinations, their absence leaving a painful void in our lives that never fully heals.

Southern California's border-adjacent communities are pushing for emergency assistance from regional and state agencies as they contend with a cross-border sewage crisis that is poisoning the air they breathe. The writers, led by Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre, pushed for immediate action to cope with dangerous air pollution impacting area communities, in a Sunday letter...

Environmental Health Sciences, which publishes EHN.org, and ALTAVOZ LAB proudly introduce Alejandra Martinez and Wendy Selene Pérez as the 2023-2024 Environmental Fellows. For the past 9 months, the two journalists have investigated how fenceline residents near the Houston Ship Channel are affected by pollution from the massive petrochemical buildout in the region. This spring they’ll undertake an innovative, on-the-ground outreach effort to ensure impacted communities have access to their reporting and to foster dialogue around solutions.Alejandra Martinez is The Texas Tribune’s Fort Worth-based environmental reporter. She joined the Tribune in the fall of 2022. Alejandra was previously an accountability reporter at KERA, where she began as a Report for America corps member and then covered Dallas City Hall. Before that, she worked as an associate producer at WLRN, South Florida’s public radio station. Alejandra studied journalism at the University of Texas at Austin, and interned at KUT and NPR’s Latino USA. She’s a native of the Aldine area of Harris County and speaks fluent Spanish.Wendy Selene Pérez is a freelance journalist with a two-decade career spanning various media outlets in Mexico, Argentina, and the United States. Her work focuses on social justice, victims of violence, government accountability, transparency, and immigration. Wendy’s articles have been featured in El País, Gatopardo, Proceso, The Baffler, Vice, and Al Día Dallas/The Dallas Morning News. She has held positions such as bureau chief of CNN Mexico, editor of Domingo magazine (El Universal), and multimedia editor of Clarin.com. Previously, she served as the chief multimedia editor of the newspaper Mural (Grupo Reforma). Wendy holds a Master’s Degree in Journalism from Diario Clarín-Universidad de San Andrés-Columbia University, with her thesis titled “La Tierra de las Fosas,” a data-driven journalistic investigation. She has been honored with the National Journalism Awards in Mexico (2019, 2022), the Walter Reuter German Journalism Award (2020), the Breach-Valdez Human Rights Award (2022, 2023), the Texas APME 2021 News Spanish-Language award, the ICFJ’s COVID-19 reporting story contest, and received an honorable mention in the Latin American Investigative Journalism Award (COLPIN, 2022).Perla Trevizo is a reporter for the ProPublica-Texas Tribune Investigative Initiative. Trevizo is a Mexican-American reporter born in Ciudad Juárez and raised across the border in El Paso, Texas, where she began her journalism career. Trevizo spent more than 10 years covering immigration and border issues in Tennessee and Arizona before joining the Houston Chronicle as an environmental reporter. Her work has earned her national and state awards including the Dori J. Maynard Award for Diversity in Journalism, French-American Foundation Immigration Journalism Award, and a national Edward R. Murrow for a story done in collaboration with Arizona Public Media. She was also honored as the 2019 Arizona Journalist of the Year by the Arizona Newspaper AssociationALTAVOZ LAB is a mentorship organization designed to produce collaborative projects to strengthen reporters at community outlets that serve Black, Indigenous, immigrant and other communities of color in the U.S. with the goal of publishing stories that will enable local audiences to participate fully in democracy. "We want to invest in journalists who tell stories not only about but for marginalized communities in innovative ways, fostering collaborations between local publications and Spanish-speaking outlets to deliver information where it can have the greatest impact,” said Valeria Fernández, founder and executive director of ALTAVOZ LAB which started in 2022." This collaboration between Alejandra Martinez and Wendy Selene Pérez is a powerful example of what's possible when we center our journalism on those most impacted by public policies, striving to serve them."The fellows will bolster community networks and bring information about the health and environmental consequences of the expansion of petrochemical projects in Texas to audiences who normally do not have access to such information. Their work will be published in both English and Spanish Support of the ALTAVOZ LAB environmental fellowship is a crucial component of Environmental Health Sciences’ commitment to increasing access to environmental health and justice reporting in Spanish through our EHN en Español initiative. Stay tuned for our upcoming reporting projects.

By Ross Kerber(Reuters) - Many U.S. companies have stepped up reporting on environmental and social matters in recent years even with sustained...

Energy secretary to set out plan to boost renewable energy supply, such as building canopies of solar panels on outdoor car parks Ed Miliband has pledged to bring in “the most ambitious reforms to the country’s energy system in generations” as he presses ahead with plans to accelerate the development of onshore windfarms in England.The energy secretary is to set out the government’s “clean power 2030” plan on Friday, including measures to boost the UK’s renewable energy supply such as building canopies of solar panels on outdoor car parks.Reforming the system for connecting new projects to the national grid to prioritise the most viable projects;Speeding up decisions on planning permission by empowering planners to prioritise critical energy infrastructure;Expanding the renewable auction process to allow funding to be secured before planning permission in an effort to stop delays and get more projects connected;Allowing households to get access to cheaper tariffs at different times of day. Continue reading...

Fewer cows on the farm and a broader range of farming practices, including involvement in the emerging alternative proteins industry, could help New Zealand’s dairy sector remain viable.

Robin Wall Kimmerer changed our ideas of sustainability. Can she do the same for economics?

Prime minister says Tory leader’s attacks on climate targets diminishes government ability to tackle central issueJohn Prescott: share your tributes and memoriesBritish prime minister Keir Starmer says he is “deeply saddened” to hear that Prescott has died, and called him a “true giant of Labour”.In a statement on X, he said, “I am deeply saddened to hear of the death of John Prescott. John was a true giant of the Labour movement. On behalf of the Labour Party, I send my condolences to Pauline and his family, to the city of Hull, and to all those who knew and loved him. May he rest in peace.”He possessed an inherent ability to connect with people about the issues that mattered to them – a talent that others spend years studying and cultivating, but that was second nature to him.He fought like hell to negotiate the Kyoto Protocol and was an unwavering champion of climate action for decades to come. I’m forever grateful to John for that commitment to solving the climate crisis and will miss him as a dear friend.” Continue reading...

PITTSBURGH — Environmental justice advocates gathered last week to celebrate progress and chart a path to the future while focusing on healing, self care and mental health. May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and the Environmental Justice Summit highlighted the need for self-care and connection among researchers and advocates working to advance justice. Exposure to pollution and anxiety about climate change can negatively impact mental health and people who work to right injustices face the risk of compassion fatigue and burnout. “Advancing justice is emotionally difficult work,” Dani Wilson, executive director of the Cancer and Environment Network of Southwestern Pennsylvania, which coordinated the event alongside the University of Pittsburgh, told EHN. “Taking care of ourselves and each other is critical to fostering moments of joy and connection that help us stay in the movement.” Over three days, attendees strategized about how to advance environmental justice in the greater Pittsburgh region and how to foster resilience with tools like meditation, storytelling, community-building, yoga, crafting and cooking. The event also highlighted the importance of humor, connection and optimism. “This is a social movement,” said Jamil Bey, founder of the nonprofit think tank UrbanKind Institute and newly-appointed director of the Department of City Planning for Pittsburgh. “That means that as part of this work, we’ve gotta have fun with our friends. We’ve gotta stay connected and be able to laugh.” On Friday, Dr. Sacoby Wilson, an environmental health scientist, professor and director of the Center for Community Engagement, Environmental Justice and Health at the University of Maryland, set the tone for the day by declaring himself a “hardcore Steelers fan” and waving a Terrible Towel above his head while shouting “Go Steelers!” Wilson peppered an otherwise serious talk about the ravages of environmental racism and his work developing tools to combat it with football jokes, referencing recent quarterback drama (“two quarterbacks are better than one!”), emphasizing the importance of both offense and defense for communities burdened by pollution and quipping that if we want to score a touchdown, the community needs to work as a team. “Where you live can kill you,” Wilson said, noting that poor, Black and Brown neighborhoods in most places, including southwestern Pennsylvania, face higher levels of exposure to pollution that result in worse health outcomes and lowered life expectancy. These places are also more likely to experience the impacts of climate change and other disproportionate harms.“We need a holistic framework for environmental justice that also acknowledges the need for housing justice, economic justice, social justice, educational justice, reproductive justice and racial justice,” he said, “because these things are all connected. And you can’t get equity without justice… And on a separate note, we’re going to the Super Bowl this year, right?” Environmental justice victoriesOther speakers shared recent victories and progress. Professor Tiffany Gary-Webb, the associate dean for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health, shared the results of her work with the Black Environmental Collective and the Black Equity Coalition. The group formed in April 2020 to ensure an equitable response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Pittsburgh and has evolved to continue advancing racial equity in western Pennsylvania. “We used data to try and understand where there were higher rates of COVID and sent those to the county and state health departments. We talked to elected officials and put out our own dashboard with the numbers for Black populations, and through those efforts we were able to get critical resources to our communities and see that data change,” Gary-Webb said, pointing to a study that summarized the group’s effectiveness. “Now we’re continuing that work with a focus on other issues in our communities.” Ash Chan, a farmer and steward at Oasis Farm and Fishery, shared their experience working at a Black-owned garden and market in Pittsburgh’s predominantly Black, working-class Homewood neighborhood, which has a long history of disinvestment and has been without a grocery store since 1994. The organization uses vacant land to grow food and offers classes in urban farming and healthy cooking. “We see food as a driver of social and economic capital, as well as a way that connects people to their cultural roots and their natural environment,” Chan said. “We’re growing what folks want. For example, last year we noticed that elders in the community would line up for okra before we even opened our farmer’s market …so this year we’re growing six different kinds of okra based on that demand.”Bearing witness to injusticeWhile the Summit highlighted progress and promoted resilience, it also emphasized “bearing witness” — a process described by event organizers as actively listening, not looking away, and most importantly, responding — to “the slow violence of environmental degradation on our land.” Participants were invited to attend a “bearing witness ceremony” in Clairton, a small town about 30 miles south of Pittsburgh that regularly sees some of the most polluted air in the country due to emissions from a coal-based U.S. Steel plant. “The injustices are very thick and very brutal in Clairton,” said Melanie Meade, a clean air activist and resident of Clairton. Meade shared the heartbreak she has experienced learning that Clairton’s rate of childhood asthma is more than double the national rate, watching many loved ones die of cancer and witnessing the impacts of poverty and violence. “The people are tired and they are sick and they are in great need, and we need to stand in the way for them.” Later in the day, Kayien Conner, a professor at the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Social Work, told Melanie she’d been moved by her words and asked if she could connect her with an organization she’s involved with that offers mental health resources for Black communities to get additional resources to Clairton. “Yes, please, thank you!” Melanie said. “See? We’re here making connections, collaborating, getting this work done already!” Wilson shouted to applause and laughter.Political optimismSpeakers at the symposium also noted that western Pennsylvania is on the precipice of major political changes that offer many reasons for optimism for environmental advocates, pointing to the election of progressive politicians like Summer Lee and Lindsay Powell and county executive Sara Innamorato, all of whom have pledged to prioritize environmental justice. “We’re really shaking things up politically right now,” said Bey. “If we don’t do this now, then that’s on us. Now is the time. Let’s keep lifting each other up, let’s do our work and let’s get this done.”

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