environmental justice
190 Countries Meet on Climate Change
Last week, delegates from 190 countries attended the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Doha, Qatar. In 1992, the first UNFCCC conference was held in Rio de Janeiro and was known as the Earth Summit. Each year the conference seeks to identify agreements among world governments to…
Stop the Frack Attack
Across the United States, the development of natural gas via hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling currently occurs in 32 states. As the development of shale gas has increased, so has the number of community groups united in an effort to end hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in their communities. Last week, more…
Fresh Water Deficit
People need fresh water to live; manufacturers need fresh water to produce; and economic growth is dependent on abundant fresh water supplies. Water is essential for moving waste, keeping us and the environment healthy, as well as for producing food, clothing, and iPhones. Yet, most people in the developed world…
The importance of Rio + 20
In 1992 the United Nations hosted the Earth Summit, a conference on the environment and development, in Rio de Janeiro. Ten years later the World Summit on Sustainable Development was held in 2002 in Johannesburg. Now, twenty years since the original conference, the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, Rio…
Gulf Coast, 2 Years After Deepwater Horizon
New Orleans, Louisiana is, hands down, my favorite U.S. city. I have visited this city more times than I can count and I just returned from a week in the Big Easy. The city is seemingly vibrant and rebuilding itself from the destruction of Katrina and the subsequent failure of…
Raising Elijah, and a call for the Precautionary Principle
I was first introduced to ecologist Sandra Steingraber’s work through Orion Magazine and have always considered her writing thought-provoking and meaningful. Her recently published book, Raising Elijah: Protecting Our Children in an Age of Environmental Crisis…, is no exception. As a cancer survivor, Steingraber has dedicated herself to exploring
