Imagine what we mothers could do if we brought that spirit of loud, uncompromising, creative defiance to the necessary project of dismantling the fossil fuel industry and emancipating renewable energy, which is its hostage? Imagine hundreds and hundreds of mothers peacefully blockading the infrastructure projects of the fossil fuel industry, day after day. Imagine us, [...]
After two days of enduring Hurricane Sandy’s wrath, Americans in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions are now experiencing the aftermath of the Frankenstorm, one of the worst natural disasters this country has ever faced. Schools, businesses and mass-transit systems were shut down Monday and Tuesday, and many are closed today as well. New York City [...]
I’ve spent the last nine months giving birth to a new organization, really an act of incredible team gestation, called Moms Clean Air Force. The labor took place on my kitchen table, but before I start hyperventilating I’ll leave off the birth metaphors. We are mobilizing to fight air pollution as a children’s health issue—reminding [...]
What is the connection between greenhouse gas emissions and gender inequality? Women. A new report released in late March says women are invaluable when it comes to impacting climate change. Sociologists Christina Ergas and Richard York from the University of Oregon conducted a study which found that countries with more women in political decision-making positions [...]
The latest book from environmentalist Frances Moore Lappé–author of the bestselling Diet for a Small Planet–could not have been published at a better time. As Occupy protests across the United States challenge gross economic disparities, Lappé’s EcoMind calls for a drastic rethinking of how markets should work, in a grand vision that weaves together environmental [...]
A women’s movement is brewing in America’s heartland, and it’s not about the glass ceiling, equal pay or sexual harassment. It’s about the survival of local communities, the health of their citizens, and ultimately, the planet. The battle is taking place in Appalachia, where much of our coal is mined, shipped and burned, and where [...]
Women traversed the globe from as far as Ecuador, Nigeria, Colombia and Indonesia to make their voices heard today at Chevron’s annual shareholder’s meeting in California. In contrast to last year–when activists were denied the mic–22 indigenous, First Nation and other community activists spoke at the meeting, supported by 150 protesters who gathered outside. Chevron [...]
Is environmentalism a feminist issue? Well, it’s hard to argue with the fact that climate change disproportionately affects poor women and children, especially in the Global South. Also, pollution and a lack of clean drinking water and sanitation services are daily issues women must combat. And that’s just a start of an answer to the [...]
One year ago today, 50 miles off the coast of Louisiana, two explosions rocked the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, which burst into flames and sent its terrified workers scattering for safety in the smoky, roaring darkness. Survivors threw themselves into burning lifeboats or jumped into the water 100 feet below. Eleven people died on April [...]
The bees are all women, Maids and the long royal lady. They have got rid of the men, The blunt, clumsy stumblers, the boors. –an excerpt from “Wintering,” by Sylvia Plath As it gets colder, I wonder about the girls I left behind at my house down south. I’m talking about the spiders, the ants, [...]
