More Than A Magazine, A Movement
President-Elect Joe Biden selected former Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm as the next secretary of energy.
“My commitment to clean energy was forged in the fire,” Granholm said, reflecting on the important role that clean energy played in restoring Michigan’s economy after the 2008 recession.
President-Elect Joe Biden selected Brenda Mallory to chair the Council on Environmental Quality. She would be the first Black American to hold the position since the Council’s creation in 1970.
President-Elect Joe Biden selected former Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator Gina McCarthy as the first national climate adviser. In her new role, she will lead the new White House Office of Domestic Climate Policy, pulling from her experience under the Obama administration.
Sunniva Sorby of Canada and Hilde Fålun Strøm of Norway, two citizen scientists, became the first women to overwinter alone—or spend the winter—in the Arctic, without men.
These two have returned to overwinter in the high Arctic for the second time, bringing groundbreaking scientific research to prestigious institutions while raising awareness about climate change.
In his newest round of Cabinet nominations, President-Elect Joe Biden tapped Rep. Deb Haaland (D-N.M.) as the first Indigenous secretary of the interior. Haaland, who currently serves as vice chair of the House Committee on Natural Resources, would also be the first Native American to ever hold a secretary position in the Cabinet.
She spoke alongside fellow climate and energy appointees on Saturday, Dec. 19, promising to “be fierce for all of us, for our planet and all of our protective land.”
In every issue of Ms., we track research on our progress in the fight for equality, catalogue can’t-miss quotes from feminist voices and keep tabs on the feminist movement’s many milestones. We’re Keeping Score online, too—in in this biweekly round-up.
This week: Just 27 of 249 congressional Republicans acknowledge Joe Biden as president-elect; Laverne Cox opens up about transphobia; Barbara Kavovit is leading the tear-down of Harvey Weinstein’s former office; Dr. Jill Biden defends her hard work; Elliot Page comes out as trans; ParityBOT supports women candidates online; 15-year-old Gitanjali Rao is first TIME Kid of the Year; House Democrats vote to legalize marijuana; BuzzFeed subpoenaed by ICE; Greta Thunberg is editor for a day; and more!
In this edition of The Weekly Pulse: updates on the pandemic, including new info on the coronavirus vaccine and when you can expect to receive it; a rundown on the state of reproductive health and rights; and finally, a roundup of health news related to climate change, policing and conversion therapy bans.
We face a global climate crisis; its cause is as well-known as its cure. We are destroying our home by the way that we produce and use fossil fuels. In her reporting, Antonia Juhasz explores the many ways that women and girls from Afghanistan to Alabama are leading the way to the end of the fossil fuel era.
“Will the rest of us be brave enough to follow their leadership?”
In many cases to come—including some in the next few months—federal courts will issue rulings on whether the federal government can take action to combat the climate crisis, and to what extent. A new justice could tip the scales.
The government’s ability and responsibility to protect our clean air is at risk.
In the midst of this climate emergency, there are, of course, many who have been—and are—ringing the alarm bells. It has become increasingly evident that young people are the leaders of the swelling climate justice movement, with young women at the forefront of this work.
