Grief and Gratitude in a New Mexico Fire
Shortly before midnight on May 3, we directly and personally entered the growing multitudes of climate evacuees. Such an event was not unexpected. Our forests had become drier than kiln-finished lumber. If you struck 100 matches and dropped them to the ground, 90 to 94 of them would ignite a fire. Precipitation had become a long-lost friend. The link of a warming climate to such a cataclysmic event was evident throughout the region long before the fire drew its first breath.
Should climate denial be illegal?
This might not surprise many of you, but I want to talk about the new IPCC climate report. What might surprise you is that I want to talk only about one word in the report: “unequivocal.” Ok, two more as well: “virtually certain,” which is scientific shorthand for a 99-100% certainly level (one rarely used by […]
Back To Normal? Is That What We Really Want?
Here’s the thing: there’s a COVID pandemic raging around the world, with more than half a million new cases every day (and someone dying from COVID every 7.2 seconds). But in the US, we’re suddenly in a happy little bubble where infections have fallen and people are heading to restaurants, gyms, and organizing their summer travel plans. […]
Protecting the páramos in Colombia
On a recent, pre-pandemic journey to the High Andes of Colombia, I found myself surrounded by one of the region’s emblematic species, the flowering shrubs known locally as frailejones or “big monks.” These giant plants, relatives of sunflowers from the Espeletia genus, mesmerized me, their yellow buds and silvery hairs glistening in the intense, ephemeral sunlight. Looking out over […]
México: The 4th Transformation in a Global Context
It is becoming clear that the future of the planet is red and green. It is equally clear that Mexico’s situation is neither exclusive nor unique, but rather replicates what is happening on a global scale, where the citizens of the world take on diverse forces in order to reduce, stop or suppress the double exploitation that a minority of minorities is imposing on the work of humans and of nature. The enormous ignorance prevailing among leaders and theorists of Mexican emancipation about what is taking place in the rest of the world, limits and reveals them. It is not only about keeping in mind the social and environmental struggles of Latin America, but of many other regions.
Will the COVID vaccine lead to a boom in consumerism?
2020 was a year lived in fear—fear of the surprise arrival of a novel coronavirus, of not understanding it, of getting it, of watching a loved one get it—never being sure if they’d survive. Now, with the vaccine being distributed (6.7 million doses have been given in the US as of 01/08/21), I find myself, […]
Joining Hearts & Hands: From Movie to Movement
“It’s mind blowing to us that 3,770 people registered for this event and more than 40,000 joined us online for the panel discussion,” said film co-director Clement Guerra. “This event connected us from North to South in a powerful and historic collective moment for the climate justice struggle.”
The Condor & The Eagle: Portrait of a Movement
“If taking a pen and writing a book would have been more effective than making a movie, that’s what we would have done,” said Clement Guerra, director of The Condor & The Eagle, a documentary about four indigenous women leaders in a transcontinental adventure, from the boreal forests of Canada to the heart of the Amazon rainforest, reflecting the indigenous struggle to protect land and water.
Our Top 10 stories of 2019 reflect the hunger for fresh ideas and different voices — people who are tackling the issues of climate change, environmental destruction, mass migration, food security, femicide and human rights — especially indigenous rights. The popularity of these stories also show that people are ready for younger and alternative visions — and those, as you may have noticed, are our specialty.
“Why are we hauling giant container shiploads of Christmas decorations from Vietnam to England? Don’t the English know how to make decorations?”
The Devastation of the Chiquitanía in the decline of Evo Morales
The year that is coming to an end will be remembered in Bolivia not only for the hurricane winds that drove the fall of Evo Morales, the country’s first indigenous president; but also because of the fires those winds brought with them. They burned forests, ecological reserves, indigenous territories and national parks in eight of […]
Mamos of Colombia Issue Call for Help
An unprecedented wave of wildfires has devastated communities in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. Three deaths have been reported, two victims from the Kogi and one from the Wiwa communities. Many animals have died, especially the sheep that produce wool used to make traditional bags, several mules, and horses. The costs of the damages […]
A Kinder, More Beautiful Activism
Gentle is not the same as weak. If you don’t believe it, just askSarah Corbett. I first encountered Sarah in my research for a story on activism for introverts. Her now famous Ted Talk inspired me to seek her out, and luckilyfor me, she responded, leading to several stories – one for RiceBusiness Wisdom and […]
Recently I had the chance to sit down with Michael Kodas, the author of Megafire: The Race to Extinguish a Deadly Epidemic of Flame. The context was a story about the increasingly intense fires in the American West and the impact this might have on our National Parks. Michael, a former firefighter in addition to […]
Rob Hopkins, Transition and the Power of Just Doing Stuff
By Tracy L. Barnett For Magis Magazine Once there lived a permaculturist, far from the city on an old Irish farm. Together with his wife and four children they had nearly finished creating the house of their dreams, a house of cob in a grassy ecovillage with an organic farm. By day he taught permaculture […]
From caterpillars to butterflies: Mayan dreams for 2012
The last golden rays of 2011 slipped away gloriously yesterday, lingering across the chalky face of the Pinnacles, an ancient towering limestone formation in the north of Boone County, Missouri – one of the places on this planet I will always call home. The unseasonable warmth had us removing layers as we scrambled up to […]
Meet Anna and Dave, the Permacyclists
Meet Dave and Anna, the Permacyclists. She was a corporate lawyer from Brussels; he was a sociologist from New York. Neither of them was happy with their chosen profession, and after a great deal of soul searching, they decided to do what many dream of but few actually do: They quit their jobs, studied permaculture, […]
From sierra to sea: Huichols make their mark on Cancun
CANCUN – “Arriving at the ocean is very important; you can’t just walk up to it like it’s a common thing,” Antonio told us as we bumped along through the night on our way to Isla Blanca. “We consider the sea to be sacred; we come from the sea. We have to ask permission to […]
Party with a purpose at the Farm
Saturday dawned misty and chilly, but it didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of the crowds who flocked to the Last Organic Outpost Saturday to celebrate the two-year anniversary of the group’s Emile Street Farm, learn about food security, forage for wild edibles, eat organic tamales and meet interesting folks. (photos by Mona Metzger of Houston Green […]
Today I will follow in the footsteps of Ernest Hemingway, Che Guevara and Celia Cruz to the irrepressible rhythm of the Cuban son – emanating from Cuban human beings, not my CD collection or a cover band in downtown Houston. Far from the Bayou City, I’ll savor the sunset breezes on the Malecón, the famous […]
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