News & Commentary

Water Is Life—from Standing Rock to Oaxaca’s Mixtecan Highlands

September 18, 2023 PerspectivesMexico, West, South DakotaElybeth Sofia Alcantar

A geographer sees a familiar pattern of government-backed energy projects devastating Indigenous communities and violating tribal sovereignty.  

Mapping Urban Heat Islands Is Helping These Neighborhoods Adapt

August 1, 2023 DispatchRaleigh, North Carolina, United StatesCourtney Lindwall

The Urban Heat Island mapping campaign is the largest national effort of its kind to identify why one section of a city can feel so different from another on any given summer day.

Under “Food Apartheid,” Urban Farms Are More Important Than Ever

April 28, 2023 DispatchUnited States, Indiana, IndianapolisJeff Turrentine

But BIPOC urban farmers continue to face unique challenges—including inequitable access to land and loans.

The Biden Administration Cancels Its Offshore Drilling Plan for Alaska’s Cook Inlet—Let’s Keep It Off the Books

May 13, 2022 DispatchAlaskaSusan Cosier

The lease sale would have endangered Indigenous communities, threatened rare whales, added to the Far North’s climate crisis, and gambled with a 20 percent chance for a large oil spill.

For Thousands of Years, Indigenous Tribes Have Been Planting for the Future

November 30, 2021 DispatchIowa, Canada, Pennsylvania, OklahomaSusan Cosier

With yields of biodiversity and a more climate-resilient food supply, a movement is sprouting in BIPOC communities across North America to save heirloom seeds and preserve culture.

From Memphis to the White House, This Advocate Is Confronting Redlining and Environmental Injustice

October 25, 2021 DispatchMemphis, FlintShelia Hu

LaTricea Adams, who founded Black Millennials for Flint, is now pushing the Biden administration to remediate the impacts of our country’s historically racist policies.

Oysters: Raw Bar Delicacy or Climate Warrior?

October 18, 2021 DispatchNorth CarolinaJodi Helmer

The mighty bivalves are both, and this former schoolteacher and bartender seeks to inspire a new generation of aquaculturists while putting North Carolina oysters on the map.

Will Hawai‘i Show the Rest of the Nation the Way to Clean Up the Power Sector?

September 16, 2021 DispatchHawaiiD. W. Gibson

To help achieve 100 percent renewable energy by 2045, the state’s electric utilities now need to take up climate action if they want to turn a profit.

The South’s Clean Energy Disruption

August 17, 2021 DispatchFlorida, Texas, MemphisRobynne Boyd

The region’s heritage of fossil fuels falters as clean energy rises in its place.

Defenders of Homes, Hills, and Heritage Unite Against the Mountain Valley Pipeline

August 13, 2021 DispatchVirginia, West Virginia, North CarolinaNicole Greenfield

Meet five people who are fighting on the ground—from Virginia, West Virginia, and North Carolina—to stop the destructive fossil fuel project before it’s too late.

Communities to Coal Plants: Clean Up Your Mess Before You Go!

July 29, 2021 DispatchTennesseeAustyn Gaffney

Distrust in the TVA runs deep in eastern Tennessee, and as the utility shutters two power plants—Bull Run and Kingston—local activists fear it will close up shop without safely containing its leaky pits of toxic sludge and ash.

A Leader for Conservation in Gabon and Beyond

May 21, 2021 DispatchAfricaMelissa Denchak

Dr. Aurélie Flore Koumba Pambo works to preserve and protect the biological wealth of this central African coastal nation while also advocating for a global agreement to safeguard one-third of earth’s ecosystems by 2030.

A Native Hawaiian Digs into Her Roots to Grow Food, Knowledge, and Hope

May 18, 2021 DispatchHawaiiJeff Turrentine

Inspired by an ancient system of natural resource management, Kukui Maunakea-Forth works with her community to turn Oʻahu youth into farmers—and scholars.

Fighting Inequity with Solar Power

March 30, 2021 DispatchMinneapolis, St. PaulSusan Cosier

Minneapolis’s 4d program to boost energy efficiency and affordable housing in the city is kicking it up a notch.

Capturing the Climate Crisis—in Song

March 3, 2021 PerspectivesCanadaJeff Turrentine

On her new album, indie-pop artist Tamara Lindeman explores the complicated ways that climate change is changing . . . us.

Honolulu Charts a Path Away from Fossil Fuels

March 2, 2021 DispatchHawaii, HonoluluCourtney Lindwall

As part of the American Cities Climate Challenge, a coalition of climate advocates just helped pass a series of bills that will curb emissions and rein in Honolulu’s sky-high cost of living at once.

For a Family in Mexico, a Mission to Protect Monarchs

February 9, 2021 DispatchMexicoNicole Greenfield

Siblings Joel, Anayeli, and Patricio Moreno see the future of their community and that of the butterflies that migrate annually to the local Cerro Pelón forest as being intimately connected.

Climate Change Floods North Carolina’s Housing Market

October 6, 2020 DispatchNorth CarolinaJodi Helmer

As sea level and extreme weather risks rise, larger down payments, inequities in insurance, and heirs’ properties could leave coastal residents drowning in debt and devalued homes.

Remembering Eeyou Pimatseewin, the Cree Life

June 18, 2020 PerspectivesCanada

Allan Saganash Jr. grew up in the bush, living off the land—then watched as industry shrank and changed his beloved boreal forest home. He’s determined to save what’s left.

Agrivoltaics: Sheep (and Soil Scientists) Juice Up the Solar Farm

February 20, 2020 DispatchGeorgia, North Carolina, EastRobynne Boyd

Solar farmers get a hand from regenerative agriculture experts to feed the soil under their arrays—another powerful tool to help fight climate change.