News & Commentary

When You Poison Our Lands, You Poison Us

October 25, 2023 PerspectivesArizona, South DakotaHannah Throssell

The granddaughter of a Navajo uranium miner stands with the Standing Rock Sioux against DAPL.

Looking for Climate Connections (and Berries) Through Traditional Indigenous Knowledge

October 5, 2023 PerspectivesMontanaDominique Nault

When trying to protect lands from the onslaught of climate change, start by asking the people who know those places and their wild inhabitants the best. 

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.  

From Dams to DAPL, the Army Corps’ Culture of Disdain for Indigenous Communities Must End

September 13, 2023 PerspectivesUnited States, MidwestTroy Pretends Eagle

The prophesied “Seventh Generation” is here—demanding justice for tribes and protecting what they have left. 

Poets Imagine a Different Climate Narrative

March 30, 2023 PerspectivesUnited StatesCourtney Lindwall, Rachel Eliza Griffiths, Sean Hill, Jane Wong

Three writers counter despair and summon courage in facing the challenges of our warming world.

Public Lands Are Not Neutral. We Must Grapple with Their Racist Roots.

February 2, 2023 PerspectivesUnited StatesCarolyn Ramírez

Green spaces should feel like everyone’s backyard.

Five Indigenous Poets Explore Loss and Love of their Native Lands

November 1, 2021 PerspectivesUnited StatesCourtney Lindwall

From saguaros to sacred waters, the writers weave their personal relationships to the environment with the ancestral.

These Photographs Show How the Rising Sea Connects Us All

October 21, 2021 PerspectivesInternationalJeff Turrentine

In images both beautiful and disturbing, photographer Kadir van Lohuizen documents how sea level rise is altering coastlines—and lives—around the world.

They’re Spreading the Joy of Birding—and Making It More Inclusive

October 13, 2021 PerspectivesUnited StatesKeith Mulvihill

A birding podcast host, a science journalist, and a conservationist strive to share their passion with more BIPOC birders like themselves.

This Smithsonian Exhibit Will Leave You Both Unsettled and Inspired about the Anthropocene

October 8, 2021 PerspectivesUnited StatesJason Bittel

The mash-up of art and science examines humanity’s impact on the world—and our power to do something about it.

Grandma’s Garden: A Place of Resistance, Abundance, and Black Environmental Memory

June 14, 2021 PerspectivesUnited StatesRasheena Fountain

My connection to the land cannot be erased—it grows with my remembrance of ancestors and my reimagining of boundaries.

The Future Has Spoken: It’s Time to Shut Down DAPL and Stop Line 3

May 24, 2021 PerspectivesUnited StatesNicole Greenfield

Frontline Indigenous youth, who have been standing up against destructive oil pipelines for years, are imploring President Biden to join them in protecting their water, lands, and cultures.

The Story of Colonialism and Climate Change Told Through Centuries of Indigenous Artworks

November 24, 2020 PerspectivesNew York CityIngrid Abramovitch

Two exhibits at the Brooklyn Museum explore Native perceptions of nature and themselves.

In Oklahoma, “Yet Another Broken Promise” to Native Americans

October 21, 2020 PerspectivesOklahomaJeff Turrentine

How Governor Stitt teamed up with the head of the EPA to keep tribes from regulating fracking and industrial pollution on their own lands.

Putting an End to “Colonial Science”

August 27, 2020 PerspectivesInternationalJeff Turrentine

The scientific community is starting to confront internal biases that support social stratification, hinder international cooperation, and—sometimes—impair research.

My Pursuit of Happiness in Afro-Environmentalism

August 11, 2020 PerspectivesUnited StatesZaria Howell

Not wanting to buy into the exploitations of racial capitalism, I find freedom in living with less stuff—but more nature, more time, and more joy.

A Place of Freedom and Belonging in the Great Outdoors

July 16, 2020 PerspectivesMardi Fuller

From Jamaica to New Hampshire, a Black activist discusses her wilderness legacy and efforts to create new cultural memories and rituals out on the trail.

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.

These Fanciful Sea Creatures Were Carried in on the Tide

June 2, 2020 PerspectivesOregonPatrick Rogers

An Oregon community is making spectacular statues out of ocean plastic to raise awareness about a crisis at sea.

This Muralist Is on His Way to Painting 50,000 Bees Around the World

April 14, 2020 PerspectivesUnited StatesCourtney Lindwall

Representing the number of honeybees that live in a healthy hive, Matthew Willey’s creations remind us of the pollinators’ plight and how our worlds intersect.