The coast of South Africa’s Eastern Cape, near the Dwesa-Cwebe Nature Reserve, is a picture of calm. Clouds rest on the horizon, and gentle waves turn the sand into a reflection of the blue sky. But this serenity faces a threat—one driven by the demands of a warming climate and an economy rooted in fossil […]
Tag: environment
The Unplugged Reality of Electric Vehicles and Clean Transportation
In 2016, the California Senate passed SB-32, requiring that state greenhouse gas emissions be reduced to 40% below 1990 levels by 2030. In 2018, California Governor Jerry Brown issued EO-B-55-18, establishing the statewide goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2045. Today, nearly six years later, the state is not on track to meet either target. […]
Driving Towards a Cleaner California
The future of electric vehicles along with climate change is not as far away as we may have thought. In 2020, Gavin Newsom announced, via Executive Order N-79-20, that California car dealerships will no longer be selling gas-powered vehicles by 2035. The California Air and Resource Board (CARB) has been working to implement cleaner practices […]
Panda-Monium: The Love Story of Pandas and Washington
In 1972, two ambassadors left China for the U.S. They did not speak a word of English or Mandarin. In fact, they could hardly walk on two feet. These were not people, but pandas, China’s national animal. Since arriving in America, they have become an enduring symbol of the goodwill and cooperation between China and […]
Environmental Activism: Eco or Ego?
2023 was set to become the hottest year on record. Carbon dioxide levels are at their highest point in history. Heat waves and wildfires are scorching our planet… Need I go on? It is impossible to turn a blind eye to the climate crisis we face today. And many of us aren’t—we feel we are […]
Red-Tagging and Reclamation: Manila Bay Activists Freed!
On September 2, 2023, Jhed Tamano, a programme coordinator of the Community and Church Program for Manila Bay of the Ecumenical Bishops Forum, and Jonila Castro, a member of the Alliance for the Defense of Livelihood, Housing and Environment in Manila Bay, went missing while volunteering in a fishing community near Manila Bay. Local eyewitnesses reported […]
Prescribed Burns As The Solution To California’s Increasingly Incendiary Forests
The weather has been a running joke for residents of San Francisco. Karl, the name they have given their fog, blankets their sky year-round. There is no snow season (it has snowed six times in the last 150 years.) And, due to California’s historic drought, residents of The City are losing their rainy season. But […]
A New Front in the Republicans’ Culture War: The Environment and ESG
In the past year, there’s been a push to include environmental considerations in investing and corporate operations. Now, it’s a “culture war” on Wall Street’s doorstep for investors and a partisan debate in states like Florida. You may recognize this as part of the unfolding story on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) — a new […]
An Open Letter to the Fashion Industry: Forget Your Instagram Posts, Change Your Supply Chain
Fast fashion disproportionately affects women on both the consumer and producer end. According to Vogue Business, “more than half [of women] reported buying most of their clothes from fast-fashion brands” and young women between the ages of 18 and 24 make 80% of fast fashion clothing. This parasitic relationship only became possible in the past […]
The Little Red Dot’s Solution to the Environmental Crisis
In 1798, economist Thomas Malthus proposed his theory of the Earth’s carrying capacity. Taking into consideration various environmental factors, he posited that humans will eventually exhaust Earth’s finite supply of natural resources, placing a hard cap on human population growth. In the modern context, the dire state of climate change is the primary culprit for […]