Social Change

Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber may have impressive green credentials, but many are saying his role as an oil company CEO disqualifies him as the host of this year’s global climate conference.  His critics say it is unconscionable that the head of a major oil producer is being allowed to oversee COP28. Al Jaber is the first CEO and the first head of an oil company to be president-designate of a COP meeting. His appointment has encountered considerable resistance from civil society and legislators. More than 400 environmental groups sent a letter to the UN secretary-general saying that Al Jaber’s position...

After decades of controlling public narratives with disinformation, the fossil fuel industry is presiding over critical talks to limit global warming.   As we teeter on the cusp of catastrophe, a petrostate is set to host this year’s conference of the parties, and an oil CEO is the president-delegate. Taking control of COP28, is the fossil fuel industry’s crowning achievement, a surreal moment to be sure, and one that will live in infamy.   The fossil fuel industry is the cause of a wide array of environmental, social, and economic harms and as such they have no place at a climate conference....

Environmental governance provides frameworks for the complex, multifaceted political, social, and economic actions required to address the polycrisis.  The urgency of the need for expedited action makes environmental governance more important than ever before. Although ongoing ecological degradation has made many understandably pessimistic, we have witnessed major progress in the realm of environmental governance in recent years. In the last few years alone, we have seen historic global agreements, important political changes, and shifting business priorities.  What is environmental governance? There are different types of environmental governance, but in its simplest essence, it is a system of administration and a way of...

What will it take for us to avoid a climate catastrophe and stem biodiversity loss? Will we continue to ignore incontrovertible evidence calling for change? Is humanity doomed to destroy itself? We are facing the perilous combination of climate pollution and environmental degradation. Research reaffirms what we already know, human activities are systematically dismantling the planet's interrelated ecosystem. A World Wildlife Fund (WWF) report indicated that we have lost almost 70 percent of wildlife populations in the last half-century, we are losing dozens of species every year and one million species are currently at risk of extinction. A 2022 IPCC...

In September 2021, Patagonia was recognized as the world’s most responsible company and in September 2022, the sustainability juggernaut took its support for the planet to a whole new level by donating the entire enterprise to environmental causes. As explained in the company's mission, "We’re in business to save our home planet". Sustainability is woven into Patagonia’s DNA. Although many companies now make this claim, in Patagonia’s case it is true.  Patagonia is a long-time sustainability leader, in the 80s the company started donating to the "1% for the Planet," and it has since donated $140 million to environmental groups as part...

You cannot be faulted for failing to notice the long list of environmental wins that occurred in 2021.  Good news stories do not have the sensationalistic allure of dramatic prophecies of doom, but once you get past the dire headlines, there is a litany of overlooked achievements that tangibly illustrate progress. Environmental successes are easily overlooked in a world ravaged by climate change, biodiversity loss, an ongoing global pandemic and attacks against democracy. We are bombarded with apocalyptic predictions that seem to celebrate defeatism, however, contrary to the prognostications of the ubiquitous prophets of doom, we still have time to act. ...

Enemies of democracy fear protestors so they find ways to malign them. In the United States, Republicans and their supporters in conservative media are selling the big lie, flouting science-based measures to combat Covid and resisting climate action. They have also tried to equate peaceful protestors with the 1/6 insurrectionists. This type of false equivalency has become the mainstay of Republican politicians and conservative media. Although they may demonize protestors, America's storied history reveals that protest has been a catalyst for groundbreaking progress, Some of America's greatest achievements were born out of protest. The women's rights movement led to the 19th...

The fossil fuel industry is the primary driver of climate change, they pollute the air we breathe and the water we drink, they also subvert democracy and deceive people with clever disinformation campaigns.  The spill off the coast of Huntington Beach in California is another tangible reminder of the destructive impact of fossil fuels. This pipeline breach may not equal the scale of the Exxon Valdez disaster in Alaska or the ongoing toll on wildlife from BP's Deepwater Horizon catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico, but it has destroyed sensitive wetlands and killed thousands of fish and birds.  Thousands of...

Big Oil uses its tremendous wealth to influence students with disinformation campaigns designed to promote fossil fuels, conceal the facts and obstruct climate science.  This includes petro-pedagogy that deceives children in public schools and deprives them of a science-based education. University activists are increasingly citing the oil and gas industry's targeting of kids in the classroom as another reason to divest from fossil fuels. Climate education is a problem at many of America's 100,000 public schools. As reported by Newsweek, an NCSE survey revealed that teachers offer their students very little climate education and when they do, it is often inaccurate (60%...

Education that improves climate literacy builds consensus and lays the foundation for the acquisition of the specialized expertise required to solve the problems we face. Education including basic scientific literacy is a catalyst for change and a bulwark against misinformation and disinformation that impedes action. Our failure to recognize and address the fossil fuel industry's disinformation has delayed climate action. A well-informed population also serves the public interest on many other levels. People who are apprised of the threats faced by civilization can make informed decisions in their personal lives and at the ballot box. No threat looms larger than climate change...