Social Change

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. 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 and while this is a daunting challenge we still have time to avert a catastrophe. If...

Some are lauding the Tokyo Olympics as the greenest games ever, while others are saying they are among the least sustainable games ever held. Climate change is a concern for sporting events, which is why the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has been improving the sustainability profile of Olympic events in recent years. Last year the IOC announced that all of its upcoming events would be carbon-neutral and, as by 2030, the Olympic games will be "climate positive".  There is good reason for organizers of sporting events to be concerned about climate change. In addition to being a threat to global...

n 2021 the Green Market Oracle is reprising its annual Green School Series. This series is a review of what schools are doing to be more sustainable and advance the environmental agenda. It is also for students and professionals interested in sustainability-focused programs, degrees, and courses.

Each year since 2010 the Green Market Oracle publishes a series of posts addressing a wide range of green school-related subjects. In addition to green school buildings, and their reliance on renewable energy this series has reviewed hundreds of sustainability-focused schools. courses degrees and accreditation as well as a wide range of related topics.  The eleventh edition of the Green School Series includes 23 posts bringing the total number of posts in this series to 422 (to see all the posts click here). Posts in the 2020 and 2021 Green School Series address topics like disinformation, academic programs, school rankings,...

On the fourth of July 2021, Americans need to declare their independence from Republican lies and dirty sources of energy. Two hundred and forty-five years ago, US colonies freed themselves from the injustice of British rule, now America needs to free itself from the tyranny of disinformation and fossil fuels. The Declaration of Independence is a statement adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776. On that day, thirteen American colonies proclaimed their freedom from Great Britain. Today America needs to free itself from the unholy alliance between the fossil fuel companies and the GOP that is driving disinformation...

This is a time of reckoning, a time to listen, a time to make space for Indigenous voices, and a time to support Indigenous solutions. Canada Day 2021 takes place against the backdrop of the tragic discovery of more than 1000 unmarked graves of Indigenous children that have been found on the grounds of residential schools. Until recently, the children of Canada's First Nations were forcibly enrolled in 139 residential reform schools. These prison-like schools were institutionalized instruments of cultural genocide. They separated Indigenous children from their parents, deprived them of their culture, their language, and their identities. These children...