Data centers are booming nationwide, powering AI and our digital lives — but at what cost to communities? In this Earth Week 2026 episode of 22 Minutes With…, Ashish Kapoor, Senior Energy & Climate Advisor at the Piedmont Environmental Council (PEC), reveals the environmental and economic impacts of the data center surge, especially in Virginia.

From massive energy demand, water strain, and diesel pollution to rising utility bills and land grabs, Kapoor breaks down the real footprint of these facilities and why ratepayers — not just tech giants — are footing the bill. Drawing on PEC’s successful fights against bad projects and their push for smarter solutions like agrivoltaics and distributed energy, he shares practical tools for communities: local listening, coalitions, and policy wins that protect land, air, and wallets.

This is your guide to understanding data center impacts, cutting through the hype, and fighting back with facts.

Ashish Kapoor is the Senior Energy & Climate Advisor at The Piedmont Environmental Council, where he works on clean energy policy issues at the local and state levels. He recently developed an innovative agrivoltaics project in Virginia that combines crop farming, solar energy production and battery backup. Ashish grew up in western Pennsylvania and New Jersey. He graduated from Pennsylvania State University’s Schreyer Honors College with a Bachelor’s in Economics and Political Science and subsequently received a J.D. from Rutgers School of Law in Newark, New Jersey. During and after law school, Ashish worked as a public policy attorney on a variety of issues, including environmental and social justice in the U.S. and abroad. Most recently, he worked as a national solar consultant at Sunrun, the nation’s largest residential solar company.

Introduction

Hi, I am Kathleen Rogers, President at EARTHDAY.ORG, and welcome to 22 minutes with. Today, we have a special guest Ashish Kapoor, Senior Energy & Climate Advisor, Piedmont Environmental Council, Virginia. Welcome, Ashish. 

Interview questions

Q: Tell us a bit about PEC and what you do.

AK:  I’m the senior energy and climate advisor at Piedmont Environmental Council. Piedmont Environmental Council has been around for over 50 years and really works in a few different spaces. So there’s a whole team of folks that work on preserving natural resources, historic resources and land. We donate to food pantries, use regenerative practices, and really sort of volunteer driven, with some full time staff there that really run the operations, but have a lot of folks out there learn about farming, and take those lessons back to the community. I work sort of at the cross-section of all of those issues, on the energy and climate side.

Q: PEC has a long track record of winning land‑use fights with communities, like stopping Disney’s development in an historic battle, and dozens of other really bad projects . What made those community campaigns successful?

AK: There is a Virginia conservation network that was born out of those processes, which is a coalition of hundreds of environmental groups in Virginia that work on everything from water quality to the Chesapeake Bay, to tree plantings, to energy equity, to the clean energy transition, and peaker plants and everything in between. So a really robust and diverse coalition was born out of that. And I think that’s the same energy that we’ve taken and the same lessons we’ve taken into the data center coalition.

We founded the Data Center Coalition a few years back. Similarly, just various stakeholders, individuals and groups. Let’s first of all, get informed on this data center issue that’s really reared its head over the last few years in Virginia. Get really sort of on the ground information, scientifically sourced information, work with universities, share that info, communicate it through town halls, community meetings, email alerts, videos and whatever medium.

So, to your question, it’s that local engagement, the fact that we all have agency at a time. I think when things feel so big and so overwhelming the temptation to doom scroll is understandable. But you know these things like data centers there’s no cloud. There’s steel and concrete on the ground and there’s infrastructure impacts.we see our roles as being amongst the groups that sort of coalesced coalitions to use in-house expertise to tell that story and then use that to create policy. 

Q: Data centers are coming to towns everywhere, not just Virginia. How big is this national boom, and what is driving it?

AK: AI is driving this demand. Generative AI is driving this demand. Crypto’s driving this demand. Whatever comes to fruition. We have to build the electric infrastructure, right? And we have to build, you know, billions of dollars of transmission, billions of dollars in gas plants. 

Q: I recently watched  your TEDx talk, 3 ways to find the radical middle, you describe the ‘radical middle’ and three tools for getting there: reverse empathy, courageous vulnerability, and local listening. What does that look like when a community is split over data centers, and how has it shaped your approach?

AK: That is really kind of based on my own life experience and also my experience working at PEC and those issues, you know, local listening, reverse empathy, courageous vulnerability. They inform all issues, including data centers. Whether folks agree with us or not, hearing what people fear losing and what they’re concerned about when it comes to data centers, it may be that transmission line in their backyard, it may be their electric bill going up, iIt may be the fact that they bought their forever home, and 500ft away from their property there’s a giant data center that’s being built, and there’s nothing they can do about it. There’s so many ways in which we can kind of understand the community and where folks are coming from, and that’s really important in storytelling. And so far, it’s also important to hear from folks that are pro-data center and pro-growth because there are benefits. Of course, that comes from data centers financially, for the tax base, keeping property taxes low. 

I live in Loudoun County, Data Center capital of the world. And I’m raising my family here and we love it. But, you see  a good thing gone bad in a lot of ways. And you see it all over the place so that’s not enough. How do you create coalitions? How do you work with people that you may not traditionally have worked with? This is really not a partisan issue. There’s so many different tentacles to this issue that this is really an opportunity to bring a lot of folks together and to really sort of raise up what their concerns and anxieties are of day to day life and also sort of the greater existential, climate impacts and energy impacts for all of this. So all of that is informed by my work here. Those are the pillars that you said that inform what we do, and helping folks kind of put all those pieces together so they can also be better communicators of the issue and kind of come across as these are complicated things to talk about.

Q: Take us inside one of your counties. Residents are feeling the impacts: land grabs, noise, water strain, power bills. What are they actually living with day to day?

AK: You know, for many folks that may be going through those bucolic views as you’re going through some of these farmland that they’ve had yet for generations. And now there’s a giant transmission line going through there and all else that that transmission line brings, that transmission line impact might feel different for someone living in the suburbs. It’s going through their backyard. It may feel less sort of existential or less an insult to their background, but it’s still a giant eyesore. So there’s different ways in which we can definitely kind of tell the story. But I think, you know, the great thing about being locally grounded and having this footprint that really runs the gamut and politically class wise, is that that’s where this sort of concept of the radical model that I was exploring in that talk kind of comes into play, where we craft solutions in a way that should resonate with everyone.

Q: As data center energy demand surges, how can distributed generation and storage help meet that need, and what does that mean for local communities and infrastructure?

AK: So for the grid to be built to where it’s at now, it took 100 some years and it’s really built in that sort of centralized way. We have a coal plant, a gas plant, which produces energy. You have substation, giant transmission lines, those big erector sets take that energy, as you said, seven, eight, nine, 10% energy loss on those wires, and you step that down. It goes into those distribution lines into people’s homes. That’s been the way that we’ve made and transported energy for a long time. Distributed generation is the idea that you generate energy close to where you use it. 

We have a couple percent of our energies from a kind of smaller scale solar in Virginia. What will it take to make that greater? There’s a couple small batteries attached to your solar on your home, that will allow you to run your whole home off the grid if the if the power goes out. Any medical needs, whatever it is, you can run it in that way. If you took 20,000 batteries like that and combined them, and utility paid you this concept known as virtual power plants, you can pull from your battery, your battery, your about 20,000 batteries, a little bit of energy and you give the grid what it needs at that main time, that peak load, which is really what we’ve built our grid for. That time in the summer, or that time in the winter where AC’s are on, data centers are on, usually you don’t get up that high, but the grid is built with that extra cushion. So that’s why we’re having to build new gas plants, because, those peak load moments in particular, those peaker plants just operate 30% of the time. So you can use this distributed way of doing it and virtual power plants, and pull from everybody, give everybody some money for being a part of the solution. Store power when it’s cheap and available. The sun is shining, the wind is blowing, store it. And then when that grid needs it at night or during that peak load time, then you discharge it. So you’re able to kind of create more of a balanced grid. 

We need energy. Everybody’s kind of dying for an extra electron. At the same time, the utility’s proposing that we undercut rooftop solar on high while they make money off of transmission lines and centralized generation. Who pays for it? We do. You know, it’s all subsidized by the ratepayers. So that ties into the data center issue to where all these, all this new energy, all this new transmission, who’s paying for it for the richest companies in the world? We are. 

Q:Tech companies promise jobs, tax revenue, and even help with energy costs. How much of that holds up when you look at the real numbers?

AK: What are the benefits? I mean there’s, there’s billions of dollars of revenue, and billions of dollars of benefits, coming to the state of Virginia, coming to Loudoun County. That helps keep my property taxes low. So, that’s definitely a benefit. 

The employment comes at the beginning when you’re building and you’re employing electricians, you’re employing plumbers and all of that. But once the data center is up and running, you’re not really employing more than a handful of people there. And you can look at the parking lots if you want proof. But there’s not many people that actually have to go in there once it’s fully operational. But but money talks, right? And so that’s real. But what about the negative externalities? From just the financial perspective, we give a tremendous tax incentive to the data centers in Virginia. Close to last year, I think around $1.7 billion worth. That could have gone to fund schools or could have gone in other directions. We don’t ask for anything. We don’t ask for any sustainable practices or any renewable practices.

Q: The Wall Street Journal warns of a data center “gold rush” and even a glut of datacenters. How do you cut through that sales pitch with facts people can trust?

AK: It’s a challenge to kind of take what’s happening in your data center proposal in your community and tie that to everything else. How does this affect me? And we are living in a time where things do feel very nationalized and very overpowering. These companies have a lot of money.

One, it’s using every form possible, emails, town halls where people can come have a few hundred people, talk to folks, hear what they’re hearing on the ground, educate them, get educated by them. Conversation with legislators, local media, state media mapping. So it’s really kind of all hands on deck in terms of communicating the impacts, but also figuring out the impacts. When a transmission line gets proposed through your backyard, or your electric bill goes up 2 or 3 times, you do the math. If you’re paying an extra 300 bucks, a month over 12 months times ten, 15 years there. I mean, you’re talking tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars over time that your bill is going up. That’s something everybody feels.

Q: Communities are not powerless. What tools do they really have—zoning changes, public hearings, lawsuits, ballot measures—to shape or stop bad projects?

AK: Learn about the local process. There’s no better way in my experience than to learn about, how do you make a law, than to go in there, get involved in your general assembly and work with people that know how to write a law. That’s all it is, is people that work on stuff at the local level. They work with the legislator to write the law. Then they help advocate for it and lobby for it. And, you know, you might get something passed. And that’s really how all of that stuff happens. It’s folks on the ground that are crafting solutions. So that’s open for anybody. 

Q:Some states try to limit data centers while others chase them (Trump administration is trying to prevent states from doing that.). How can everyday people push for rules that protect their land and water in that landscape?

AK: There’s some national workgroups. There’s conversations with federal legislators. And we have Julie Bolthouse, she really leads us on the data center work from the land use perspective. And she’s really dug in with the rest of our land use team. And our president, Chris Miller, engages quite a bit at the national level. So everything from sort of Chesapeake Bay water impacts to electric infrastructure impacts to the need for more energy generation being built. We’re out there where we’re talking with folks and we’re sharing information and trying to empower communities. 

Q: Can you name one town or county that beat back a bad data center proposal, and what made it a “bad” proposal in the first place? What tipped the scales? (PEC/Fauquier’s Gigaland withdrawal, Prince William substation denial, etc.)

AK: In Fauquier County with the Giga Land proposal, which is a giant data center proposal, they eventually withdrew that application. It was a few hundred megawatts worth of energy and over 2 million square feet of development space. And they were able to push that back. I mean, this is something that’s become really an issue that transcends age and, and class and race and all those other things. So I think there’s there’s a lot of hope there

Q: Data centers bring a lot of hype, money and noise globally. What is your go‑to strategy to cut through it—town halls, social media, local papers, or door‑to‑door—and help communities tell their own story?AK: There’s no sort of coherent sort of strategy. It’s sort of a free for all, and every man and woman for his or herself. So with that you’re going to get all these negative externalities. So from an engagement perspective, one of the benefits of that, as I was saying a little bit earlier, is that a lot of folks are being impacted in different ways. You’re interested in this, or maybe it’s the climate part, maybe it’s the water part. Maybe your childhood home now has a data center in the backyard. You know, like that. Whatever it is, find out who the local organizations in your area are that are working on this, and maybe there’s nobody working on it. Get educated. Find a little bit of an entry way through an org or through whatever your interest point is.

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Somewhere between “I believe in climate change” and “I’m doing something to address climate change” lies the difference between a movement that stalls and one that transforms society. 

In a 2021 Gallup poll, 41% of Americans identified as “environmentalists,” with 22% identifying as “strong environmentalists.” On the surface, these numbers seem encouraging — nearly half the country aligns with environmental values. But a groundbreaking study from 2018 published in the leading journal Science suggests we may be asking the wrong question.

The issue isn’t how many people identify as environmentalists. It’s how many are willing to act as if it were true and do so consistently, visibly, and persistently enough to shift the norms that shape society. In activism, as in life, quality beats quantity. But what does “quality” actually mean when you’re trying to save the planet?

According to the study in Science, it means reaching a critical threshold of commitment. Researchers found in an online experiment that when only 25% of a group consistently championed a new position, they converted between 72% and 100% of the population, even when there had previously been unanimous agreement. This phenomenon — the power of a committed minority to transform majority behavior — has become known as the “25% Revolution.” The 25% Revolution challenges traditional assumptions about social change that are based on classic economic models, which presume that majorities (or at least 51% of a group) are required to shift collective behavior.

For the environmental movement, this finding is both encouraging and challenging. Encouraging because we may already be approaching that threshold. This is challenging because having 22% of people identify as “strong environmentalists” and having 25% act as catalytic change-makers are fundamentally different.

The Commitment Gap

If we’re at nearly 25%, why does meaningful change still feel out of reach? Why are we still fighting for basic climate policies? Why does sustainable living feel like a fringe choice rather than the norm?

This is the gap the environmental movement must close. Saving the planet is not a participation trophy handed out to everyone who cares; it’s won by the committed minority willing to act. Consider two people who both identify as environmentalists. The first recycles when convenient, supports clean energy in principle, and worries about the future. The second has installed solar panels and encourages her neighbors to do so, advocates for expanded bike lanes, and attends local government meetings to advocate for climate policies.

Both would check “environmentalist” on a survey. Only the second is engaged in norm-shifting. Only the second is creating the kind of social proof that transforms what their community considers normal, practical, and desirable. Only the second represents the kind of committed action required by the 25% Revolution.

The Three Forces of the 25% Revolution

For the environmental movement, the 25% Revolution can manifest through three powerful mechanisms:

Social proof redefines what’s normal. When your coworker brings their lunch in reusable metal containers, when your neighbor parks their electric vehicle on the street every day, when a quarter of students bike to campus instead of driving — these repeated, visible choices signal that sustainable living is normal, practical, and increasingly mainstream. We look to those around us to determine acceptable behavior, driven by the fundamental human desire to belong and fit in with our community. A visible, committed 25% redefines what “normal” looks like.

Economic momentum follows social change. Markets respond when a substantial minority demonstrates consistent demand. Specifically, when 16% of consumers — considered the “critical mass” of innovators and early adopters — consistently adopt a product, the rate of market penetration accelerates dramatically. This dynamic has been demonstrated with organic food, electric vehicles, and renewable energy. These were niche markets until sustained consumer commitment tipped them into the mainstream. Companies that once dismissed sustainability now compete for environmental credentials because a committed minority made it economically rational to do so. When corporations suddenly embrace sustainability, it’s easy to dismiss it as greenwashing — empty marketing without substance. But when driven by genuine consumer behavior, it is the market responding to a changed norm.

Political viability emerges when elected officials recognize that a committed quarter of constituents can determine electoral outcomes. Sustained public mobilization, from climate strikes to farmer protests, has been shown to compel policy action, even on contentious issues. Additionally, when citizens organize to make climate action both visible and politically important, elected officials respond because their political survival depends on it. Thus, environmental policy ceases to be a political risk and becomes a political necessity when a mobilized 25% makes it clear that their votes depend on tangible climate action.

From Concern to Catalyst

The environmental movement’s central challenge is to convert passive concern into active, visible, sustained commitment. This is where organizations like EARTHDAY.ORG are essential.

EARTHDAY.ORG works to mobilize and sustain exactly the kind of committed action the 25% Revolution requires. Through education, advocacy, and community building, we help concerned individuals become catalysts for change. The Earth Day movement has always been about civil society mobilization and ordinary people coming together to demand extraordinary change. 

The environmental movement may already have the numbers needed to win. What we need now is to activate that potential by transforming diffuse concern into concentrated, visible, and persistent commitment. We need to be the 25% who refuse to accept the status quo as inevitable and who, day after day, demonstrate that a different future is possible.

Earth Day 2026 arrives at a critical moment, with our environment under assault. Butwe’vee been here before. In 1970, 20 million Americans walked the streets demanding change. That day transformed everything. This year’s theme, Our Power, Our Planet, recalls the principle that sparked the movement: the power to protect our future rests with us.
Earth Day’s enduring legacy is the power of people rising together. Join us on April 18, April 22, and throughout 2026 to preserve the progress we have made. You can also create and post an event, sign up to receive updates on Earth Day, or become a partner of Earth Day 2026 and add your organization’s logo.

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Environmental activism is often associated with protests, grassroots efforts, or policy advocacy. Yet some of the most effective environmental work can happen in spaces we might overlook — such as public libraries. 

These community institutions, dedicated to education and public service, are emerging as important allies to the environmental movement. By disseminating knowledge, creating spaces for community engagement, and sharing resources, libraries are helping to build the informed and connected communities that environmental progress requires. As environmental problems intensify, it’s worth examining how libraries contribute to environmental activism and why their role in this movement matters more than ever.

The Unique Role of Libraries 

Public libraries occupy a distinctive place in communities around the world. According to the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), in 2023, there were around 2.8 million libraries worldwide. Public libraries account for 410,000 of these locations. Notable public libraries include the New York Public Library in New York, the Bodleian Library in Oxford, UK, and the Boston Public Library in Massachusetts.

Libraries are community leaders and change agents, serving as nonpartisan spaces where neighbors can gather, where diverse perspectives can be shared, and where civic participation flourishes. Libraries defend intellectual freedom, provide access to materials and resources, and promote literacy.

PULL QUOTE: “Bad libraries build collections, good libraries build services, great libraries build communities.” R. David Lankes, (Professor and Director of the School of Library & Information Science at the University of South Carolina)

Catalysts for Climate Action

Libraries are uniquely positioned to act as catalysts for climate action by fostering social cohesion, an important factor in effectively responding to climate change impacts. Through diverse programming — such as workshops that bring community members together, services that connect individuals with vital resources, and welcoming spaces that encourage interaction across social divides — libraries cultivate the collaboration and collective energy essential to turning climate action plans into reality. Their presence generates the trust, buy-in, and partnerships necessary to drive meaningful environmental change.

Catalysts for Climate Action

Libraries are uniquely positioned to act as catalysts for climate action by fostering social cohesion, an important factor in effectively responding to climate change impacts. Through diverse programming — such as workshops that bring community members together, services that connect individuals with vital resources, and welcoming spaces that encourage interaction across social divides — libraries cultivate the collaboration and collective energy essential to turning climate action plans into reality. Their presence generates the trust, buy-in, and partnerships necessary to drive meaningful environmental change.

The American Library Association (ALA) recognizes the important role libraries play in promoting community awareness about resilience, climate change, and a sustainable future. In 2019, the ALA adopted sustainability as one of the core values of librarianship. 

The Sustainable Libraries Initiative (SLI) supports libraries in designing institutions and communities through its certification program. Together with the American Library Association (ALA), SLI uses a “triple bottom line” framework to define sustainability as encompassing environmental soundness, social equity, and economic feasibility. The ALA and SLI have identified four characteristics of “sustainable libraries”: they embody their values through action; actively reduce their carbon footprint to mitigate climate change; foster civic engagement by bringing communities together; and build resilience to climate impacts within their communities.

Information Hubs Rooted in Truth

At their core, libraries serve as information hubs, defending the right to intellectual freedom — by making access information easy. The proliferation of false and misleading information online has become one of the biggest challenges of our time. The World Economic Forum identifies misinformation and disinformation as the biggest short-term global risk of 2024. According to the United Nations, libraries play an essential role in providing access to trusted, fact-based knowledge, information, and data.

Plus, libraries can make access to climate education that empower individuals to learn about environmental problems and solutions easier to find and navigate. Because librarians are information professionals, well positioned to combat misinformation and disinformation, they can empower people by teaching them the skills to analyze the credibility of online sources. 

Our Libraries Are Green Role Models

By lending books and other materials, libraries reduce the need for individual ownership, minimizing consumption and waste. Communities with strong library systems exhibit lower rates of consumption, not just of books but of goods more broadly, and waste generation.

Many libraries have expanded beyond traditional book sharing models and leveraging their outdoor spaces to meet local food security goals through community gardens. For example, Northern Onodaga Public Library created “library farms,” Emmaus Public Library implemented edible landscaping, and Greenwich Free Library established a “Farm-2-Library” program. These initiatives foster connection to the land by promoting land stewardship and supporting local food systems. 

Libraries can also implement green building design, renewable energy systems, and sustainable operations, demonstrating climate change mitigation technology. For example: the Hendrick Hudson Free Library boasts a solar array and battery storage, rain garden, and composting; the Chrisney Branch of the Lincoln Heritage Public Library was the first net-zero energy library in the nation; and the Concord Free Public Library created greenhouse gas emission reduction goals and prioritized indoor air quality and ecological restoration. Sustainable libraries can serve as “exemplars, educators, and enablers” to their communities.

Supporting Environmental Justice

Environmental issues do not affect all communities equally, and libraries are working to address these disparities. For example, the Detroit Public Library collaborated with local environmental justice organization Detroiters Working for Environmental Justice to raise awareness about the impact of environmental racism on local BIPOC residents.

Libraries can facilitate dialogue and collaboration, providing neutral spaces where diverse perspectives can be shared. This is especially important for ensuring that marginalized voices are heard in environmental decision-making processes.

The Sustainable Libraries Initiative and American Library Association’s National Climate Action Strategy encourages libraries to advance climate justice through education and community partnerships that connect climate stewardship with human rights.

By connecting community members to reliable information, fostering community bonds, and ensuring equitable access to environmental information, libraries are helping to build the foundation for meaningful climate action. In doing so, they remind us that environmental activism looks different in every community, but always begins with knowledge, connection, and the belief that collective action can create change.

EARTHDAY.ORG’s environmental legacy is a testament to this — that environmental progress depends on informed, connected communities working together. Please consider donating to EARTHDAY.ORG to support our global advocacy and education efforts, protecting the planet and all who call it home.

This article is available for republishing on your website, newsletter, magazine, newspaper, or blog. The accompanying imagery is cleared for use with attribution. Please ensure that the author’s name and their affiliation with EARTHDAY.ORG are credited. Kindly inform us if you republish so we can acknowledge, tag, or repost your content. You may notify us via email at davies@earthday.org or fielder@earthday.org. Want more articles? Follow us on substack.

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In 1700, forests covered 52% of Earth’s habitable land area. But human civilizations expanded and industrialized, increasing demand for land and resources led to widespread deforestation. Today, forests cover just over one-third of habitable land area, the portions of Earth suitable for living and not covered by ice, deserts, or oceans.

Forests are often cleared to make space for agriculture, factories, roads, and urban expansion, as well as to obtain valuable resources such as timber and fuel. But, deforestation leaves a lasting impact on local communities and wildlife, destroying habitats, harming soil health, and intervening in the interconnectedness of ecosystems. 

Even within urban environments, trees face significant threats despite their vital ecological importance. Trees may not be able to speak for themselves, but these four activists put their lives on the line to protect their legacies.

Wangari Maathai

In 2004, Wangari Maathai was the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize for her contribution to sustainable development, democracy, and peace. But her story of social justice and environmentalism started decades prior. 

In rural Kenya, women reported that food supplies were dwindling, local streams were drying up, and they were forced to walk increasingly long distances to collect firewood. So, in 1977, Maathai founded the Green Belt Movement. By bringing women together through grassroots efforts, the movement managed to plant nearly 51 million trees.

Maathai was an accomplished academic, and was the first woman in East and Central Africa to earn a doctorate degree. She studied biological sciences, earning her PhD in veterinary anatomy from the University of Nairobi. Her scientific background helped her guide women toward an ecological solution that addressed both environmental degradation and community needs. The trees’ roots stabilized the soil, reduced erosion, and allowed rainwater to seep into the ground, replenishing underground aquifers and helping nearby streams flow again.

The Greenbelt Movement she started continues to operate today, focusing on restoring ecosystems, spreading climate change education to rural communities, and advocating for environmental policies. After Maathai’s death in 2011, the Wangari Maathai Foundation was established to further her legacy in empowering children and youth to be leaders in their communities. 

Julia “Butterfly” Hill

Could you imagine living in a tree, suspended over a height of 180 feet, making home in the confines of a 6-by-8-foot platform, for over 700 days?

That’s exactly what Julia “Butterfly” Hill did from 1997 to 1999. She lived among the branches, admiring the leaves and wildlife that flocked to a 1,000-year-old California redwood tree, named Luna. At that time, the Pacific Lumber Company was logging the forest, putting Luna and the surrounding area at risk.

Over the next 738 days, Hill endured rushing winds and storms, talking to news reporters and leading negotiations from up in the branches. Eventually, Pacific Lumber Company agreed not to tear the tree down under a conservation easement and for Hill to pay the company USD$50,000 in lost logging revenue. 

In 1999, Hill founded Circle of Life, a nonprofit supporting projects ranging from regenerative farming to sustainable fashion.

Luna stands strong today, and is protected, but she sits on private land and there are no official public access routes. The monitoring organisation explicitly states they cannot encourage people to attempt to reach it due to concerns for its health (especially the root system and soil stability). But you can see her in Stafford, California, from Highway 101 near the Stafford exit, looking southwest.

Chico Mendes

Chico Mendes grew up in Acre, Brazil working alongside his father as a rubber tapper, collecting natural rubber by cutting grooves into tree bark. This fostered an interconnected relationship with the Amazon Rainforest, which he worked to defend his whole life.

In the 1970s and 1980s, ranchers started to buy up and clear the forest to make room for cattle. As a response, Mendes organized other Amazonian rubber tappers, and helped to establish the Xapuri Rural Workers’ Union. The group would participate in “empates,” during which protestors would peacefully hold hands, to protect the forest and their livelihoods. Mendes advocated for extractive reserves, where local people could continue to sustainably harvest tree rubber. Today, there are twenty reserves, one named in honor of Mendes, protecting the exact region, Acre, where he grew up.

Tragically in 1988, Chico Mendes was assassinated by ranchers seeking revenge for his efforts to stop deforestation for cattle ranching. Despite this tragedy, his legacy has not wavered. The Chico Mendes Reforestation Project was established after his death, inspired by his environmental advocacy. 

The project reforests community lands affected by illegal logging, and has planted around 5,000 to 20,000 trees a year since 1998. The World Bank, which once financed clearing the rainforest, is now financing the reserves.

Thomas Brail

In 2022, Paris launched a tourism development project that threatened to fell a trio of Napoleon-era trees, growing near the Eiffel Tower. Thomas Brail, a dedicated arborist and founder of the Groupe National de Surveillance des Arbres,(GNSA), refused to accept their removal. 

On 30 May he climbed one of the trees to protest and from 4 June he began a hunger strike from his perch. He emphasized that trees are not “street furniture” to be swapped out at a developer’s whim, but vital parts of the city’s history and ecosystem. Thanks in large part to his direct action and the public outcry, the plan was revised so as not to fell the trio of trees.

Brail has participated in several different moments of urban tree activism and the GNSA, or National Tree Monitoring Group, work to support the defense of trees wherever they stand from the threat of felling.  When France proposed the A69 Project, the building of a new highway to connect two southwestern French cities, its route threatened to destroy up to 400 hectares of farmland and hundreds of trees. 

In October of 2023, Brail began a hunger strike, and later a thirst strike, for which he would be hospitalized. In February 2025, courts stopped the construction of the highway thanks to Brail and other activists involved. But, as of May 2025, France’s senate allowed construction to continue and the decision has been met with much controversy. 

EARTHDAY. ORG recognizes the ecological importance of forests to our livelihoods, cultures, ecosystems, and climate. That’s why EARTHDAY.org is working to plant 60 million trees by 2030.

If you would like to support this mission, please consider donating to the Canopy Tree Project today. Also, if you found useful information in this article, make sure to sign up for our email list to get the latest news.

If you want to learn more about why forests matter – please watch our brand new series UNDERREPORTED EARTH – “TREE TALES”– IG TRAIL. 

Tracy McVeigh from The Guardian speaks with three top investigative journalists about their groundbreaking reporting: Elisangela Mendonça uncovers how the Amazon rainforest is being threatened by the collagen industry. Josephine Moulds takes us into the Congo Basin, where fossil fuel auctions are endangering one of the world’s most vital forest ecosystems. Ana Bottallo travels deep into the Amazonian mangroves to witness how local communities fought —  to have their voices heard.

The episodes go live November 17/18th/19th across EARTHDAY.ORG social media  on Facebook: Ep.1, Ep.2, Ep.3   and YouTube:  Ep.1, Ep.2, Ep.3.

This article is available for republishing on your website, newsletter, magazine, newspaper, or blog. The accompanying imagery is cleared for use with attribution. Please ensure that the author’s name and their affiliation with EARTHDAY.ORG are credited. Kindly inform us if you republish so we can acknowledge, tag, or repost your content. You may notify us via email at davies@earthday.org or fielder@earthday.org. Want more articles? Follow us on substack.

The post Speaking Out For The Trees  appeared first on Earth Day.

Opinion

Dr. Jane Goodall lived nothing short of an extraordinary life. From expeditions in Africa to global speaking tours, Goodall fought tirelessly for the planet she loved and her work inspired millions of adults and children around the globe to compassionately advocate for environmental justice, human rights, and animal rights.   

For myself, Goodall was a sage, a beacon of hope, and my biggest inspiration. Her wisdom and  her compassion touched my heart and the hearts of many others, inspiring me to study and appreciate the world around me. While she will be dearly missed by the world, let us take a moment to celebrate the extraordinary life of Dr. Jane Goodall. 

How It All Began

Since infancy, Jane Goodall expressed a love of animals and nature. She accredited her pet dog, Rusty, as one of her greatest teachers, who taught her that animals have emotions, personalities, and feelings.

This idea that animals have emotions has since been reaffirmed by researchers in multiple scientific fields, including biology, anthropology, psychology, and philosophy. However, this belief was not widely held by scientists until Goodall’s landmark research on chimpanzees. 

Her lifelong dream of venturing to Africa came to fruition when Goodall started work as a secretary and assistant to acclaimed archaeologist Dr. Louis Leakey in 1956 at the age of 23 in Tanzania. In 1960, Goodall took on a research role for Dr. Leakey on Lake Tanganyika to study a troop of wild chimpanzees. It was here that she began to make an incredible discovery. 

A New Approach 

In her studies of chimpanzees, Jane Goodall took an unorthodox approach. Rather than assigning her test subjects numbers, she gave them names — a practice that was seen as unscientific at the time for “lack of objectivity”. But in practice, Goodall began to understand that just like their individual names, these animals had their own individual personalities. 

By practicing empathy in her scientific studies and observations of chimpanzees, Goodall was able to grow closer to the community she studied, like no scientist had ever before. Goodall’s groundbreaking discoveries in animal behaviour came from her devotion to observation, allowing her to authentically assess that chimpanzees had emotions and were much more similar to humans than previously thought, sharing 98.8% of their DNA with us.

Goodall brought her research into the public domain by writing for National Geographic, where her captivating stories and vivid writing invited readers, not just other zoologists, into her world. It profoundly changed the hearts of millions through fact based and beautiful storytelling. 

Goodall worked with chimpanzees in the Gombe of Tanzania  for nearly 30 years, observing several generations of troops, before focusing on activism. 

Female Empowerment

In a male dominant field, Jane Goodall opened the door for female scientists and researchers and became a trailblazer for women in STEM. Her influence spread far and wide. Women primatologists such as Dian Fossey and Biruté Galdikas came to the field of primate behavioral research following Goodall’s discoveries. 

Throughout her life Goodall believed women needed to be invited in the tent of education, reciprocating the idea that environmental justice was integrally linked with humanitarianism. For this reason, the Jane Goodall Institute, established in 1977,  provides scholarships for women’s education and supports access to family planning, health care, and clean water for young women in need.  

Relentless Activism

The Jane Goodall Institute, a global nonprofit global research and conservation organization, has 25 offices stationed around the world. 

One of Goodall’s most passionate beliefs was the importance of educating young people and in 1991, the Institute added the Roots and Shoots program, teaching youths about conservation in 75 countries and counting. Empowering the next generation was a core belief of Goodall’s, inspiring her to reach young audiences through in-person and online events. She even taught an online Masterclass on conservation.  

Through her relentless activism, Goodall obtained many environmental accomplishments. Goodall spoke out on the cruelty of animal testing, leading to the retirement of chimpanzees from all United States’ National Institutes of Health (NIH) labs and the successful closure of many labs that conducted animal testing including in Hamburg, Germany and at Harvard University. 

Additionally, Goodall strongly opposed factory farms and encouraged people to follow plant based diets when possible.

A Remarkable Story

Dr. Jane Goodall passed away at the age of 91 in her sleep on October 1st 2025 while on a speaking tour. Even in her old age she relentlessly continued her mission, traveling 300 days a year, educating audiences on the importance of protecting our home: planet Earth and all the species that call it home. 

In honor of her work, Tanzania designated the Gombe Stream Reserve a national park in 1978 and the Jane Goodall Institute operates a research station in the Reserve. 

Her many awards include the National Geographic Society’s Hubbard Medal, the Templeton Prize, a Dame of the British Empire, the U.S Presidential Medal of Freedom — the highest civilian honor in the United States, and a United Nations Messenger of Peace — the U.N.’s highest honor for global citizenship.

Dr. Jane Goodall’s impact on the world cannot be overstated, but we must continue to build the work she started. Students are already planting trees in honor of her legacy, but we all must join  in the movement, and we must not lose hope.

The post Jane Goodall: An Extraordinary Life of Research and Activism appeared first on Earth Day.

Today, October 8th, is International Community Day. This day celebrates communities, when people come together for a common purpose. In our modern, digitized, and polarized world, a sense of community might seem hard to create, but as inspiration, we’re looking at how trees have survived in their communities for millions of years. So, what can we all learn from trees to help build our own communities?

Trees Survive Through Interdependence 

Trees connect with each other in a network of roots and fungi, often called “the wood wide web.” 

Through this network, the mycorrhizal fungi form symbiotic relationships with tree roots, creating an underground communication and resource-sharing system, through which they can communicate, and exchange vital substances necessary for survival. Including water, carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and other minerals. 

Trees also communicate stress signals—such as warnings about drought, insect attacks, or disease—via chemical and electrical signals passed through this fungal web. The fungi benefit from this relationship by receiving sugars produced by the trees through photosynthesis, which they use to fuel their own growth. This intricate system enhances forest resilience and resource efficiency, demonstrating a remarkable form of underground cooperation and communication among trees.

This is a new science, but it suggests that trees may survive not just through Darwinian competition, but also through effective communication.  In a world where individualism has become rife— we have seen an explosion in “climate anxiety,” in young people especially. It’s a condition that puts the burden of coping on individuals, even though climate change impacts us all, and requires collaboration to solve. 

According to the American Psychological Association (APA), in 2019, 68% of adults experienced at least a little dose of climate anxiety, and yet the majority of us “don’t know where to start” when it comes to fighting climate change. 

What if, instead of feeling unsure and alone, we communicated with each other, like trees do? Humans need connection to survive and, just like trees and fungi, so let’s all be a little more like them and a little like ‘us’ for a change.

Trees Safeguard the Young 

Some scientists believe that tree communities strive to protect young trees and especially vulnerable ones by sharing resources. Aside from the mutual communication trees share through the wood wide web, evidence suggests that the oldest, strongest trees — also known as “mother trees” — make efforts to support the younger ones. 

Mother trees can identify their own saplings and even send them resources when needed. This is necessary because saplings can be very vulnerable. Improper soil conditions, weeds, pests, and disease are serious threats to them, and they often depend on their tree mothers to survive. 

Additionally, trees that are rich in resources altruistically give their own resources to other trees in need, using their consistent communication,  to meet other tree’s needs. 

Likewise, as a climate movement, we have to make efforts to ensure our young and marginalized groups are heard and supported.  Studies predict that, due to climate change, world hunger will worsen, and vulnerable groups will face more marginalization. 

The think tank, the Institute for Economics & Peace, predicts that over 1 billion people could become “climate refugees”  by 2050. Climate refuges are defined as people forced to leave their homes due to natural disasters, other ecological changes, lack of food or water, or geopolitical conflict related to climate change.  So, unless climate activists with resources support less well equipped groups, we risk losing future climate champions. 

Trees Support More Than  Just Their Own Trees Species

The wood wide web connects not only trees but entire forests all through an incredible network of fungi and roots.  Research by Suzanne Simard used radioactive carbon isotopes to track carbon movement and revealed that in forests with paper birch and Douglas firs, carbon produced by sun-exposed birch trees is shared with shaded firs trees through these fungal links. This exchange helps younger or less competitive trees survive, even when they are a different species of tree. Similarly, poplars and maples warn each other of insect pest attacks, prompting production of protective chemicals.

Like trees’ interdependence, climate activists should build symbiotic relationships across causes. Collaboration with diverse groups can increase impact, crucial in today’s environmental fight.

The movement shouldn’t be divisive—saving the planet is a cause that should unite us all. By embracing cooperation like trees do, supporting vulnerable communities, and fostering partnerships, the movement can be stronger and more trusted.

If someone says you can’t “see the forest for the trees,” remember trees see no difference between individual trees and the forest itself. Maybe it’s time we took a leaf from their book.If this idea inspires you, consider supporting the Canopy Tree Project, which helps restore at-risk forests worldwide through partnership and collective action.

This article is available for republishing on your website, newsletter, magazine, newspaper, or blog. The accompanying imagery is cleared for use. Please ensure that the author’s name and their affiliation with EARTHDAY.ORG are credited. Kindly inform us if you republish so we can acknowledge, tag, or repost your content. You may notify us via email at davies@earthday.org or fielder@earthday.org. Want more articles? Follow us on substack.

The post To Save Trees, We Should Act Like Them appeared first on Earth Day.

This World Listening Day, we are tuning in to listen to the communities disproportionately impacted by climate change. 

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), environmental justice means ensuring that all people, regardless of income, race, color, or national origin, have meaningful involvement in and fair treatment by environmental laws, regulations, and policies. This concept recognizes that environmental hazards often disproportionately affect certain communities. Climate justice is a related idea that focuses specifically on the fair treatment of people and communities regarding the impacts of climate change, rather than environmental issues more broadly.

Regarding climate change specifically, disadvantaged groups also often face a “triple injustice”: they contribute the least to greenhouse gas emissions, benefit the least from climate actions, and are most vulnerable to impacts. 

But there are possible solutions. For example shifting workforce demography to better serve vulnerable communities. Diversifying the environmental workforce helps to better reflect and serve vulnerable communities. This approach builds trust and improves communication with the communities most impacted by environmental injustices. For instance, programs that recruit, train, and retain workers from underrepresented groups help ensure that they have a real voice. Plus, they benefit from new green job opportunities, ensuring equity is at the forefront of green initiatives and citizens’s deliberation processes. Other solutions include listening to specific groups, like Indigenous communities, to better understand sustainable practices that date back centuries and have pedigree. 

Back to Basics: Indigenous Practices Work

“Interconnectedness”, the deep relationship between people and Earth, is central to why Indigenous peoples are ideal stewards of the land. This sense of connection fosters positive environmental emotions and supports  practices, in contrast to colonial and capitalistic ideals, which prioritise exploitation and profit over a duty of care. Institutional barriers, such as systemic racism, have historically marginalized Indigenous voices and hindered broader adoption of these sustainable approaches.

An example of listening to indigenous people successfully can be seen with the Māori of Aotearoa in New Zealand. Although historical tensions have made them cautious about the national government’s long-term commitment, the Māori have collaborated well with local governments. Guided by their connection to the sea (moana), land (whenua), and sky (rangi), the Māori stewards (kaitiaki) have focused on restoring the environment by cleaning waterways and reintroducing native plants.

Other practices can be found in South America in the form of milpa, a millennium-old agricultural system used in the Yucatán which is essential for forest conservation. With milpa, multiple rotating crops allow for natural forest regeneration, which promotes diverse environments for countless species. 

Meanwhile, Aboriginal people in Australia have long practiced controlled burns called “cool” or “cultural burning” to promote biodiversity and prevent wildfires. These low-intensity burns also manage vegetation and reduce fuel loads.

While leaders acknowledged the essential role of Indigenous Peoples in climate action at COP26, with a $1.7 billion pledge by governments and private philanthropies, more inclusion is necessary. 

People With Disabilities Are Integral Voices

As oceans rise and forests burn, millions of people are displaced by climate change. But while the fortunate few can relocate and start anew, thousands are left behind. And this struggle is exacerbated for people with disabilities (PWDs), who represent 15% of the global population. 

In fact, those with disabilities are four times as likely to perish due to climate disasters. Thus, they are best equipped to propose strategies and remove barriers, which makes their inclusion in legislation vital.

Specifically, this knowledge is essential for expanding educational opportunities, understanding the impacts of climate change on disabled people, increasing their inclusion in decision-making and access to information, and empowering them to know and exercise their rights. Furthermore, addressing three key leverage points—re-connect, re-structure and re-think—can foster more sustainable and inclusive relationships.

Finally, by including and focusing on the capabilities of PWDs we can help eliminate discrepancies and victimization, while at the same time addressing the intersectionality essential for the nuances of climate justice. All of this provides a pathway of sustainability that would not be possible without accurate representation. 

Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Environmental Impact

A study by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) projects that Black and African Americans are 40% more likely to live in areas with the highest increases in temperature-related deaths if global temperatures rise by 2 degrees Celsius. The same study found that Latinos and Hispanics are 43% more likely to live in regions where extreme heat will cause the greatest reductions in labor hours. These disparities highlight how climate change impacts different communities unevenly, with minority populations facing greater health and economic risks from rising temperatures. 

This environmental injustice is deeply rooted in institutional racism. Beginning with slavery in the U.S., land, water, and other systems were disrupted to exploit both the land and people of color. 

After slavery, discriminatory policies such as redlining, exclusion from land ownership, and segregation confined Black communities to polluted and underserved areas. These practices limited economic opportunities and access to clean environments. 

Today, people of color continue to face subtle forms of discrimination, such as microaggressions, that undermine their knowledge and participation in climate and environmental decision-making. This ongoing marginalization contributes to the persistence of environmental disparities affecting these communities.

Solutions

It is clear inclusion and equity across the board is necessary to achieve environmental and climate justice and help all of us mitigate climate change. Such perspectives and knowledge also help ensure that those part of multiple undeserved groups are represented. Often these individuals or groups face more complicated impacts, due to the intersection of injustices. For example, women with disabilities face compounding conditions compared to their male counterparts. Many of these issues are then further compounded for those in developing countries that have less access to vital resources and higher levels of displacement. 

Luckily, a variety of solutions are available.  For example, an ongoing community-owned solar cooperative in Sunset Park is the first of its kind in New York. The utility is owned by the community, and therefore so is the energy it generates.

Citizen Assemblies in the Global South and at the 2025 UN Climate Change Conference (COP30) are paving the way for more voices at the table. The permanent Global Citizens’ Assembly for People and Planet includes a bottom-up and top-down structure that puts people ahead of politicians, allowing millions of citizens to lead the way for change.  Like those with disabilities, undeserved, marginalized, and minority groups and individuals have essential input and knowledge that can  inform policies so that they adequately address all of the  issues in hand. 

However, with all this we must remember that change and knowledge cannot rest solely on the shoulders of underserved communities. Join us in writing letters to state lawmakers, pushing for a transition to clean energy. Together, we can move towards reusable energy and a just, sustainable future for all. The fight for our planet is collective, so the solutions that the battle rests on should be broad too. 

This article is available for republishing on your website, newsletter, magazine, newspaper, or blog. The accompanying imagery is also cleared for use. Please ensure that the author’s name and their affiliation with EARTHDAY.ORG are credited. Kindly inform us if you republish so we can acknowledge, tag, or repost your content. You may notify us via email at davies@earthday.org or fielder@earthday.org. Want more articles? Follow us on substack.

The post The Climate Crisis Is Personal: Hearing the Voices of Underserved Communities appeared first on Earth Day.

So, you’ve read something in the news about the state of the planet or spotted a growing trend, a new development, a worrying issue  and you are fired up. You’ve got something to say about it. But where do you say it? Easy: the Letters to the Editor section.

This magical corner of the newspaper is where everyday people can potentially peak up, correct the record, praise good work, or sound the alarm. And yes, your letter can make a difference.

This Earth Day, we got a 900% increase in coverage by bombarding the press with stories that made them care about the issues we care about because they resonated with ordinary people, their readers. So trust us when we say, we can help you write something that garners attention and helps to champion causes you care about.

Let’s break it down in plain English.

What Even Is a Letter to the Editor?

A letter to the editor (LET) is a short piece of writing, usually about 150-300 words long, sent to a newspaper, magazine, or online publication. Your letter is either reacting to something that they’ve already covered in a story or you arousing the medium of a letter to chime in on a hot issue that you believe the publication should be covering. Your letter should  aim to  inform, persuade, or  add a fresh or alternative perspective.

It’s like saying, “Hey! This matters. Let’s talk about it.I have an opinion on this.”

Before You Write a Single Word…

Take a breath and ask yourself: Why are you writing? And be specific!

Are you correcting a mistake? Adding a new angle? Calling for change? Maybe you’re shining a light on something hopeful or noting a solution to a known problem? Once you know your letter’s purpose, it will be easier to write it and make it more effective. 

The best time to send a letter is early in the morning, be one of the first to comment, it will elevate your chances of being published because editors make their letter selections quickly. 

What’s the Vibe?

Get to know the tone of the outlet you’re writing to. Every paper has a vibe. Some are buttoned-up. Others like it punchy. Read a few existing published letters to get a feel for what they are looking for. Not every letter sent to a paper or publication gets published, so it is important to know what the outlet likes so they’ll be more likely to publish it. The New York Times gets hundreds of letters a week so do not be downhearted if at first you do not succeed!

And don’t skip the fine print. Each publication has guidelines; word limits, required info, rules about political endorsements, and more. If you don’t follow them, your letter might go straight into the digital dustbin. Every outlet that takes letters to the editor will have a page dedicated to guidance on what they will consider printing so read it before sending your letter in. One of the simplest mistakes is not adding your name, address and a cell phone to your letter. They almost certainly will NOT publish your address but they need it to verify you are a real person!

Gather Your Facts, Then Trim the Fat

Your opening sentence is everything. So make sure you grab attention with a compelling fact, a punchy opinion, or a clever turn of phrase.That first sentence acts like a newspaper headline or hook and will make people decide in seconds if they want to read on to the end. The rest of your letter should deliver the heart of the issue you are writing about and then an end line to hammer your thoughts home. The magical letter the editor formula is: Hook, Heart Hammer. 

Even letters need to be rooted in truth. Backup your points with statistics, reports, a cutting quote, or a real-world example. If you’re responding to a specific article, mention it by name at the very top of your letter and include a link to it. This will give your perspective more clarity. Do not be afraid to disagree with an article in the paper or the editor’s perspective, letters are often sought out that do just that so it will stand you in good stead. And if you can localise your letter – do – most papers like to find letters with local angles that appeal to a specific community, experience, or region.

But remember: this isn’t a research paper. You’re aiming for clear, not complicated. Use simple language and ditch the jargon. Write like you’re talking to a friend new to the topic over coffee, not trying to win a debate with a robot. To make sure it flows and is not stuffed with filler words read it out loud, if it trips off the tongue easily it’s probably working. 

And whatever you do, keep it respectful. Be bold – sure. Be passionate – absolutely. But don’t insult or attack people. Ad hominem attacks will not be effective, will turn folks off and in the end just eats up your allowed word allowance anyway. 

It’s possible to disagree and be classy about it. 

Hit Send (the Right Way)

Most papers want you to email your letter. They are busy and it’s faster, cleaner, and easier for them to copy and paste into their publishing software. Remember, we are saying it twice a sit is so important – to include your name, contact info, and address even if you’re asking to be published anonymously. (Heads up: not all papers allow anonymous letters.)

If the paper doesn’t clearly list how to submit a letter don’t panic; just call or check their website. The info’s usually buried under “Opinion” or “Contact Us.”

And once you’ve sent your letter, be patient. If you don’t hear back in a week or two, it’s okay to move on and try another outlet. Editors are busy, and space is limited. Don’t take rejection personally. 

Just keep going and try to think like an editor.Will this make readers care? Is it new, surprising, or well-said? Does it stand out from the other letters? 

Why Bother?

Even if your letter doesn’t make it to print, you’ve done something meaningful. You took a stand. You shaped your thoughts. You entered the conversation and likely learned in the process. 

When you start to get traction with your letters being published, always mention to editors that you have been published before and where – success attracts success! Whatever you do, keep writing and sharing your thoughts and ideas, it will eventually pay off, one of our interns got their letter in the Washington Post!

The more you practice, the better you will get. Think of it as training for bigger things; op-eds, public speaking, standing for local office, maybe even writing that longer article or short story or novel that you’ve been secretly dreaming about So go ahead. Be brave. Be brief. And start writing. 

At EARTHDAY.ORG, we write because we want to inspire, inform and educate. Each week, we fire off letters and publish many original articles on our News and Stories page  – which we encourage you to read, repost them and share. 

This article is available for republishing on your website, newsletter, magazine, newspaper, or blog. The accompanying imagery is also cleared for use. Please ensure that the author’s name and their affiliation with EARTHDAY.ORG are credited. Kindly inform us if you republish so we can acknowledge, tag, or repost your content. You may notify us via email at davies@earthday.org or fielder@earthday.org. Want more articles? Follow us on substack.

The post Ink Your Opinion: How to Write a Killer Letter to the Editor appeared first on Earth Day.

Beckett Nelson-Gardner and Amelia Fernández Rodríguez

Do you ever feel paralyzed by climate anxiety? Want to help the planet, but not sure how to go about it? I can assure you, you are not alone. 

According to Yale, as of July 2023, 7% of the U.S. population was experiencing diagnosable “psychological distress” as a result of the climate crisis, with higher rates of anxiety attributable to people who identify as Hispanic/Latino or Gen Z/Millennial. 

Which is why I was so excited when I first heard about Denver Public Schools Students for Climate Action (DPSS4CA). This student-led organization has turned despair into action by lobbying school board members, city council members, and Colorado state legislators for achievable climate policy. And you know what? It’s working. 

Denver Public Schools is now one of only six school districts in the country with a climate action plan. The plan is a robust, 114-page document with specific goals tied to three “North Star[s]”: environmental protection, economic prosperity, and social development. In it, the district commits, among other things, to “[r]educe overall greenhouse gas emissions by at least 90% by 2050 (from a 2010 baseline).” Can you imagine what would happen if other school districts—and industries, and governments—did the same?

Earlier, I spoke with the co-presidents of DPS Students for Climate Action: Amelia Fernández Rodríguez and Beckett Nelson-Gardner. Below are excerpts from our conversation. 

J: Thank you both again for meeting with me. Can you please introduce yourselves and tell us a little bit about what you do when you’re not climate activists?

B: My name’s Beckett Nelson-Gardner. I am a junior at Denver East High School and I got into sustainability through my school sustainability club. When I was in middle school, I learned about sea level rise and that kind of kickstarted my journey through the environmental [space]. When I’m not doing sustainability work…I play music, I’m in a jazz band. I also play sports: I’m in soccer, cross country. And I do a bunch of other fun high school-related stuff.

A: My name is Amelia Fernández Rodríguez. I’m currently a junior at DSST: Conservatory Green High School. I first learned about climate change in 7th grade… I vividly remember learning about the Keeling Curve. We watched this Al Gore TED Talk about it. I felt so discouraged afterwards, and I knew I had to do something about it. I started small, doing small things, until 8th grade, when I went a little bigger and joined DPS Students for Climate Action.

I’m kind of a full-time climate activist, but in my free time, I play piano, I like to go hiking. In the summer, I like to try vegan recipes and go skiing in the winter.

J: Can you tell us more about how DPS Students for Climate Action was formed, who makes up the organization now, and what the overall mission of the organization is?

A: DPS Students for Climate Action [was] founded by about 30 students in February 2021. We felt that DPS had the responsibility of ensuring the students a livable future. So we campaigned for almost two years to get DPS to pass a climate policy and a climate action plan. 

The campaigning consisted of going to public comment. Public comment is a designated time each month to talk to the school board members. We went almost every month to public comment until we got their attention. So the day before Earth Day, April 21, 2022, we got the policy passed. And it was followed by a 100+ page climate action plan… 

B: I think the main thing in answer to Who are we? and What are we doing? is we’re a group of students working in the district to try to connect individual sustainability clubs with broader decision-making. As she said, we have connections with DPS Sustainability and the board, but we also have connections at our schools, like my sustainability club at East High School. When we’re able to connect big decisions like passing a climate resolution with those smaller voices in the district, it really makes a difference and puts power back into our own hands. 

J: You talked about how you lobbied school board members at Public Comment. Are there other specific actions you took to ensure that decision makers were listening to you?

A: Yes. First off, we made a petition. That petition was integral to passing our policy. We ended up getting 4,000+ signatures on that petition. We also, on our website, wanted to get endorsers who supported our policy. And not just any endorser. We got city council members, school principals, Denver Sustainability Office people… We [also] sent a lot of emails. And we made sure that we met with every single board member to make sure that we had their support. 

J: Beckett, will you tell us about some of your wins as an organization?

B: [A]fter we passed our policy, we got a lot of attention. We’d been getting some attention before then but I think the new thing has been a lot of chances to get to speak [publicly]. We’ve gotten awards, but the main benefit from being “popular” now is that we’ve been able to spread the word of sustainability more. We’ve been going to things like summits and meetings—and not just our district’s board meetings, but also city council meetings and state legislature stuff. So having a bigger presence in the city allows us to be a more influential organization. 

A: One [award we received] is [called] the President’s Environmental Youth Award, or PEYA, and that is an award issued by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). That’s the award that got the Vice President [Kamala Harris] to Denver and got us to Washington, D.C. 

J: What is next on your organization’s agenda? 

B: I think the primary goal moving forward is to really connect student voices with the district. A lot of our original 30 or so members…have already left the district. So we’ve been trying to get more people involved at our level and to show up to prove that this is still a problem, that DPS still needs to uphold their climate action plan and stay true to their policy. 

J: How did you first learn about climate change?

B: In 6th grade, …I somehow found a video about sea level rise, and I thought to myself, Oh, wait… This is a thing. This is a problem! …And I wanted to go to where the Rio Grande ends, at the border of Texas and Mexico, because where the Rio Grande ends hasn’t seen water since 1991-ish… I eventually went to my homeroom teacher and she said, How about instead of going to Texas, you start a sustainability club at our school? So I started with a few of my friends Climate Change Awareness Club. That was the start of my sustainability career. We ended up going to National Renewables Energy Lab that semester, which is here in Golden, Colorado, and we also ended up going to the CLEO Institute Summit in Florida in 2018.

J: What role do you think climate education should play in the environmental movement? 

A: I would love to see education on climate change being taught as early as possible, like in kindergarten, and across all classes, not only science. Did you know that New Jersey passed this mandate that all public schools have to teach climate change in every class, including PE, as early as possible? It’s about education that connects to you, connects to your experience. 

J: What else do you want readers of EARTHDAY.ORG to know?

A: If you’re a student, staff member, teacher, parent, or anybody reading this right now, and you’re inspired by our work and want to do the same thing, then you should go to our toolkit at www.dpsclimateaction.org/toolkit. The toolkit is a 14-page PDF that shows the exact process, and steps, and resources that you need to replicate what we’ve done. 

If you are a Denver Public Schools student who wants to join DPSS4CA, go to www.dpsclimateaction.org/getinvolved.

The post EARTHDAY.ORG’s Interview with Two Youth Climate Activists appeared first on Earth Day.

The very first Earth Day back in 1970 was the largest civic demonstration in history, when 20 million people across America demanded action to protect the environment. As influential as that day was, it was not critic-free. Back then, some Black activists felt that it took attention away from the racial injustice movement that was also growing across the nation, and lamented that a new movement was diverting attention away from it. 

Calls for racial justice and equity have not stopped since then, but now Black environmentalists are making their mark in the ‘green’ movement too, and are finding an important way of dovetailing the two causes. Environmental racism acknowledges climate change and pollution can have disproportionately harmful social, economic, and public health impacts on marginalized populations. 

Communities of color are much more likely to be targeted as sites for factories and hazardous waste manufacturing. A landmark study from 1987 discovered that race, not income, was the biggest factor in determining where these sorts of industrial facilities were situated.  White families with under $10,000 in annual income are far less likely to find themselves living next to a plastic factory than a Black family with an income of $50,000. Living near hydraulic fracturing wells, exposure to airborne toxins like benzene as well as harmful gasses like nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide, even your proximity to landfills sites — all of these factors increase for non-white families. 

Which is why it is critically important to acknowledge the unique obstacles faced by these communities and the young environmentalists of color who are fighting to have their voices heard. This Black History Month, we recognize four Black environmentalists, under 30 years old, who are inspiring change.

Leah Thomas

Leah Thomas, originally from St. Louis, now resides in Southern California. She describes herself as an “intersectional environmental activist” who is exploring the relationship between social justice and environmentalism. 

In 2022, she was named by Time Magazine as a Time 100 Next Generation Leader. Known as Green Girl Leah on social media, she advocates for the voices of people of color to be present in the environmental movement and beyond. She has created resources for information on the subject of inequity as well as launching successful work-shops while emphasizing that “diversity and inclusion and environmentalism is very joyful.”

Leah is the author of the book The Intersectional Environmentalist: How to Dismantle Systems of Oppression to Protect People & Planet and with over 250,000 followers on instagram under the handle @greengirlleah, she truly has become a force to be reckoned with in the fight for environmental justice. As Leah says, “We can’t save the planet without uplifting the voices of its people, especially those most often unheard.”

Mikaela Loach

Mikaela Loach, born in Jamaica but raised in Great Britain, is the best selling author of It’s Not That Radical: Climate Action to Transform Our World. A medical student at Edinburgh University, she is one of the brightest and most vocal young leaders in the fight for environmental justice. In 2020, Mikaela was named by Forbes as one of the most influential women in the UK climate movement, as well as being lauded by Global Citizen and named on BBC radio’s prestigious Woman’s Hour, power List. 

Mikaela, often clad in her favorite bright pink outfits, is not afraid to speak truth to power  — even when it might be uncomfortable. She is radically opposed to billionaire philanthropists trying to save the planet while still benefiting from the industries which are actively destroying it.  Speaking at a Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation conference, she felt compelled to share these views.  In Mikaela’s own words: To transform the world — rather than just sticking a band-aid on it — we have to address and disrupt the systems that create oppression in the first place. Philanthrocapitalism doesn’t do that”. 

Michaela is both fearless but welcoming — she encourages a fully inclusive form of activism. In 2021, she famously started taking the British government to court for subsidizing the fossil fuel industry. 

Genesis Butler

Genesis Butler has been an animal activist since the age of six, but she pivoted to fighting for the environment when she realized the devastating impact that animal agriculture had not just on the animals themselves but also on our planet. At the age of 16 years old, Genesis became a vegan. Genesis actively fundraises for animal sanctuaries and advocates for the ‘food’ and ‘lab test’  animals that many of us often forget about such as cows, goats, dogs, mice, rats, sheep and chickens. 

She is one of the youngest people to ever give a TEDx Talk entitled, “A 10 Year Old’s Vision for Healing the Planet,” She used a disarming mix of humor and facts to engage her audience in the connection between animal based agriculture and climate change.  Activism is clearly in her DNA, her great-uncle was civil rights leader Cesar Chavez. Chavez co-founded the National Farm Workers Association, which united with the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee to become the United Farm Workers Labor Union. So, while her famous great uncle fought for farm laborer’s rights, his incredible great niece is fighting for farm animals.   She is currently working as an ambassador for EARTHDAY.ORG’s Foodprints for the Future, calling for us all to fight climate change with dietary change. 

Genesis is committed to giving all young people a platform. To that end she presently leads the Youth Climate Save movement, the first youth-led environmental organization that is focused on animal agriculture’s impact on climate change.

Vic Barrett

Vic Barrett’s message is clear: Climate change isn’t just about temperatures and weather, it’s about people. Our earth will be here for millennia, it’s up to us to decide if humanity will be too.

Vic’s climate activism began after his low-lying hometown, White Plains in New York, was impacted by Hurricane Sandy back in 2012. He got to experience first hand the damage a Category 3 ‘super’ hurricane can inflict — his neighborhood lost power and his school and local transport system shut down. While Sandy may be long gone, his home town is still facing the ever-present risk of rising sea levels and frequent storm surges. Motivated by what he experienced firsthand, he became active in the environmental movement at his high school and he hasn’t stopped since. 

Vic spoke in Paris at the UN’s Cop 21, is a plaintiff in the Juliana v. United States lawsuit against the US government for failing to protect the climate for future generations. He marched with 400,000 at the Peoples’ Climate March in New York City, he has attended the World Economic Forum — the list goes on. But Vic’s mantra is not to lecture young people about being at the negotiating table or striving to make UN speeches. Instead, he wants to encourage them to look for what it is they care about and then do something about it. Vic advocates for young people to find a way to make a difference in their own community. He is currently working to involve students of color in environmental activism and is a Fellow with the Alliance for Climate Education. He is an undergraduate at UW-Madison.

EARTHDAY.ORG thanks all of these incredible environmental justice leaders and beyond for their work and for their vision. We need everyone to join together to fight for the health of our planet and for the survival and health of all the creatures that call Earth home. We need ALL communities to feel welcomed and heard in this powerfully important ‘green’ movement. EARTHDAY.ORG sees you all, we hear you all. We are with you all.

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