Latest news with #environmentalism
Washington Post
15 hours ago
- General
- Washington Post
What if we need spiritual revival, not technology, to address climate change
When I lived in Cambodia, I meditated at a pagoda every week. Sitting on a pillow, the numbness creeping up my legs, I tried to master control of my mind. I never succeeded. But I did discover a dawning awareness of it. Even when not sitting cross-legged in Phnom Penh, that has served me well. At times, I can deeply observe moments or myself, catching what I would have otherwise missed. In journalism, where observing is the job, it has helped me follow the questions wherever they lead, trusting the answer is not what I already (think I) know. For American scholar and activist Joanna Macy, who died at age 96 this month, early encounters with Buddhism changed not only the course of her career, but popular understanding of how we might solve the most urgent environmental issues of our time. Today, her ideas are everywhere: in the language of protesters, in discussions at scientific conferences, even at the Vatican, where Pope Francis wrote his unprecedented 2015 encyclical on the environment, 'Laudato si.' Macy applied Buddhist teachings to help people understand that they were not free-floating individuals, but integral to a much larger whole composed of every living being across time, a network as real as our veins and arteries. She encouraged people to acknowledge their feelings about the destruction of the natural world and turn their anxiety and despair into positive action. 'The key is in not being afraid for the world's suffering,' she told an interviewer. 'Then nothing can stop you.' It was a philosophy she came to call the 'Work That Reconnects,' a practice, and an organization, that thousands around the world have turned to when overwhelmed by seemingly insurmountable problems. Macy's blueprint for climate action holds that we will not be able to solve the climate issue, and its intertwined problems, with technology and policy alone. We need spiritual renewal. It's notable that a dean of the modern environmental movement has come to an identical conclusion. Gus Speth, the co-founder of the Natural Resources Defense Council and the World Resources Institute, as well as the former dean of Yale's School of the Environment (where I studied), once considered biodiversity loss, ecosystems collapse and climate change to be the century's top environmental problems. 'I thought with 30 years of good science, we could address those problems,' Speth recently wrote by email. 'But I was wrong. The top environmental problems are selfishness, greed and apathy … and to deal with those we need a spiritual and cultural transformation, and we lawyers and scientists don't know how do that.' Macy's own transformation began in the Himalayan foothills of northwest India. Growing up, she had spent idyllic summers on her grandfather's Western New York farm, an escape from what she remembers as the 'hideously confining' concrete canyons of New York City. After graduating from Wellesley College in 1950, she briefly worked for the CIA in postwar Germany, before moving to India, where she helped resettle Tibetan Buddhist refugees. Her encounters with monks fleeing Chinese persecution, and the Buddhist religion, changed her life forever. Returning to school in the mid-1970s, she earned a PhD in religious studies at 49. Her thesis, said Sean Kelly, a philosophy professor who taught with Macy at the California Institute of Integral Studies, was the first research explicitly connecting Buddhist teachings with Western systems theory. 'She looked at the Earth as a massive system of which we are a part,' Kelly said. 'The Earth is living through us and other species.' Human identity, she argued, can't be separated from the natural world — with profound moral and practical implications for how we live. During the Cold War, as nuclear weapons and waste spread around the world, Macy founded the Nuclear Guardianship project. Beyond opposing nuclear proliferation, she advocated for treating radioactive waste as a moral and cultural commitment that spanned generations. Rather than bury waste in underground tombs, she argued that societies should keep the waste in retrievable, visible storage, so future generations could monitor and maintain the safety of 'humanity's most enduring artifact' — expected to remain lethal for more than 10,000 years. As environmental crises mounted, she saw despair and fear rising in those around her. Rather than escaping into what she called a false and premature peace of mind, she accepted the reality of suffering, even embracing it, as the only way to reclaim the freedom to act. 'That became, actually, perhaps the most pivotal point in … the landscape of my life: That dance with despair,' she said on the public radio show 'On Being' in 2021. 'To see how we are called to not run from the discomfort and not run from the grief or the feelings of outrage or even fear, and that if we can be fearless, to be with our pain. … It only doesn't change if we refuse to look at it.' Her argument was simple: Pain reveals what we love. The problem, she said, was when people imprisoned themselves in numbness or distraction to avoid the pain. 'Of all the dangers we face, from climate chaos to nuclear war, none is so great as the deadening of our response,' she wrote in her book 'World as Lover, World as Self.' Her genius, said Monica Mueller, an environmental studies and philosophy professor at Naropa University, was translating this idea into a practice that anyone could pick up in one of her books or 'Work That Reconnects' workshops around the world. People, especially activists, found in her teaching an antidote to burnout and apathy in the face of brutal odds. 'I've seen that time and time again,' Mueller said. 'People come in [to these workshops], literally wailing publicly, and then have something move through them and suddenly they feel they can go on.' As Macy grew older, she appeared to grow more pessimistic about our prospects of avoiding the worst of climate change and the collapse of industrial society — what she called the 'Great Unraveling.' That only redoubled her commitment to love the world and, if some of it was doomed, to give thanks for its beauty at every funeral. Despite this drumbeat of destruction, and her own pain, she could see the first green shoots of a more life-sustaining society taking hold, what she referred to as the 'Great Turning.' But hope didn't fit into her lexicon. The word doesn't exist in Buddhism's teaching, Macy taught, because it implies wishful thinking about the future, divorcing us from the present moment when we possess the power to act. Real hope, she countered, was a simple practice reliant on courage and imagination, not optimism. When people asked if she thought this would be enough, she told them they were asking the wrong question. 'When you're worrying about whether you're hopeful or hopeless or pessimistic or optimistic, who cares?' she said. 'The main thing is that you're showing up, that you're here, and that you're finding ever more capacity to love this world because it will not be healed without that.'
CBC
15-07-2025
- Politics
- CBC
What young activists think of David Suzuki saying we've lost climate change fight
Canadian environmentalist David Suzuki made headlines last week when he said in an interview with digital news outlet iPolitics that humanity has lost its fight against climate change. Aishwarya Puttur, a former youth climate adviser to the federal government, says she believes there is time left to fight against climate change. Lily Yang, part of Canada's official delegation to a 2025 UN forum on sustainable development, says activism should be focused on dealing with big polluters and industries.
ABC News
10-07-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
Rainbow Warrior bombing 40 years on
On July 10 1985, agents of the French secret service blew up and sank the Greenpeace vessel Rainbow warrior in Auckland harbour. The ship was on it's way to Morura Atoll in the South Pacific, to protest French nuclear weapons tests. 40 years on, activists say the attack that was designed to silence the movement, has only made it stronger.
The Guardian
07-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Tony McNally obituary
My friend Tony McNally, who has died of cancer aged 81, was an activist determined to devote his energy to environmentalism. During the 1990s he was one of the organisers of 'green shows' at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham. In 2003, he established Climate Change Solutions (CCS), a not-for-profit company, which, over the following two decades, acted as a key adviser for climate change initiatives across the Midlands and nationally. It organised conferences and exhibitions and promoted a wide range of renewable energy technologies, in 2004 pioneering an annual hydrogen fuel conference at the NEC, and latterly championing solar energy. Tony was a director of the Heart of England community solar farm and the driving force behind the West Midlands Bright Solar Future taskforce. Born in Cookstown, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, while he was still a child Tony moved with his parents, James, a factory worker, and Mary, an auxiliary nurse, to Birmingham to find employment after the second world war. They were lodged in a disused army barracks in the spectacularly ill-named Hollywood, on the edge of Birmingham, and Tony left Bishop Challoner secondary school in King's Heath at 15 with no qualifications. He joined the army and served for three years in Germany. He got involved in socialist politics on his return. During the 1960s and 70s within the Young Communist League and Communist party he and his colleagues developed a new approach to leftwing politics, engaging with youth rebellion, feminism and environmentalism. Tony rejected old dogmas and stuck to these reformist principles throughout his life. One of his early notable actions came when he climbed Oliver Cromwell's statue outside the House of Commons the day after Bloody Sunday in 1972, protesting about the shooting of civil rights marchers. He continued to campaign on key issues of the day: as one of those organising the two people's marches for jobs that passed through the Midlands in 1981 and 1983; in solidarity with the miners in their fight against pit closures; protesting for nuclear disarmament; and in support of Vietnamese, Chilean, South African and more recently Palestinian people, in their struggles against repression. Tony is survived by his wife, Ruth Longoni, whom he married in 1971, their daughter, Rebecca, and grandchildren, Emily and Lewis, and by his brother, Tom.
Associated Press
03-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Associated Press
'The Adventures of Fuzzy and Buzzy' Continue in New Children's Book About 'Speedy's Tree and the Disappearing Forest'
written by Josh Brandstadter; illustrated by Soraya Bartolome; on sale March 21, 2025 'Fuzzy and Buzzy are the perfect companions for literature-based science adventures. Their story captivated my first graders while engaging them in rich content. We can't wait for our next adventure!'— Stacy Wolfe, elementary school teacher RICHMOND, VA, UNITED STATES, July 3, 2025 / / -- Brandylane Publishers, Inc. of Richmond, Virginia, is excited to announce the release of a new children's book, ' The Adventures of Fuzzy and Buzzy: Speedy's Tree and the Disappearing Forest,' written by Josh Brandstadter and illustrated by Soraya Bartolome. Dynamic bear and bee duo Fuzzy and Buzzy are back in this second installment of their eponymous adventures—and this time, they're helping Speedy, a lightning-fast but forgetful squirrel who just can't seem to remember where he left the special tree where he keeps all his nuts and seeds. Together, Fuzzy, Buzzy, and Speedy search for Speedy's tree—only to discover that the forest surrounding it has been entirely felled by humans and their giant machines. While they mourn this part of the forest, Fuzzy and Buzzy nevertheless are determined to welcome Speedy into their own forest, and offer to help him move his nuts to their own beloved woods—while also combatting the destruction of the forest by planting some of them so that new trees can grow. Packed full of themes of teamwork, kindness, friendship, and environmentalism, including a section that tells young readers what they can do to help care for the planet—reusing and recycling paper, planting trees, and donating to organizations that help save forests—and paired with whimsical stylized artwork from Spanish artist Soraya Bartolome, 'The Adventures of Fuzzy and Buzzy: Speedy's Tree and the Disappearing Forest' released on March 21, 2025. 'Fresh off their first adventure, Fuzzy and Buzzy are enjoying their forest when something new catches their eyes. An excited visitor introduces them to a new threat, one which they have never seen before. The health and well-being of their home ecosystem is at risk, but with some collaboration and forward thinking, they come up with a solution which will benefit everything from the smallest seeds to the largest trees.' 'About the Author' Josh Brandstadter lives in Dover, Pennsylvania, with his wife, Jamie; his children, Emery and Ayla; his dogs, Tom Petty, Janis Joplin, and Biggie Smalls; and his cat, Olivia Newton-John. He is a science teacher and track and field coach at Dover Area High School. He has always had a passion and appreciation for nature and all it has to offer. When he isn't in the classroom, you'll find him spending time with his family in the great outdoors. 'About the Illustrator' Soraya Bartolomé is a Spanish illustrator, book editor, and music teacher. Her artwork is characterized by colorful and playful drawings that reflect her love for life and creativity. Outside the world of art, her passion is music and spending time with friends. Interviews available upon request. Brandylane Publishers, Inc. is an independent press located in Richmond, Virginia, that has published books since 1985. 'The Adventures of Fuzzy and Buzzy: Speedy's Tree and the Disappearing Forest' (hardcover, 34 pages, $26.95 / paperback, 34 pages, $15.95) is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other fine booksellers. PR Team Brandylane Publishers, Inc. +1 804-644-3090 email us here Visit us on social media: LinkedIn Instagram Facebook X Legal Disclaimer: EIN Presswire provides this news content 'as is' without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.
