Alliances
YOUTH PROTEST AND ITS LIMITS: By depicting the climate crisis as a threat to the future, youth activists could be undermining the imminent danger. (6/29/22)
Anti-Choice Crusade
WHEN THE PART IS GREATER THAN THE WHOLE: How the anti-abortion movement took control of the Republican Party. (6/22/22)
Taking on Big Oil
FRICK FRACKING: Activists continue to fight the 303-mile Mountain Valley pipeline in Virginia and West Virginia as it moves into its most treacherous geography. (6/8/22)
BIG OIL FIGHTS BACK: A decline in boardroom activism against fossil fuels and the climate crisis. (7/4/22)
Civic strategy
RIGHT GREEN: Crises bring out latent contradictions. So might climate change reveal common ground with environmentalists and the right? (3/31/22)
★ PETER KALMUS SPEAKS OUT: “It takes courage to break social norms, and it takes courage to risk your career,” says the NASA scientist on the climate crisis. “I think it’s worth it. Life on Earth is at stake.” (6/7/22)
A CIVIC STRATEGY ON CLIMATE CRISIS: Can the model of the citizens assembly–in which ordinary people get together to explore complex issues, without pressure from interest groups, offer a way forward? (12/15/21)
ACTIVISM CONFRONTS INDIFFERENCE: Summits on the climate crisis rise to their own standards. But activists beat on, boats against the current. (11/11/21)
Competing agendas
WHEN CRISES CLASH: The climate crisis has taken a back seat to the invasion of Ukraine. (4/1/22)
Corporate targets
CLIMATE COUNTER-REVOLUTION: West Virginia rejects financial institutions committed to fighting climate crisis: BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo. (7/28/22)
THE POWER OF THE GRID: The critical element of the climate crisis, (5/3022)
SHELL GAME: Activists warn the oil company to reduce carbon emissions by 45 percent by 2030 or face legal consequences. Shell says it cannot be held responsible in one place for events that happen beyond that place. (4/25/22)
DIVESTMENT RISING: Not since the anti-apartheid struggle has divestment been used more effectively as an activist tool. So far, endowments, portfolios and pension funds have divested $40 trillion from coal, gas, and oil stocks.(10/26/21)
GALLERY NIXES BP: The National Portrait Gallery cuts ties with British Petroleum over the climate crisis. (2/23/22)
Debate / Framing
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED, SO FAR? “The climate movement has won on the problem. The next task is, How do we win on the solution?” Or is that just a rationalization of failure? (3/17/22)
THE LIMITS TO GROWTH: Forging a movement against the idea that we can “grow ourselves out of problems.” (3/3/22)
THE COST OF DISTRACTION: Activists always struggle with the fast shifts in public attention. No time is more distracting than the present for climate crisis activists. (2/13/22)
BAD FRAME: Talking about the climate crisis as a matter of sacrifice is the wrong strategy. (3/11/22)
Denial
FROM DENIAL TO BLOCKAGE: The right does not deny climate crisis as vociferously as it did only recently. But it continues to block action. (12/28/21)
EVANGELIST FOR THE EARTH: Katharine Hayhoe explores the contradictions of climate deniers but does not despair: “For many people now, hope is a bad word,. … But there are things to do — and we should be doing them.” (12/29/21)
Direct action
PIVOTING AWAY FROM NONVIOLENCE? Activism on climate crisis has so far been nonviolent. But how long can that last? (7/7/22)
THE ALINSKY STRATEGY: Following the practice of legendary activist Saul Alinsky, climate activists target villains of global warming.
SSSSSSSSS: Climate activists let the air out of gas-guzzling SUVs in New York. (7/27/22)
COLLATERAL DAMAGE: Deaths by suicides increase as the climate crisis falls on deaf ears. (5/23/22)
XR MARKS THE SPOT: Or it might. Extinction Rebellion has infused new energy into the climate crisis movement. (5/5/22)
HOLIDAY CHAOS: British rail union planning Extinction Rebellion-style protests this summer. “We’ve got to make sure every depot, every workplace, is a fortress for the trade union movement and people are ready to come out and defend their rights.” (5/1/22)
BEHIND THE TIMBERWOLVES PROTESTS: Shutdown and destruction of factory egg farms through “ventilation shutdown” skirts the real issue of crowded conditions that breed disease. (4/29/22) Also: Does activism undermine the cause?
EMBEDDED: Behind the scenes with Just Stop Oil. (4/10/22)
JUST STOP OIL: Activists aim to shut down the Navigator terminal, which supplies half of the region’s vehicle supply. (4/6/22).
Disobedience
IT’S DISOBEDIENCE TIME: A new Yale survey finds a growing appetite for civil disobedience to force action on the climate crisis. (1/26/22)
Environmental racism
ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE: Decades later, the evidence continues to pour in. Communities of color face the greatest burden for dirty industries, dumping, and pollution. (5/23/22)
GOING DEEPER, GOING BROADER: The climate crisis movement has expanded its reach into minority communities, says a Michigan researcher. (3/15/22)
REPARATIONS AND THE CLIMATE CRISIS: What form of reparations would go beyond mere distribution of money? Look at the communities most damaged by the climate crisis – “the actual lives people are empowered to lead.” (1/10/22)
Global action
GLOBAL REACH: If the climate crisis requires an international response, here are some leaders from the U.S., Canada, India, and Uganda. (3/8/22)
Leadership
MOMS LEAD: The new force in the fight against climate crisis. (3/11/22)
CLIMATE CRISIS LEADERS: In court, in boardrooms, and on the streets, they’re fighting the global meltdown. (7/11/22)
Labor
LABOR AND THE CLIMATE CRISIS: Corporations promote “stakeholder” capitalism, with a “resilient energy transition” that “delivers inclusive growth and long-term prosperity.” Sound familiar? A roundtable. (1/16/22)
Ocean actions
THE OLD PLAYBOOK: Norway’s Greenpeace chapter has attempted to block Russian vessels carrying oil. “I am shocked that Norway operates as a free port for Russian oil, which we know finances Putin’s warfare.” (4/25/22)
THE OIL TANKER PROTESTS: Protesters call a one-week halt to blockages of refineries. Earlier: six arrested.
Politics in Washington
WELCOME HOME VETS, NOW GET LOST: Veterans rally outside Congress to get health care for cancer and other injuries suffered in Iraq and Afghanistan. (7/30/22)
DID HE SAY ACTUALLY YES? Climate crisis activists are heartened by Joe Manchin’s agreement to the biggest bill of its kind. (7/28/22)
CLIMATE SETBACK? When Biden scales back Alaska oil project, climate activists fear the relentless nibbling-away of bold action. (7/8/22)
AFTER THE EPA DECISION: The need for a new approach to climate crisis activism. (7/4/22)
ACTIVISM AND THE CLIMATE CRISIS: Activism will determine whether Biden’s climate plan has a chance. But with every expansion of movement politics, the challenges multiply. (1/10/22)
OLD KING COAL: Coal minders in West Virginia are pressuring Senator Joe Manchin to support the Build Back better plan. Will they back their preferences with demonstrations? (1/10/22)
PROTESTING UNCLE JOE: Putting pressure on allies has long proven the only strategy for activists of all stripes. And so climate activists protested the Biden White House for its balky response to the crisis. (4/23/22)
Politics globally
FRANCIS SAYS TO ACT NOW: The pope pushes divestment from fossil fuels toward clean energy alternatives, with 2020 guidelines to implement ecological practices. (12/30/21)
‘BLAH, BLAH, BLAH’: That’s what Greta Thunberg heard at COP26. In an interview with the Washington Post, she recounts her awakening. Part of her awareness comes from Asperger’s syndrome, which, she says, does not allow her to paper over obvious contradictions. (12/27/21) Also: How “strange,” she says, that Biden is considered a leader on the climate crisis. (12/28/21)
NOW OR NEVER: Climate activists push for radical change after the minimal action of the Glasgow summit. (12/29/21) Also see this and this.
Psychology
HOPE, THEN CHANGE: The greatest barrier to activism is the absence of hope. Young climate activists see hope, and therefore embrace a “challenge accepted” mindset. (1/13/22)
CHOOSING JOY OVER DESPAIR: Climate activist decides to fight for life while experiencing life at the same time. “Joy doesn’t betray activism, but sustains it.” (5/2/22)
RESPONDING TO CLIMATE DESPAIR: Despair can lead to either motivation or defeatism. So act. Throw sand into the gears. Organize. Take care. Do 1,001 little things right. (5/1/22) Tip: Be sure to read the comments too.
GEN APOCALYPSE: The next generation, which has to deal with the climate crisis unaddressed by its elders, has taken to the streets. (9/20/19)
THE EXPERIMENT: An activist walks the walk on climate change. (4/20/22)
Radical action
EXTINCTION REBELLION CLEARED: Activists for the radical climate crisis group were found not guilty of of obstructing the railway after they obstructed the railway. (1/14/22)
★ CAN XR DO IT? The return of Extinction Rebellion in a time of distraction, war, and rising authoritarianism. (4/15/22) See also this.
Sacrifice
★ THE POLITICS OF SELF-SACRIFICE: Is self-immolation for a cause activism or madness? The debate ensues after a man burns himself to death to protest climate crisis. (4/26/22) See also this.
Scientists
★ IS SOMETHING BIG HAPPENING? Scientists look like they have had enough and aren’t going to take it anymore. “Scientists do not know how to shout or stain walls or stop traffic. But we know how to do one thing well: learn. And we are studying the new language to communicate the gravity of climate change.” (4/11/22) Also see this and this.
SCIENTISTS FOR THE EARTH: “It is no longer sufficient to do our research and expect others to read our publications and understand the severity and urgency of the climate crisis.” (4/4/22)
SCIENTIST REBELLION: Climate crisis is real, it’s here, and we need to act, says this new coalition. Also: this.
SCIENTIFIC METHOD: Going global, scientists sound the alarm on the climate crisis. (4/16/22) See also this and this.
Spectacles
STICKY SITUATION: When activists glue themselves to art, can they confront the climate crisis. Or is it just a foolish distraction? (7/10/22)
PICTURE THIS . . . Activists glue their hands to the games of Van Gogh paintings at Glasgow museum to protest Big Oil and the climate crisis. (6/30/22)
Strategy
3.5 PERCENT FOR THE CLIMATE: To defeat authoritarians, Erica Chenoweth and Maria Stepan have found, 3.5 percent of the population needs to fill the streets with protest. Does the same hold for taking on the climate crisis? (11/8/22) Also see this, this, and this.
CLIMATE MOVEMENT DILEMMA: Direct action has a long and storied legacy in activism. But when it slips into violence, it sabotages the cause. (2/9/22)
TAKE THE LONG VIEW: Often forgotten in emergencies is the need to think past tomorrow. That’s why we need the next generation taking charge of the climate crisis. (2/10/22)
Wins and losses
SMALL WINS: The climate crisis movement scores. (2/14/22)