Humanity's Only Hope Is to Build a Biodiversity-Based Ecological Civilization

Sunday, September 22, 2019 [| Four days left -- we need your help! |]( ["Climate Anxiety" Starts in Elementary School. Friday's Strike Channeled It.]( Leanna First-Arai, Truthout During last Friday's Global Climate Strike, students channeled their anxiety about the climate crisis toward an energized purpose. Youth climate activists called on adults to leave the sidelines and fully engage in the September 20 action, and many educators responded by allowing their students to skip class for the climate strike. Some classes organized field trips to local actions, mixing education with activism. [Read the Article →]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [We Need Biodiversity-Based Agriculture to Solve the Climate Crisis]( Vandana Shiva, Truthout The Earth is a self-regulating living organism that creates the conditions for life to evolve and be maintained. But with just a few centuries of fossil fuel-based civilization we have brought our very survival under threat by rupturing the Earth's carbon cycle. To regenerate the planet, we must leave dead carbon in the ground and recarbonize soil with the living carbon of biodiverse agriculture. [Read the Article →]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [Trump Threatens to Veto First Ever Congressional Action on "Forever Chemicals"]( Michael Green, Truthout Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a class of nearly 5,000 synthetic chemicals that are in the blood of 99 percent of Americans and can remain in our bodies for decades. After decades of inaction, Congress is finally addressing these "forever chemicals," but President Trump is standing in the way of action. [Read the Article →]( --------------------------------------------------------------- We must raise $33,000 for Truthout in the next four days. If you agree that courageous, independent journalism is urgently needed at this moment in history, please make a tax-deductible monthly or one-time donation! [Donate Now →]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [The Green New Deal Can Help Us Fight White Supremacy]( Nicholas Powers, Truthout The left is facing a two-front struggle: On one side is capitalism wrecking the planet; on the other is a rising fascism stoking racism and xenophobia. The Green New Deal can help us fight both crises while also addressing poverty in poor communities of color and developing a collective mission to heal a damaged Earth. [Read the Article →]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [Sanders Unveils Plan to Wipe Out All Medical Debt in U.S.]( Julia Conley, Common Dreams Pledging to end the "immoral and unconscionable" practice of collecting debt from families who have endured an illness or hospital stay, Sen. Bernie Sanders on Saturday unveiled his plan to wipe out all medical debt in the United States. "In the wealthiest country in the history of the world, one illness or disease should not ruin a family's financial life and future," Sanders said. [Read the Article →]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [The Trump Administration Is Creating Chaos in the Bureau of Land Management]( Mike Spies and J. David McSwane, ProPublica The White House is considering a plan that would force some 200 people at the Bureau of Land Management to relocate or find other jobs. Many career staff see the move as part of a wider Trump administration effort to drive federal employees out of the agency that protects nearly 250 million acres of public lands and stands between oil and gas companies and the natural resources that can enrich them. [Read the Article →]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [As Arctic Sea Ice Disappears, What Happens to Ecosystems?]( Kate Wheeling, Earth and Space Science News In winter 2018, the sea ice extent in the Bering Sea reached the lowest levels observed since 1850, when records began. By late April, warm, southerly winds left sea ice levels at just 10 percent of the 1981-2010 average for that time of year. Researchers have found significant changes to regional wildlife, including lower phytoplankton levels and smaller populations of seabird colonies. [Read the Article →]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [GM Workers Strike for Fair Pay as Executives and Investors Rake in Billions]( Gin Armstrong and Robert Galbraith, Eyes on the Ties On Monday, September 16, nearly 50,000 General Motors (GM) workers across the United States went on strike, picketing for better wages, affordable healthcare, profit sharing, job security, and a pathway to permanent jobs for temporary workers. The strike comes at a time when executives and financiers are benefitting from record profits -- and failing to share them with workers. [Read the Article →]( --------------------------------------------------------------- In Case You Missed It --------------------------------------------------------------- [Corporate Agribusiness Is Blocking Important Action on the Climate]( Dan Ross, Truthout Among all the proposed action plans for tackling climate change, one area has not received the attention it deserves -- corporate agribusiness. The latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change points out that industrial farming has resulted in increased greenhouse gas emissions, loss of natural ecosystems and declines in biodiversity. We need to purse regenerative farming practices more aggressively to reduce agribusiness's carbon footprint. [Read the Article →]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [Trump's Solution to the Homelessness Crisis: Deregulation and Criminalization]( Sasha Abramsky, Truthout To address homelessness in California, Trump has proposed deregulation of the housing market, unleashing police and other law enforcement agencies even more forcefully than it already does against homeless people, and even herding them into government-run "facilities." Housing advocates worry that Trump's proposals would fail to provide meaningful social interventions and investments necessary to address the crisis -- and make it worse. [Read the Article →]( --------------------------------------------------------------- We need 50 more people to make a sustaining, monthly donation to Truthout. Can we count on you to be one? It takes just 30 seconds to set up and any amount helps! 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