Environment

 ENVIRONMENT These are articles previously published by Toward Freedom related to this category. 

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The Privatization of the Global Freshwater Commons

Frank Joseph Smecker June 11, 2009 Frank Joseph Smecker

Water Rights Protest, Phillipines
Around the world, scarcity of potable water is becoming a portentous matter. Rivers and streams are vanishing, and the desiccation and depletion of entire watersheds and aquifers is increasing the world over. When seeking a reason for the withering away of drinkable water and the silencing of gushing streams, it becomes obvious that there is not one sole factor contributing to this dire situation, but many. Global warming and climate change, industrial modes of production, dam construction, and water privatization all conduce to the problem of water scarcity.

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Coal Mine Laws Written in Blood: An Interview with Judy Bonds

Frank Joseph Smecker May 27, 2009 Frank Joseph Smecker

July Bonds speaks at a rally
Judy Bonds is the co-director for Coal River Mountain Watch in West Virginia. Bonds is a coal miner's daughter and granddaughter, has been fighting for justice in the Appalachian coalfields since 1998, and in 2003 won the Goldman Environmental Prize. In this interview she talks about coal mining devastation in her community and what you can do to help.

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Cities Can Save the Earth

Richard Register May 18, 2009 Richard Register

The climate crisis won't be solved by changing light bulbs and inflating your tires more, planting a tree and driving a little less. It's going to require a truly fundamental shift in how we build our cities and live in them. The key to changing our cities involves the car. Cars dominate cities in the rich countries, and they are increasingly swamping poor countries as well.

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Where Plastics Go to Kill

Julia Whitty May 11, 2009 Julia Whitty

It's an oil spill. Only solid, and far more deadly. The average liquid spill of petroleum will kill marine life for a year, maybe 10. But it could take 400 years for that petroleum-based six-pack ring holding your beer to break down. Each year, undegraded plastic chokes to death some 100,000 whales, dolphins, seals, manatees, plus an unknown number of sea turtles and about 2 million birds. And once it has broken down, it becomes deadlier still.