No Picture

How New York City Won Divestment From Fossil Fuels

Nancy Romer March 5, 2018 Nancy Romer

Source: Common Dreams

The divestment campaign provides an excellent example of how dedicated organizing, clear demands and strategies, creative tactics, strong coalitions, and good luck can come together for a win

After five years of tireless organizing, the movement to divest NYC public worker pension funds from fossil fuels scored a win. On Jan. 10, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that New York City will divest the $5 billion of its pension funds presently invested in fossil fuel stocks. It will also sue the top five fossil fuel corporations—ExxonMobil, Shell, BP, Chevron, and ConocoPhillips—charging that because they hid the evidence that burning fossil fuels causes climate change, they are responsible for the billions of dollars the city has spent on climate remediation. read more

The Malkawi Aboriginal Painting Site on Napabunna land in South Australia. Photo by Fairfax Media/Getty Images

After Thousands of Years, Western Science Is Slowly Catching Up to Indigenous Knowledge

George Nicholas February 28, 2018 George Nicholas
The Malkawi Aboriginal Painting Site on Napabunna land in South Australia. Photo by Fairfax Media/Getty Images
The Malkawi Aboriginal Painting Site on Napabunna land in South Australia. Photo by Fairfax Media/Getty Images

Source: Yes! Magazine

Our knowledge of what the denizens of the animal kingdom are up to, especially when humans aren’t around, has steadily increased over the last 50 years. For example, we know now that animals use tools in their daily lives. Chimps use twigs to fish for termites; sea otters break open shellfish on rocks they selected; octopi carry coconut shell halves to later use as shelters.

The latest discovery has taken this assessment to new heights, literally. A team of researchers led by Mark Bonta and Robert Gosford in northern Australia has documented kites and falcons, colloquially termed “firehawks,” intentionally carrying burning sticks to spread fire. While it has long been known that birds will take advantage of natural fires that cause insects, rodents and reptiles to flee and thus increase feeding opportunities, that they would intercede to spread fire to unburned locales is astounding. read more

Zapatista women taking notes at ConCiencias. Photo credit: David Meek

Cracks in the Wall of Capitalism: The Zapatistas and the Struggle to Decolonize Science

David Meek February 26, 2018 David Meek

The Zapatistas demand that science be reimagined by both scientists and the grassroots together as a technique of resistance. Decolonizing science requires scientists to organize in their own communities, and to deconstruct how their own research methodologies and epistemologies have been employed as tools of colonialism and neocolonialism. Such a process of decolonization also demands scientists become engaged allies, co-conspirators, and accomplices who can share methodological and theoretical insights with grassroots movements about how to build a new vision of science within the cracks of capital’s wall.