Earth Island Journal | Earth Island Institute

A New Geography of Hope
In a warming world, we’ll discover that wilderness continues to sustain us.
By Kathleen Dean Moore
Shift to Clean Energy
We need to do for renewable energy what John Muir did for wilderness.
By Michael Brune
Wilderness in the Anthropocene
In the “Age of Man” we’ll need wild places to hold steady the sanity of our species.
By Jason Mark

Latest News

Plastic Bag Industry Campaigning to Overturn California’s Plastic Bag Ban

Big Plastic, which stands to lose big profits, wants to get a referendum on the November 2016 ballot

by Zoe Loftus-Farren – November 13, 2014

Governor Gerry Brown made history in September when he signed SB 270, making California the first state in the nation to ban plastic shopping bags. Unsurprisingly, the plastic bag industry isn’t going quietly into the night. Instead, it is trying to get…
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US and China Strike Deal on Carbon Cuts in Push for Global Climate Change Pact

Barack Obama aims for reduction of a quarter or more by 2025, while Xi Jinping sets goal for emissions to fall after 2030

by The Guardian – November 12, 2014

The United States and China have unveiled a secretly negotiated deal to reduce their greenhouse gas output, with China agreeing to cap emissions for the first time and the US committing to deep reductions by 2025. The pledges in an agreement struck…
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PR Firm to Advise New York Oil & Gas Group to “Win Ugly”

Leaked transcript shows energy companies will be told to make the fight against fracking opponents personal

by Adam Federman – November 12, 2014

A PR firm well known for its hardball tactics in defense of Big Tobacco will deliver the keynote address at tonight’s Independent Oil and Gas Association of New York’s (IOGA-NY) annual conference in Buffalo. The same talk titled, “Big Green Radicals: Exposing…
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Smoke ‘Em Out: Time to Kick Big oil from the Global Climate Talks

The climate movement could learn some lessons from the fight against Big Tobacco

by Anna Lappé – November 11, 2014

At 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, September 21, the 400,000 people gathered for the People’s Climate March in New York City took a moment of silence for those whose lives have already been lost because of climate change. The silence swept up Central…
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New Oil & Gas Industry Intel Network Circumvents FOIA law

Now the public has no way of finding out what kind of information is being circulated among network members or with the federal government

by Adam Federman – November 10, 2014

What if the private sector banded together to create its own intelligence sharing networks exempt from FOIA law and public accountability? In the last decade a number of different industries ranging from financial services and health care to nuclear energy and defense…
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High up in the Himalayas, Villagers Live Under the Shadow of An Unpredictable Lake

As glacial lakes around the world grow bigger and deeper, high altitude communities are increasingly at risk from catastrophic flooding

by Daniel Grossman – November 8, 2014

Chorabjor stared at me with gimlet eyes. Why had I come?, he asked through a translator. To learn about Lake Shako Cho, I replied. He signaled me to move closer. I sat down at his side on a low bench covered by…
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Tragedy on the Annapurna Circuit

As increased access attracts inexperienced trekkers, will disaster strike more frequently in the Himalayas?

by Michael Dax – November 7, 2014

The night before going over Thorung La, the 17,769 foot pass that would be the high point of our 19 day trek around the Annapurna Circuit, we lounged comfortably at the last major guest house in Thorung Phedi. The next guest house…
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Jon Jarvis: The National Park Service Director discusses climate change, technology, and nature deficit disorder.
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Black Faces in Wild Places: Chelsea Griffie on how to ensure all people are enjoying the outdoors.
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Ticket to Ride?: The head of the International Mountain Bicycling Association and an ecologist debate bikes in wilderness areas.
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Readers Poll: What do you think? Should bikes be allowed in the wilderness?
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