Activism

"Last year ended with momentum. Flint — though still dealing with dirty water — had put environmental justice back on the map. It was no longer a topic tucked into academic papers and progressive media. National broadcasters and newspapers descended on mid-Michigan."

"The plight of Chile's indigenous Mapuche people and their struggle for land rights will come under the spotlight as Pope Francis travels to the country on Monday amid growing tension between the Mapuche and loggers and farmers."

"Humvees with heavily armed county, state and federal agents rolled into what remained of the Oceti Sakowin protest camp in North Dakota in early 2017. With a U.S. Department of Homeland Security helicopter circling low overhead and heavy machinery preparing to topple anything in their path, the camp's last few holdouts torched their tipis and fled across the frozen Cannonball River to the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation."

"Native American tribes, islanders and communities of color led the toughest environmental fights of 2017."

"A criminal gang involved in land trafficking has tortured and murdered a community leader in northern Peru, according to his wife and local villagers who witnessed the killing."

"A conservation group is launching a $1 million television and radio advertisement campaign targeting three House Republicans over President Trump’s decision to shrink monument protections in Utah."

"A pacifist environmentalist and expert on Icelandic crime thrillers emerged on Thursday as Iceland’s new prime minister, its fourth in two years, after three parties signed a coalition agreement."

"Environmental groups being sued by the developer of the Dakota Access pipeline have asked a federal judge to dismiss the lawsuit."

"A leaked draft of the US Department of Interior’s four-year strategic plan calls for massive fossil fuel extraction from public lands, with no mention of climate change impacts."

"Lobbyists in key positions with the U.S. Department of the Interior now number 13, making the nation’s public lands agency a leading example of President Donald Trump’s policy of filling government posts with former advocates for special interests."