Sign Up for IslandWire

Earth Island’s Plastics-Related Lawsuits Advance

Earth Island recently had two key wins in its lawsuits seeking to hold corporations responsible for their plastic pollution. Earlier this month, a California state court denied attempts by Coca-Cola, Pepsi, and other out-of-state defendants to dismiss our lawsuit based on jurisdiction. And last week, the Superior Court of the District of Columbia denied the efforts of BlueTriton Brands to dismiss our greenwashing lawsuit. As a result of these wins, both cases will move closer to discovery and consideration of the merits. Learn more about these cases here and here.

Earth Island Journal Releases Summer Issue

The new Summer issue of Earth Island Journal takes a deep dive into the troubling world of wildlife killing contests, in which thousands upon thousands of coyotes, bobcats, foxes, and other wild animals are massacred every year. Available online and in print, this issue also includes a conversation on reframing the climate-change challenge with world-renowned rock climber Alex Honnold; a story about water quality standards on Indian reservations; and a compelling essay about what we lose when we take something home from nature. Help Earth Island produce important stories like these by subscribing or gifting a subscription, or by making a donation to our Green Journalism Fund.

Stop Commercial Logging in Yosemite

Earth Island’s John Muir Project has discovered a large commercial logging project in Yosemite Valley in Yosemite National Park that is being conducted by the National Park Service with no environmental analysis, despite impacts on the habitat of two endangered species, the Pacific fisher and the great gray owl. Live mature trees up to five feet in circumference and large snags are being felled and hauled away by logging companies for lumber and climate-harming and community-polluting biomass energy. Tell Yosemite National Park Superintendent Cicely Muldoon to stop logging in Yosemite by submitting your comment here, and write letters to the editor at the Los Angeles Times here and the San Francisco Chronicle here.

Breaking News: On Monday, the John Muir Project filed a lawsuit against the United States National Park Service to stop this large, unprecedented logging project in Yosemite National Park. The lawsuit alleges violations of the National Environmental Policy Act, the Administrative Procedures Act, and the National Park Service Organic Act. Learn more here and here.

Cultivating Change in Mississippi

Earth Island’s Mississippi Farm to School Network recently collaborated with the homeschool program at the Salvation Army Kroc Center in Biloxi to introduce young students to growing food. There are currently 11 garden boxes full of veggies and herbs, in addition to banana trees, a muscadine grape vine, two fig trees, and a loquat tree at the center. The program is taking action to end food insecurity and the ongoing health crisis of obesity affecting many Mississippians, especially youth. By making connections between the cafeteria, classroom, and community, Mississippi Farm to School Network is bringing about the change we wish to see.

Toxic Tours

On June 22, join Earth Island’s Plastic Pollution Coalition for the webinar Toxic Tours: Virtually Experience the Impact of Plastic Production on Frontline Communities. Produced by the Break Free From Plastic (BFFP) movement, Toxic Tours are a community-led storytelling and mapping experience that uses digital technology to show the public what’s at stake. Featuring environmental justice groups in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the United States, the Toxic Tours are one of eight solutions nominated by the Plastic Pollution Coalition for the Earthshot Prize. Register for the webinar here.

Register

Call to Investigate Wolf Killings

A recent investigative report by The Intercept has uncovered systemic fraud and corruption by the USDA Wildlife Services offices in New Mexico and Arizona, revealing that this rogue federal program is sabotaging the recovery of Mexican gray wolves. In the article, Dave Parsons, a science advisor with Earth Island’s Project Coyote, provides information on the mismanagement of the wolves by the federal agency. Join Project Coyote in calling for a full investigation into the Wildlife Services offices in New Mexico and Arizona. Photo by Rebecca Bose.

Take Action

Nurturing Future Ancestors

The latest segment of Around the Table, a virtual series produced by Earth Island’s Real Food Real Stories, will explore how food can transform our relationship to place and community across generations. On June 28, 12:00 p.m. PDT, Salimatu Amabebe, a multimedia artist and chef, and Kirsten Kirby-Shoote, an urban farmer and Indigenous food activist, will be in conversation on how nourishment can be an act of resistance and reclamation, and how the ways we grow, cook, and gather around food can rewrite our collective futures. Register here.

Register

Bay Area Bioblitz This Weekend

If you’re in the San Francisco Bay Area, join Earth Island’s Wholly H2O and the California Academy of Sciences for a bioblitz on June 18 along the California coast. A bioblitz is an intense period of biological surveying in an attempt to record all the living species within a designated area. This event will take place from 9:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. along the MLK Jr. Regional Shoreline in Oakland, and participants will register their observations on iNaturalist. Sign up here.

Register