the property neighbors top of the world farm, which has been at the center of controversy surrounding water rights in the area for years. according to carmona, who also goes by farmer dan, the business was started in the 1950s by a group of insurance companies who wanted to lose money for a tax write-off. top of the world farm received a permit to divert millions of gallons of water, said carmona, which severely disrupted the upper rio grande watershed while inducing distrust in local communities with their water rights. 

last summer, i met with carmona at his cerro vista farms to learn about his relationship with water and how he copes with water scarcity in one of the driest places in north america. during our conversation, carmona describes how the history of water rights and land use in northern new mexico has greatly influenced his ability to access water.

this multimedia presentation combines our conversation in podcast form, with a visual presentation of images captured at his cerro vista farms and the surrounding areas. please explore both below!

across all states, water issues are becoming more critical by the day. due to climate change and watershed management, new mexico has been experiencing water scarcity for longer and drier periods, making it more vulnerable to uncontrolled wildfires and salinization. limited precipitation at the headwaters of the rio grande river, is exacerbating water issues downstate. you can help mitigate water scarcity issues through watershed conservation and stream restoration initiatives, and by learning about water justice in your community.

this story was featured in our series, slipping through our fingers: the future of water.

full transcript below:

eva sideris: last summer, i met with daniel carmona, who is also known as farmer dan, to learn about his relationship with water and how he copes with water scarcity in one of the driest places in north america. farmer dan is the owner of cerro vista farm and has 42 years of experience farming in the high-altitude short-growing season of the sangre de cristo mountains near taos, nm, in cerro, arroyo hondo, las colonias, and lama. he has been growing and selling organic food in taos since 1977, in the roles of farmer, restaurant owner, and grocery store manager. during our conversation, farmer dan describes how the history of water rights and land use in this corner of new mexico has greatly influenced his ability to access water. generally speaking, many states west of the 100th meridian, including new mexico, function off of prior appropriation water rights meaning that one’s access to water for beneficial purposes is based on the first-in-time, first-in-right principle of the prior appropriation doctrine. this method allows the oldest, and therefore most senior appropriations of water to have priority over other younger, or more junior, water rights. however, when the water supply is limited, the most junior rights may not be fulfilled, so they must go without water. prior appropriation water rights are a controversial and complex topic due to the long history of proclaimed water ownership in the united states. they are especially critical in areas experiencing extreme water scarcity that is exacerbated by climate change. as water becomes more scarce, the ownership and seniority of one’s water rights will control outcomes of success and have even determined life or death for water rights owners. in this podcast, farmer dan shares his personal historical account of water, politics, underground rivers, and water witches!

farmer daniel: so i got this place in 1995, and five years later. i got a permit to pump water. it took five years, and i wasn’t going to stay here if i didn’t get that permit. i was going to just sell it or sell part of it and look for a place where i could pump water. when i got my first farm and got my first well, you only had to talk to the state engineer to get a permit. but in 2002, the ditch associations in new mexico were given the legal powers to control the water in their jurisdictions. so now, if you want to drill well to supplement surface waters, your ditch association has to approve it before you even approach the state engineer’s office.

eva sideris: acequias or community ditch associations are recognized under new mexico law as political subdivisions of the state. acequias are engineered canals that carry surface waters like snow runoff or river water to distant fields. many of them have been in existence since the spanish colonization period of the 17th and 18th centuries. the customary law of the acequia is older than and at variance with the doctrine of prior appropriation. although the doctrine of prior appropriation is based on the principle of “first in time, first in right,” the acequia norms incorporate not just priority but principles of equity and fairness because water is treated as a community resource that irrigators have a shared right to use, manage, and protect. while prior doctrines allow for water to be sold away from the basin of origin, the acequia system prohibits the transference of water from the watershed. acequias in new mexico have lengthy historical roots in pueblo and hispano communities and greatly contribute to local culture which is why they are carefully projected in places like cerro.

farmer daniel: the ditch association would have never approved me drilling a well, but i got my well permit in the year 2000, and the ditch association got its legal power to control the water in 2002. so i just slipped in by chance before the ditch association could say no, and i know they would say no, and i know the reason. and that’s because where the water is 4500ft deep, at the base of ute mountain, there’s a place called top of the world farm that was started intentionally by a group of insurance companies who wanted to lose money. they needed to lose some money somewhere, through a tax write-off. there was water there and they got a permit to pump. they pumped 10,000 gallons a minute, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and grew crops that they couldn’t even sell because there was no railroad and there wasn’t any paved highway to take crops from there to get them to a market – it was intentionally designed to fail. they told me, a lot of people who have passed on told me, who used to live here, that they could hear the pumps running in cerro that were at the base of that mountain, 24 hours a day. well, you know what that did? it dried up everybody’s well, everybody’s hand dug well, and cerro went dry! so that’s why the cerro ditch association members, who were kids then remember what happened and they don’t want anybody to drill a well because they’re afraid their wells are going to go dry.

eva sideris: starting in the early 1950s, abundant vegetables, grains, and alfalfa were grown in the semiarid climate of northern new mexico – thanks to more than a billion gallons of water pumped from just below an extinct volcano called ute mountain. although the farm was able to grow produce at an unsurmountable scale, the operation came with an extreme tradeoff that severely depleted the water table. whatever groundwater was pumped to the fields was diverted from the rio grande, so people, plants, and animals downstream were less likely to access water. according to local news, santa fe county and four indigenous pueblos are in the process to move 1,752 acre-feet of water rights from the farm to serve faucets in the area north of santa fe that would supply drinking water to thousands of people downstream while also respecting traditional uses and tribal claims to water. however, this is a highly contested issue, that continues to impact the greater new mexico community and no decisions have been made yet.

farmer daniel: wow! so i got a permit, and i had one year to drill a well. i didn’t have any money before i had the well drilled, so i got a water witch out here, or a dowser. dowsers find moving water, not standing water. so she found underground rivers using brass welding rods. some people use willow branches, and you have to be gifted in that way. i’m sure i could do it, but i’ve never tried.

eva sideris: water witches — also known as dowsers, have been around for at least 500 years, and records show their presence all over the world. in order to locate groundwater accurately, hydrologic, geologic, and geophysical knowledge is usually needed to study an area; however, dowers are able to provide many of the same services as hydrologists by substituting science with forked sticks and their intuitions.

farmer daniel: she found me three spots with rivers, and we marked those spots for my domestic well, which is why my house is in this spot. and she found the best spot for my irrigation well, which is right on the road where my driveway meets the road. so i found out later, probably 15 years after she was here, dowsing the well. i found out that, in fact, the biggest underground river in this whole aquifer is right where my well is. makes a big difference because the water table has dropped 18ft since i’ve been here. if your well is not deep enough, you’ll have to drill another well and go deeper. so i feel pretty secure with the water supply here. this is the only spot in cerro that has water. and it’s enough acres, 26 or 27 acres, that if we keep growing food on it, it can be continued to be a valuable asset to the community. we can’t sell the water because it’s in the jurisdiction of a ditch association, i wouldn’t want to anyway. i really want this farm, even when i’m dead and gone, to still be pumping out of that river and producing food for the community. that’s really important to me. i’ve grown most of my own food for most of my life since i started farming 43 years ago. i’ve lived here for 28 years. once i started growing produce here, all the old folks who grew up having to grow their own food became my best customers selling from my farm because they appreciated what i was doing, because they had to do it to survive. now they can just come here and buy it. so i feel totally rooted here, and i feel appreciated by the community.

eva sideris: after his lifelong journey to secure water, farmer dan has finally found it. he and his son are planning on expanding the cerro vista farm.

farmer daniel: when i realized maybe i could actually farm with my son, it was totally exciting to me. plus, he’s a totally cool person!

eva sideris: across all states, water issues are becoming more critical by the day. due to climate change and watershed management, new mexico has been experiencing water scarcity for longer and drier periods, making it more vulnerable to uncontrolled wildfires and salinization. limited precipitation at the headwaters of the rio grande river, is exacerbating water issues downstate. you can help mitigate water scarcity issues through watershed conservation and stream restoration initiatives, and by learning about water justice in your community

however, many drivers along this expressway aren’t aware of its dark history: because the stretch of i-81 in syracuse is a viaduct, or raised above ground level, its construction sliced through and greatly disrupted a historically close-knit african american community. this was syracuse’s southside neighborhood, also known as the 15th ward. in the 1950s, the city saw this community as a burden. as a result, many families were displaced in order to construct i-81.

the highway has not only divided syracuse, but it may have also caused health problems. according to a report by the new york civil liberties union, neighborhoods near highways have notoriously significantly higher rates of asthma than other areas. a school, a park, as well as public housing neighborhoods with run-down sidewalks border i-81, which experiences high volumes of traffic. in addition to this potential health concern, living in these areas is also uncomfortably loud. under one bridge near dr. king elementary school, a volume of 85 decibels was measured using the decibel x decibel reader app. this is as loud as an alarm clock. to hear an example of the audio quality under this bridge, give a listen:

the future of i-81

the new york state department of transportation (nysdot) has designed a plan to turn the current syracuse corridor of i-81 into a street-level boulevard that will be funded by the state. this project is funded and led by the state government. the options were to leave the current viaduct alone, construct a new viaduct, or construct a boulevard, which is the current plan.

the current viaduct “is at the end of its useful life,” according to joe driscoll, the i-81 project manager for the city of syracuse. this means that the traffic that the viaduct currently carries is at a much higher level than originally anticipated. driscoll said that another reason for the removal of the viaduct is simply a safety issue: some homes are as close to the highway as seven feet. the removal of the viaduct will also connect the downtown, university, and southside neighborhoods of syracuse.

one concern of i-81’s deconstruction is that dust will travel throughout the surrounding area as the land is dug up. but despite a potential increase in respiratory issues, the long term effects of removing the highway could include the reconnection and revitalization of the communities that were once divided by it. driscoll described these negative effects as re-breaking a bone that did not heal properly in the first place. in other words, the effects of construction are necessary if the community that was broken is to heal.

there have been recent setbacks to i-81’s removal, such as a lawsuit by the group renew 81 for all that claims that construction will cause traffic issues and will not cut back on vehicle emissions. this lawsuit has temporarily paused construction, which was planned to begin fall 2022. now, the project will likely begin in spring of 2023.

rochester’s inner loop

less than two hours away, rochester’s inner loop is often called “the noose tied around rochester’s neck.” the inner loop creates a c-shaped expressway that connects to i-490, one of the main rochester highways. unfortunately, the construction of this route in the 1950s and 60s cut through an economically powerful black community, the 16th ward. as the loop was built, families left the neighborhood, as the sense of community was lost. 

this is not an isolated or accidental incident. the national interstate and defense highways act of 1956 established the network of highways that is seen across the united states today. this act caused highways to be built through many thriving black communities but was supported by president eisenhower, who was impressed and inspired by the efficiency of germany’s autobahn in wwii. in the end, the 1965 act has become associated by some with an ideology of racism and persecution. now, rochester and syracuse are taking steps to fix the damage done by these expressways.

rochester completed the inner loop east removal project in 2017, which removed roughly one-third of the loop and replaced it with a street-level grid. removing the eastern part of the highway caused long-term benefits for people’s health. “by removing the highway,” said erik frisch, the head of the inner loop north project, “we immediately saw a jump in bicycle and pedestrian volumes just by virtue of breaking down that barrier.” as well as the physical benefits, an increase in biking is associated with stronger communities.

rochester’s current inner loop north project will transform another third of the loop. like the inner loop east project, the north project’s goal is to revitalize the communities that the initial construction of the loop tore apart. the key, however, is avoiding gentrification. development should not be “at the expense of residents who are there now or were there historically” and that the “benefits accrue to them,” said frisch. he adds that rochester is considering a “community land trust…where the board is made up of stakeholders” to ensure that gentrification doesn’t affect the developed area.

the removals of 1-81 and the inner loop in syracuse and rochester represent a shift in american values. although these highways have physically represented the barriers that many black communities have faced, their removal is a major step forward. now, it is up to other cities in the united states to consider the value of their highways.

urban roots teen environmental justice program is a seasonal employment opportunity offered at garfield park conservatory in chicago to students from al raby high school. participants can learn to be conservatory docents, receive mentorship, and build a better relationship with nature through the program. 

max meyers, youth program coordinator, said that staff are in the process of finalizing participants for the spring session. but in order to make the program as accessible as possible, they try not to turn students away. 

“the number one thing we’re looking for is engagement. like being able to show up physically, emotionally and mentally in that space,” meyers said.

an evolving program for a changing world

when the program was started in 2016, students would give tours during their breaks in school. in 2022, the program shifted to being offered on a semesterly basis and as an after-school program. marqueketa glenn, director of youth education at the conservatory, was hired in march 2022 with the intention of taking the project in a new direction. 

“when i came into this role, i was just thinking how we could make this program less like school, and more geared around the youth’s interests and what they want to learn,” she said. “we still do docent training, but we’ve added the environmental justice component and the mentorship component that we’re still working on, but we’re trying to launch new things,” glenn said.

students learn how to plan and lead tours, maintain their own gardens, identify plants in the conservatory, as well as take field trips to different nature spaces and become engaged with local environmental justice issues. glenn said that the program also collaborates with organizations such as seed your future, which works to promote interest in green careers. 

“as far as green jobs and green education, i think they’re really important, especially right now. when in high school, [students] talk about all the jobs that [they] can have, and it’s usually the same types of jobs every time. ‘i want to be a doctor, i want to be a lawyer, i want to be a teacher.’ we want to give more awareness about what other jobs are out there,” said glenn. 

covid, however, affected some participation in the program, and glenn and meyers said that they are still in the process of trying to rebuild. but the program is the most “in-person” that it has been since the beginning of the pandemic.

“it was a pretty established program. and then covid came and it was totally restructured for remote learning,” said meyers. “since then it’s gone through a number of iterations trying to adapt to the pandemic.”

providing mentorship and guidance for chicago’s youth

the first iteration of the program did, however, keep some alumni around, such as a’shanti johnson, who now works as a program assistant for urban roots after being a participant in 2017. johnson was hired directly from the program as a front desk associate. she later took on the role as program assistant in june of last year.

she said that before being in the program, she had never been to the conservatory. nor had she conserider her potential role in tending to plants. 

“i don’t have a green thumb. if i were to have a plant and try to take care of it, it probably would pass away. but when i grew my garden, i loved it,” johnson said.

now she said that she knows plenty about how plants grow and adapt. as the program assistant she helps to facilitate lesson plans and to coordinate students’ needs. and being with the conservatory for over five years now, she’s able to offer important conservatory expertise to glenn and meyers.

“she has more knowledge about the program than either of us because she was in it and she was here longer. she’s been very helpful in structuring the docent training with the young people,” said glenn.

since johnson is closer in age with urban roots students, she said that she sometimes acts as a bridge between meyers and participants. but johnson still feels the difference between her generation and the younger one, saying that students now tend to be a lot more bold in talking about environmental issues than previous cohorts.

“we knew what was happening in the world. but when we got to the conservatory, it was a safe space where we really didn’t have to focus much on it or actually deal with it,” said johnson. “now it’s still a safe space, but students speak more openly about their pain, and how they feel in that safe space.”

while the program encourages students to pursue green careers, it isn’t the most important program outcome. 

“you don’t have to commit to going into the green industry [to be in the program]. it’s just about being an aware and responsible person on this earth and understanding your nature connection and why it’s important,” said glenn.

addressing the many issues faced by bangladeshi women 

the bangladeshi diaspora is the fastest-growing immigrant population in new york city. according to the asian american federation, it is estimated that 74% (48,985) of bangladeshis living in new york city were foreign-born, as of 2015, of which 53% were naturalized citizens.

being a non-u.s.-born immigrant comes with many limitations, such as language barriers, the inability to vote in federal elections or work governmental jobs, lack of legal protection and access to healthcare or quality housing, plus trouble finding employment and educational opportunities. being a woman can exacerbate these challenges. with little to no support, many bangladeshi women also are often left to deal with problems of intergenerational trauma, immigration, and colonization, coupled with the stress of poverty, depression, and cycles of abuse. 

new york city resident sahreen quadir, has noticed this toxic cycle throughout her life. quadir saw her mother struggle when moving to the u.s. reflecting on how her mother faced the same challenges that many bangladeshis experience, quadir said, “my mother was an immigrant to this country. i saw firsthand growing up what the lack of resources can do to someone’s livelihood and how it can affect their children.” 

quadir saw the degree to which women were underserved in her community and wanted to make a change. she now works for a nonprofit company in the bronx called, “laal.” in bangla, “laal” means “red,” and symbolizes many important attributes for bangladeshi women. bangladeshi women are famously known for cooking with red bhindi (a kind of okra), women wear a red saree on their wedding day, and the red sun on the center of the bangladesh flag symbolizes independence.

laal was founded by a bangladeshi woman, sanjana khan, and is the epitome of a “for women, led by women” organization. this nonprofit provides resources for women to live healthy and engaged lives. laal provides several programs to give bangladeshi women resources, including a community garden.

a healing garden

another member, shahela begum, founded the laal bhagan initiative, which is a community garden led by bangladeshi women in norwood, the bronx. laal bhagan means “red garden” in bangla. the initiative merges bangladeshi indigenous gardening practices and adapts them to an urban environment. it also promotes community building among bangladeshi women, while giving them space to grow essential foods, including fresh spinach, habanero peppers, parsley, bitter melon, squash, beans, and more.

the women are reclaiming traditional and indigenous agricultural practices from bangladesh. according to a survey conducted by laal, 71% of laal members have immigrated straight from rural bangladesh. many had never been to a major city in bangladesh like dhaka, sylhet, or chittagong. they come from villages where farming and growing their own food was a common practice, and immigrated straight to the bronx neighborhood in new york city.

through laal bhagan, they were taught new environmental concepts, such as sustainable gardening, composting, and how to pest control plants, while still being taken back to their roots. laal bhagan is especially important to have in the bronx, since the area has no public gardening space.  

laal bhagan was directly formed due to the epidemic of isolation and the mental health crisis that many women were experiencing, which was further exacerbated by the covid-19 pandemic. but by participating in laal bhagan, many of these women have made great improvements to their lives through their connection to the soil. this connection also has a scientific basis, as contact with soil releases serotonin. according to a study by bristol university and university college london, contact with a soil bacteria called mycobacterium vaccae triggers the release of serotonin in our brains, and which can act as an antidepressant.

this isn’t just about growing food, it’s about creating a safe space for bangladeshi women. all vegetables grown at laal bhagan are authentically native to bangladesh. combining physical activity with social interaction and exposure to nature and sunlight is very beneficial to human health. all goods grown at laal bhagan will go into their laal ranna program, which is about preserving traditional bengali cooking methods and recipes. 

looking toward the future

when asked, “so, what’s next for laal?” quadir describes laal bhagan’s future and remarks that the garden is undergoing an assessment at the time. she is hoping to create a larger garden within their organization’s own space, anticipated to launch in summer 2023. laal also recently launched a health initiative program in 2022, the reproductive justice initiative in partnership with the midwifery clinic at north central bronx hospital.

this is the first curriculum in the united states that goes deeply into educating women about sexual and reproductive health in bangla. laal has been doing incredible work in trying to change lives, by giving these bangladeshi women the skills to improve their lives and well-being while leveling the playing field. big strides are being made by this nonprofit in the bronx. as sanjana khan, the founder of laal once said, “if we don’t, who will?”

“it just makes no sense that a heavy industrial facility was able to be constructed seemingly overnight because of the connections and the clout that they had within the city and the state,” romo said in a may interview. “and here we are [four years later] feeling those direct impacts across from a park that is an open green space and a community center.”

romo serves as the executive director of the mckinley park environmental organization neighbors for environmental justice (n4ej). the group formed after the construction of the facility for asphalt mixing company mat asphalt, at 2055 w. pershing road.

“there were zero public meetings or public notice of any kind from any of our elected officials or regulatory agencies: not our alderman, not the illinois epa, not the chicago department of public health,” according to n4ej’s website.

the work of n4ej and other environmental justice groups aim to challenge business-as-usual chicago politics that push heavy industry into neighborhoods of color, often within the city’s industrial corridors. victories on this front are increasing yet locally focused in recent years, but systemic change may be on the horizon.

enough is enough

a two-year investigation from the federal department of housing and urban development (hud) concluded in july, ruling that the city violated residents’ civil rights by deliberately placing heavy industry facilities in industrial corridors largely concentrated in the city’s predominantly black and latino neighborhoods. 

in a july 19 letter to chicago mayor lori lightfoot, hud threatened to withhold its community development block grant to the city (amounting to $375 million) if it does not change unlawful planning and land-use policies. 

the hud ruling and the opportunity for realignment of power in the city council where several aldermen have resigned could have an impact on city council and mayoral races in chicago’s municipal election on feb. 28, 2023. 

hud initially launched the investigation in october 2020 after three neighborhood-based environmental organizations filed a complaint against the city regarding this industrial relocation. the complaint was sparked by outcry over a proposed move of metal-scrapping facility general iron from predominantly white lincoln park to the heavily black and latino southeast side.

gina ramirez, board president of the environmental justice organization southeast environmental task force (setf), emphasized the importance of the block grant funding—which supports public health and social programs for low-income communities.

“it would be horrible if the city is that stubborn to lose funding that impacts the people that need it the most,” ramirez said.

the lightfoot administration was initially defensive, calling hud’s accusations “absolutely absurd” and signaling that it would take the matter to court. however, hud said in an oct. 20 statement that the two sides have opened up negotiations over potential reforms. the lightfoot administration did not respond to requests for comment regarding the lawsuit or the negotiations. 

setf was one of the organizations that filed the initial complaint. ramirez said that one of the demands that setf will bring to the negotiating table is the establishment of a bill implementing compliance history as a factor in granting facility permits.

“if you have a record, it’s really hard to get a job. but when you’re in industry and have a record [of polluting], the city is like, ‘we don’t care, you can still get a new permit and operate wherever,’” ramirez said. 

a broader trend

for chicago’s low-income communities, the complaint and hud ruling represent the culmination of decades of environmental mistreatment. the city also reported in 2020 that an estimated 5% of all premature deaths in the city come from conditions attributable to breathing pm2.5 pollution. pm (particulate matter) refers to microscopic droplets of solid or liquid pollution that humans breathe in as it sifts through the air; pm2.5 is particularly harmful because it’s small enough to reach deeper into the respiratory tract and even the bloodstream (in contrast to the larger pm10, for example) to inflict bodily damage and disease.

as the proposed home for general iron’s new facility, ramirez’s native southeast side neighborhood was the centerpiece to the three-year fight against the metal shredding-plant. 

this fight included a monthlong hunger strike launched in february 2021 that included a local cps teacher, environmental advocates and politicians—such as ald. byron sigcho-lopez (25th). sigcho-lopez’s ward is nowhere near the southeast side, but he empathized with the community’s struggles based on similar conditions of mistreatment in his neighborhood of pilsen, a vibrant latino community in the nearby south side.

“i have close friends and people i live with who have died because of cancer or who are dealing with respiratory illnesses or asthma. i have kids that i’ve personally taught or coached who are dealing with these effects. so, i certainly empathize with their situation,” sigcho-lopez said.

sigcho-lopez explained how the health impacts felt by neighborhoods like pilsen, the southeast side and mckinley park are detrimental, especially to at-risk groups like seniors and children.

“the cognitive development effects that this dirty industry and pollution can have on our kids will permanently live with them and their future… we can not condemn entire generations because of the inaction and complicity of city government,” sigcho-lopez said.

the lightfoot administration did eventually block the final general iron permit in february, signaling a victory for neighborhoods like ramirez’s. rmg, the parent company, has challenged this denial in a lawsuit, complaining that it was “political.”

to romo, the city has taken advantage of neighborhoods that have characteristics making them less able to fight new polluters.

“once you identify what those characteristics are, you find less education, language barriers, essential workers working multiple jobs or working for heavy industries. so i think that the system by design continues to target these vulnerable communities,” romo said.

chicago’s politics, pollution, and perpetrators 

sigcho-lopez is one of 50 aldermen on chicago’s city council, who each represent different wards of the city. david teeghman, political chair of the environmental political action committee sierra club, explained how, to him, the council is set up for unaccountability.

“we still do have a political system in chicago where you have 50 wards with basically 50 different political fiefdoms,” teeghman said in a may interview. “if the alderman approves something in their ward, most other aldermen are not going to have anything to say about it.”

romo said much of the blame for mat asphalt falls on mckinley park’s former ald. george cardenas (12th). cardenas, who was also city council’s chair of the environmental protection and energy committee, approved the plant despite public backlash before (and after) its construction.

cardenas resigned nov. 30 as the 12th ward’s alderman in preparations to fill the unopposed 1st district seat on the cook county board of review. he could not be reached for comment.

in 2021, mat asphalt accumulated the highest number of air pollution complaints of any address in chicago. however, matt baron, a mat asphalt media representative, said that the facility is treated as a scapegoat and actually upholds a high standard of environmental friendliness. he provided documents showing that many of the odor complaints directed at mat asphalt were filed on days when it was closed.

“they don’t want to listen to a narrative that does not align with their narrative. a complaint is a complaint—it’s not proof of a problem, it’s proof of someone making a phone call,” baron said.

“there’s two other asphalt plants not that far away—what are the data points on their emissions?” he added. “we continually are urging organizations and challenging the media to ask those entities what the results of their studies are; we’ve been transparent about ours and they haven’t about theirs.”

baron said that mat asphalt spent an extra $580,000 to install non-required environmental technology including on-site sweeper and water trucks, a rooftop over its waste storage area and three condensing units.

“there’s been these decades and decades of environmental injustice, and we’re the new kid on the block with the most advanced and environmentally sound technology and we don’t get any credit for that,” baron said.

according to teeghman, power shifts in the city council could have major implications for the city’s environmental future. sierra club has expanded its political endorsement program to include these city council races for the upcoming chicago municipal elections.

to scope out candidates for the first step of their endorsement process, the group created a questionnaire with the help of local environmental organizations that they’ve sent to incumbent aldermen running for reelection.

teeghman said that romo helped sculpt several questions on the questionnaire, including the one about a cumulative impact ordinance. such an ordinance would require the city to take into account the community and existing environmental burdens when considering permits for new facilities. 

sigcho-lopez advocated for this ordinance in the city council’s nov. 7 vote on the city budget, but could not get a “firm commitment” on its implementation. he voted against the budget because of its lack of funds for reinstating a chicago department of the environment cut by former mayor rahm emanuel.

sigcho-lopez said he hopes voters will elect candidates who represent the interests of communities being damaged by environmental injustice.

“the candidates are going to try to fool people on election day, and i hope that the residents have the opportunity to elect local officials that represent the best interests of the public and not their wallets,” sigcho-lopez said.

i can recall when the floods occurred in kashmir in 2014. the damage was so severe that when i visited in 2016, you could still see the water seeping through the walls. more than 700 villages in just the city of srinigar were submerged in floodwater, and more than 300 people lost their lives, 53,082 people were sickened or injured, and 226,000 were evacuated, according to a report in the international journal of commerce and management.

in 2014 i was only 10 years old, so i did not particularly understand how large the predicament was for my family. when i was younger i would often visit kashmir once every other year. that year i hadn’t, but i remember that my other family members who were visiting were forced to scramble to get back home to the u.s. or find a safe place to evacuate to. power lines were down, so my mother had no clue what situation her parents or other family members were in, but in truth, this is a normal year for kashmir. 

whether it has to do with natural disasters or political uprisings (being that kashmir is right between pakistan and india, so there are many political tensions), there are often times when my family in the u.s. is cut off from communicating with my family in kashmir. floods are a frequent occurrence and when they happen in kashmir, they also affect surrounding areas, like pakistan. unfortunately, when these things happen, there is often a severe lack of western media coverage and aid to these eastern countries because these problems are not seen as relevant to the average person in the u.s. we are now seeing the same thing happen with the ongoing flooding in pakistan since june. 

with the growth of social media as a tool for advocacy, many people’s perceptions of international issues have changed. however, we still need to pay more attention to how developing countries are disproportionately affected by climate change issues because of a lack of resources and frequently inept governments. 

what is happening in pakistan? 

as of september 2022, about one-third of pakistan’s area was still submerged in water due to constant flooding that began in june. given the geographic location of pakistan, it has always been susceptible to monsoons. however, a study mentioned in a 2022 article written by raymond zhong for the new york times found global warming likely worsened the amount of rainfall that pakistan received during its most recent monsoon season. the main issue is that since pakistan is a vulnerable area, small changes in climate make a big difference.

additionally, a study done by the world weather attribution found that climate change made rainfall 50 percent more intense in pakistan’s sindh and balochistan provinces. jacob kurtzer of the center for strategic & international studies stated that, on top of climate change, the devastating effects of the floods are largely due to the pakistani government “paying the price for years of delays in addressing the problem.”

this includes mismanagement of the country’s water resources, like illegally or poorly built structures that cannot withstand the forces of floods or rainfall. of course, this means that those on the bottom of the economic class will suffer the most, which is, unfortunately, most of pakistan’s population. as a result of the june 2022 disaster, as kurtzer reported, 4.2 million people have been affected, nearly 1,400 people have died, more than 1,600 are injured, half a million are displaced, and more than one million homes are damaged. authorities say the water could take up to six months to recede. the financial damage of the floods in pakistan has exceeded $30 billion, causing the united nations to “(launch) a flash appeal of $160 million to help flood victims,” according to a bloomberg article. the u.s. and other countries have also pledged to give large amounts of money, but donations cannot entirely fix all infrastructural and systemic problems.

why this is our problem

due to the fact that the global north is far more industrialized than many other parts of the world, we end up being responsible for a majority of carbon emissions and global pollution. these emissions lead to climate change that affects areas in the global south, like pakistan. corporate america ignores the consequences of their actions especially when it comes to environmental regulations for their own economic gain. many s&p 500 companies (the largest publicly traded companies in the u.s.) claim that they are “accelerating efforts to reduce the climate crisis,” but the new york times reports, marketing and investor presentations reveal they fail to take into account the largest source of carbon emissions, and if left ignored, these emissions could triple what they should be in 2050. 

pakistan is home to 2.6 percent of the world’s population, but, according to kurtzer’s report, the country is only responsible for 0.4 percent of global carbon emissions since 1959, while the u.s. has 4 percent of the world’s population and is responsible for 13 percent of global carbon emissions.

countries in the global north have exceeded their global emissions quotas by more than 90 percent with 100 companies responsible for 71 percent of emissions, according to a 2017 report. so while the monsoons in pakistan are a natural occurrence, the effects have clearly worsened due to climate change with pakistan seeing 190 percent more rain than the 30-year average, reuters reported. first world countries like the u.s. have accelerated the effects of climate change in other countries, which makes it our responsibility to stay informed and fix our own failed environmental regulations that are causing harm all over the globe. 

the bigger issue

it’s equally important to address that, because climate change primarily affects marginalized communities, it often seems that many people in the global north display a lack of care and empathy when reacting to these increasingly frequent disasters. the u.n. secretary-general antónio guterres himself has said that he “never [has] seen climate carnage” at this scale and has warned that tomorrow this (in reference to the floods) could be happening to your country. guterres has called on the world to stop “sleepwalking” through this crisis and to be more aware of what is happening in pakistan, the associated press reported in september.

essentially, if this was happening to your country, or your people, you would care. however, since many in the u.s. lack an interest in the rest of the world and popular media tends to focus on domestic issues, it’s easy to stay blissfully ignorant of what’s happening elsewhere. western media and its people typically lack empathy for what is happening in pakistan because it’s an underdeveloped, non-white, and non-majority christian society, therefore people can immediately write it off as a place they can’t relate or connect to. and while pakistan has received a great deal of international humanitarian care, it pales in comparison to the response aid that some european countries have recently received.

how to help

i know i would have appreciated awareness and empathy when kashmir was hit with its disaster in 2014. so if you want to help aid in this crisis it’s likely that your school has a pakistani student association or other related south asian organizations where you can find fundraisers or places to donate. it will take time for governments globally to make systemic change and effectively lessen the effects of climate change, but you can make an impact by starting small. simply volunteering and working with your local organizers/politicians to enact policies that will aid vulnerable communities can make a big difference for the families that are affected. the intersections of race and class with climate change are important and complex issues, hence why they should never be ignored whenever we talk about the climate crisis.

through social gatherings and workshops led by indigenous mentors, the program seeks to build community and communication skills to empower the next generation of indigenous storytellers. planet forward’s lisa palmer recently spoke with cotnoir and lafrance about what inspired them to create the program. 

palmer: can you tell us about your background and what made you want to focus on creating a space for indigenous environmental storytellers? 

cotnoir: kwaï! ndeliwizi alexander. nojiawi mamlawbagok. my name is alexander, and i grew up along the shores of lake memphremagog. i am a citizen of the nulhegan band of the coosuk-abenaki tribe. my family comes from trois-rivières along the saint françois river, as well as coaticook, quebec and vermont’s northeast kingdom. i’m passionate about food systems and understanding how climate change impacts northern forests, including the species and communities that depend upon them, given my experiences growing up in a family and community that makes maple syrup from the woods behind our home each spring, carrying on our community’s long tradition of making local food. i’ve witnessed firsthand how many of our local practices — from ice fishing, snowshoeing, and ash basket making to maple sugaring — are threatened by warmer winters and the associated influx of invasive species brought about by climate change. 

lafrance: kahay! baalaashe iichiinmaatchileesh huuk. basammalíaxxia biiuuwuutasshiik deelé koon biixúhkaalaxchebaakaatik. binnéesappeele kookakawook. iikooshtakáatbaatchaache kookakawook. hello. my apsáalooke name is fortunate with horses and my english name is joree lafrance. i come from the greasy mouth clan and i am a child of the ties the bundle clan. i come from the river crow band. i am from the mighty few district at the foothills of the big horn mountains on the crow reservation in southeastern montana. 

cotnoir: my passion for environmental storytelling comes from recognizing that, although indigenous communities have contributed little to global carbon emissions, we are disproportionately impacted by the loss of species and habitats brought about by global warming. this disproportionate impact is because our spirituality and identities are formed through interactions with local plants, animals, medicines, land, and waters. thus, anything that threatens the health of local ecosystems threatens our community’s health.

today, my work in science communication is grounded in the recognition that science is but one among several ways of understanding the world. if we are to fully combat and adapt to climate change, we need policymakers and scientists to value other ways of knowing, including indigenous knowledge. indigenous knowledge is powerful because it is imbued with ethics, and it’s time and field-tested. indigenous knowledge teaches us what to look for — so it can help us better predict and adapt to environmental changes. i seek to honor indigenous ways of knowing, as well as the knowledge-bearers that have passed down their experiences to the younger generations through the stories i tell. 

lafrance: i am the 7th generation of chief déaxitchish/pretty eagle, the last principal chief of the apsáalooke nation, and one of the first five apsáalooke delegation members to travel to washington, d.c., on behalf of our people. i am proud to come from families who are known for our horsemanship, horse parade sets, our original red elk tooth dress, kindness, love, and hard work. my ultimate goal is to return to my homelands and continue my heart’s work. i strive to live in a world where my people can be unapologetically apsáalooke and am working hard to be a good ancestor.

palmer: where did the idea for the ilíiaitchik: indigenous correspondents program come from? what are you hoping to accomplish with this program?

cotnoir: we recognized the need for an indigenous space where students interested in sharing their experiences and communicating environmental issues to the general public can gather, form a community, and strengthen their communication skills by learning directly from indigenous leaders in the communication field. 

lafrance: although representation of indigenous writers, podcasters, filmmakers, and storytellers has grown in recent years, reporting about science and the environment has not always been inclusive nor respectful of indigenous communities and knowledge systems. 

cotnoir: in the past, reporting on “native issues” was typically done solely by non-indigenous reporters, with little to no continued connections to the communities they reported on beyond the interview period. today, a lot of work remains to make journalism — a process steeped in colonial ideas about who holds the right to tell stories — more accessible and equitable for native people. 

lafrance: although indigenous communities are disproportionately impacted by climate change and global biodiversity loss, only a very small percentage of scientists, professors, and science journalists at u.s. universities and news organizations are indigenous. despite modest increases in indigenous representation among stem professionals in recent years, recent research from the institute for scientific information shows that between 2010 and 2020, there “was virtually no change in the representation of black, hispanic, and native american researchers among authors of scientific publications” a symptom of structural inequality, including underfunding of bipoc academics. this lack of resources and representation influences the coverage and perspectives around environmental justice, climate adaptation, and environmental policy issues while perpetuating harmful stereotypes about native communities. 

now is the time for indigenous people to write their own stories about their communities. we have the power to tell our own stories, we just need the space and the right tools. as indigenous graduate students working in environmental storytelling, we have worked hard to build the ilíiaitchik: indigenous correspondents program in the hopes that it will create a native space where our voices and perspectives inform and uplift one another.

***

stay tuned to planetfoward.org for an introduction of the incredible indigenous correspondent team and updates from the program!

earth day was cold and rainy this year. but that did not stop the northwestern university student organizers of generations of environmental justice from hosting an all-night teach-out on april 22 and 23.  

generations of environmental justice featured workshops, lectures and discussions about environmental justice issues, including pollution’s health impacts in communities of color and trespassing on indigenous lands and treaty rights. the student-led event began at 5 p.m. on earth day and continued until 7 a.m. the next morning in alice millar chapel and parkes hall.

“the goals of the event are to provide people with a general education about environmental justice and the history of the environmental justice movement and how that is distinct from the white environmentalism narrative that is very pervasive,” said nu junior lucy london. 

london is one of the organizers of the event. she is studying performance studies with a minor in environmental policy and culture.

this event was inspired by project survival, a student-led environmental event held at northwestern on january 23, 1970, before the first ever earth day. project survival was an all-night event that brought together 10,000 people and featured speakers and discussions of crisis level air and water pollution that kicked off the environmental movement.

“i was feeling really inspired by that energy and despaired at how it feels like there’s not really that type of directed energy happening right now towards the climate crisis,” said london.

london added, though, that she hopes the 2022 iteration will be more inclusive than project survival, where she said all the speakers were white men.

the opening statements began around 5:30 p.m. with a land acknowledgement from kadin mills, a northwestern sophomore and member of the ojibwe tribe. the northwestern campus occupies ojibwe (chippewa), potawatomi and odawa (ottawa) lands.  

a main focus of this event was to highlight indigenous voices, which london said have been central to the environmental justice movement long before the mainstream white environmentalist movement began in the mid-20th century.

one breakout session held in the first block of events was called “how indigenous philosophy can save the world.” doug kiel, a northwestern professor of native american history and member of the oneida nation of wisconsin led this session.

kiel opened this session with a traditional oneida opening for meetings and gatherings. the greeting gave thanks for over a dozen aspects of the natural world –– from the sun, to the fish, to the trees. 

“european philosophy has ruined the world,” kiel said simply in his lecture. 

he cited the “doctrine of discovery” as the root of european philosophies of ownership and extraction in the americas that had damaged the environment and native communities for centuries. he added, though, that indigenous philosophy may be the antidote.

one example he pointed to was the seven generations philosophy, which asks communities to consider how the decisions they make will affect their descendents seven generations into the future.

at the end of the session kiel asked the audience to form groups and discuss how they felt kinship with the land. when the whole group reconvened, people shared about their favorite places to go to feel connected to nature and how they connected to new places.

this sharing seemed to be at the heart of the event’s original intent: people coming together to share and learn about how they can connect with and contribute to the environmental justice movement.

“this is a very broad and very large movement,” said london. “we need everyone in it in whatever capacity and whatever role they have to fill.”

matt scott, manager of storytelling and engagement at project drawdown, is working to “pass the mic” to underrepresented climate change makers. in this pairing of interviews, matt chats with eli chen, senior editor for overheard at national geographic, and mckenzie allen-charmley, planet forward comcast nbcuniversal sustainable storytelling fellow, to discuss what “passing the mic” means to them.

watch “drawdown’s neighborhood” to see matt “pass the mic” to climate heroes.

listen to eli’s work on “overheard at national geographic.”