the future of the enbridge line 5 oil pipeline may be determined by the upcoming michigan gubernatorial race. incumbent gov. gretchen whitmer has fought to shut the pipeline down to protect the environment of the great lakes region from a potential oil spill, while republican candidate tudor dixon is prioritizing the protection of the pipeline.

enbridge line 5 is an oil pipeline at the floor of the straits of mackinac, built in 1953. according to the sierra club, its original life expectancy was 50 years and critics say a rupture would harm waters across the great lakes. enbridge spokesman ryan duffy says the pipeline is needed to provide heating, fuel vehicles, and power industry. because of ongoing maintenance there isn’t a specific life expectancy for the pipeline.

enbridge is looking to increase safety by replacing the line 5 oil and natural gas pipelines and encapsulating them in a tunnel proposed for construction under the lake bed.

last may, indigenous groups gathered at the heart of the turtle in mackinaw city, michigan, to take action on climate change, protect water, and support the state of michigan’s efforts to shut down line 5.

“water is not a commodity,” said demonstrator elizabeth clark. “it’s a right.”

opponents of the pipeline, including the state of michigan and native tribes at the heart of the turtle gathering, contend it poses a threat to the water supply. 

in november 2020, whitmer mandated the pipeline shut down by may 2021 and took legal action. enbridge ignored the order and filed their own lawsuit challenging state authority over the pipeline. litigation is ongoing and the case was moved to federal court in august 2022.

as the earth heats up, the climate justice movement strengthens its fight for a livable future.

the movement looks different for many. there are crowds of protestors walking to the u.s. capitol calling for change. protest happens off the streets too, in our own backyards, the ways we spend our money, how we manage our trash, and much more. it can look like teaching youth or farming sustainably or eating more plants. the more people that prioritize the environment today, the bigger the positive trend that can result.

our house is on fire and environmental activists are determined to put the fire out. they are determined, hopeful, and passionate about finding solutions. scroll through this photo essay for a look at those fighting to save our planet.

by andré earls

washington – several hundred animal rights activists joined similar groups around the world on saturday to protest cruelty to animals, marching from the white house to the capitol as they chanted such slogans as “animal clothing isn’t fashion, where the hell is your compassion.”

the washington organization total liberation partnered with the united kingdom animal rights organization surge, which organized marches in about 50 other locations including london, toronto, and mexico city, organizers said.

for about two hours, the marchers protested clothing made of animal skins and meat consumption, among other examples of cruelty to animals.

it was an unseasonably warm and sunny friday, feb. 15 – good weather for youth climate strikes across the united kingdom. before the main gathering strengthened in bonn square, the main site of oxford’s strike, a banner for the youth climate strike was unfurled off of the bridge of sighs, one of oxford’s most iconic landmarks.

by the time i arrived in the late morning, the plaza was filled with protestors of all ages, mostly school children who were skipping school to participate in the demonstration but also university of oxford students, parents, and more elderly community members.

most protestors held pickets and posters with handwritten slogans following the theme of the protest movement that the older generations have left the younger generation with a climate crisis they must fix. the subject matter of the signs overall covered an impressively broad range of climate change topics, including, “our planet is not like your actions, it’s not rubbish”; “stop climate changing before it changes the world”; “if the earth were a bank, it’d be bailed out”; and “there is no planet b.” there was also “no pollution is the only solution”; “i’d rather miss a day of school than see my planet die”; and even “harry potter and the deadly climate change” (it was oxford, after all).

the protesters’ emphasis on clever and often humorous signs contributed to the overall upbeat (or positive) atmosphere of the event.

the size of the constantly growing crowd was so great that people repeated different chants at opposite ends of the plaza. one of the more popular ones was the call and response chant of “what do we want? climate action! when do we want it? now!”

after striking in bonn square for a while, the majority of the protestors left and made a procession through oxford city centre and back around to bonn square, a trip they repeated several times over the course of the day. in addition to the convening and march, the event organizer brought in a number of speakers, including an environmental journalist and a student who did spoken word poetry. the strike as a whole was executed as a very peaceful and minimally disruptive protest without any outside intervention.

i was curious about the environmental interests of the participants, so i posed a few questions of martin parker, a student from leeds, u.k., studying math in st. catherine’s college at the university of oxford. when i asked him why he attended the strike, martin said, “i find it inspiring watching the youth strikes….and seeing it on the news. i think it’s a very exciting movement. i’m inspired by the global aspect as well. i think it’s really motivating that people are getting together across the country and across the world.”

although the interview was challenging because the crowds’ chanting was deafening, i asked martin how long he has been interested in environmentalism.

“all my life i’ve been aware and conscious of the issues facing the planet. i’ve never been involved in activism until recently,” he said. “i think it’s the same case for a lot of people, that they’ve seen movements like this coming up a lot recently and are just getting involved now.”

as a planet 世界杯欧洲预选赛免费直播 and student of environmental journalism, i was interested in what the participants of the strike thought about the importance of sharing climate stories through public communication. surveying the scene, i spotted a woman wearing a name badge, which upon closer inspection was a card which read “ask me anything, i’m a climate researcher.” she was dr. michelle cain, a science and policy research associate at the university of oxford environmental change institute. i asked her about what impact she thinks environmental storytelling has on people’s understanding and interest in the current climate situation.

“i think storytelling is very powerful and everyone can…engage with a good story,” she responded. “there are only so many articles you can read, but the ones that really grab you are the ones that are telling a good story.” covering climate events and people’s personal perspectives and experiences can encourage increased focus on and participation in global efforts to facilitate change.

today’s young people will need to contend with the implications of climate change exponentially more so than older generations, and i am proud to have witnessed youth standing in such unity for justice against what will be the greatest challenge during their lifetimes.

last week, a video of children pleading with sen. dianne feinstein, d-cal., to back the green new deal resolution went viral on twitter. the video, which now has about 10 million views, was posted by the sunrise movement, an environmental activist organization consisting mostly of young people. 

while feinstein made it clear that she thought the group’s goals were unrealistic, she released a statement saying she had her own climate change resolution she was going to release soon, but acknowledged their “spirited discussion.” others have criticized sunrise for only posting an edited version of the video on twitter at first, which some considered misleading.

it’s not the first time the group has made headlines. at the end of 2018, they staged a sit-in in house democrat’s offices to demand action on climate change and many attribute this action as part of the reason rep. alexandria ocasio-cortez, d-n.y., introduced a green new deal proposal in february.      

fifty-five percent of sunrise’s funding comes from institutions like the wallace global fund and the rockefeller family fund, but most of the rest comes from individual donations. they raised over a million dollars in 2018. 

sunrise isn’t finished yet. the group has plans to disrupt the 2020 democratic primary debates this summer.

what silvero is referring to is the root of one of argentina’s recent causes of local fervor: a government push to monetize the national parks.

argentina is a nation that stretches across more than 2,200 miles from north to south, encompassing stunning national parks of varying land features. while the country hosts these astounding natural sites, the nation itself is facing a difficult economic period.

in late 2018, the argentine government announced a plan called “oportunidades naturales” (natural opportunities), what they deemed as “the call for sustainable tourism investments in natural areas throughout the country,” according to a translation of a government website.

the initiative “seeks to attract private investments for the development of tourist services in natural protected areas of the country.”

enter iguazú national park, a breathtaking wonder, home to waterfalls, plants and wildlife in the atlantic forest. the park is nestled along the iguazú river, which separates parts of argentina and brazil, though the falls stretch across both borders.

through this initiative, plans for constructing a tourist villa inside the famous iguazú national park were drawn out to increase profits from the national park. iguazú is just one of 20 parks impacted by this program.

the villa’s theme is “glamping” or “glamorous camping.” the attraction could be sited on land that has limited use, per the park’s management plan, according to a recent column in el independiente iguazú.

meanwhile, local residents of puerto iguazú, an argentine town near the park, have drawn their own line. and that line physically couldn’t be crossed when tourists tried to enter the national park in early february.

during the week of feb. 3, dozens of locals blockaded the entrance to the national park in protest of what the initiative could bring to iguazú national park.

dr. natalia vespa works with the institute of subtropical biology and moved from buenos aires to puerto iguazú 10 years ago. in february, vespa and jussara di benedetto, an outspoken resident of puerto iguazú, sat down with planet forward to talk about their experience within the park and the town.

“for national parks in argentina, the objective is to preserve the natural resources. that’s it,” vespa said in spanish. “aside from this objective, there should not be exploitation of these resources within these parks.”

in a translation of an official statement to planet forward from the national parks administration in argentina, they state that, “oportunidades naturales project does not consist of the installation and development of tourist villages, but is based on small-scale, sustainable, distant implementations.”

the statement declares that the program “is aimed at positioning argentina as a world destination for nature tourism, integrating this development as a tool for growth and promotion of regional economies and generating foreign exchange,” per a translation into english.

town already offers tourism opportunities

vespa said locals already are facing problems within the town of puerto iguazú and she fears that these strains on the relationship between the town and the park will only escalate if construction of the tourist villa within the national park is pursued.

“the town already has bad issues with the lights, water, and internet,” vespa said in spanish. she noted that many neighborhoods in the town went without water for two weeks last month.

puerto iguazú is greatly frequented by tourists, as it is a short 11-mile drive to the northwest of the national park and is host to many restaurants, hotels, casinos, bars, shops, and, of course, residents. much of what the proposed tourist villa would offer could stymie not only business but the needed attention to keep puerto iguazú afloat as a town. vespa fears that if the villa is pursued, puerto iguazú would further augment these issues and lack of attention.

currently, there are hotels within the national park on the argentine side and on the brazilian side.

in an article by misiones online published on feb. 19, vespa is quoted to saying that the national park already has a large public with infrastructure and benefits for tourism.

“we consider the implementation of a project that has its main objective to generate opportunities of touristic development, without solving the current problems that need to be addressed to mitigate the impact of tourism in the natural area, unnecessary,” according to a translation of the interview.

the protests in early february reflect the current sentiment of some locals. according to radio cataratas, organizers from la asamblea vecinal sent a note that expressed their desires for the cancelation of the “natural opportunities” project in the iguazú national park as a whole, noting plans for future protests.

for di benedetto, she sees the aforementioned protests as being exemplary of how things go in south america.

“we know that in argentina and all of latin america, there’s this condition of reproducing things,” di benedetto said, citing past revolutions and movements in the southern hemisphere. “clearly, we want this (the protests against the villa) to mark a precedent.”

going forward

beyond infrastructure problems and competition for tourists, there’s another issue on the minds of protesters.

a worker at the national park, who wished to remain anonymous, said he understood what drove so many puerto iguazú locals to protest the possible construction of the tourist villa in the park.

“many people think about the environmental impacts of the villa,” he said in spanish.

planet forward was told by the administration of national parks, “in the case of the iguazú national park, on a total of 67,000 hectares of total surface area, within the public use area, the actual utilization of the park visitation is reduced to 300 hectares (0.5%).

“in this sense, the oportunidades naturales project is studying interventions that, at most, foresee the use of only 12 hectares, previously intended for public use.”

but “the town (puerto iguazú) is small, too,” the anonymous park worker said. “because of this, people think that the tourists will only go to the tourist villa.”

while en route to town after a day spent in the national park with taxi driver silvero, planet forward interviewed him about his thoughts on reactions to the plans.

“we are going to have a lot of consequences that will hurt us if we don’t fight against this (the villa), and take care of nature,” silvero said passionately.

when asked if he fears an impact on his livelihood should the plans of a tourist villa be pursued, silvero said he is not. he simply wants nature to continue to be protected.

with the financial state that argentina is currently in and the promises for sustainability by the administration, ways to increase profits off of iguazú could offer benefits.

vespa, who has a doctorate in biological sciences, said, “the people of iguazú do want investments in tourism, but they should stay in puerto iguazú.”

on sept. 8, the peoples climate movement hosted 800 events in 90 countries, bringing together people fighting for climate, jobs, and justice around the world. the organization’s goal is to demand our political leaders at every level fight for a clean energy future that “helps to stop climate change,” according to the group. this effort resonates with even more importance after the recent ipcc report. the movement’s rallying cry, which could not be more relevant at this moment, is: “to change everything, we need everyone.”

i attended the chicago event in september — and it struck a chord with people of all backgrounds. please check out the day’s events below: