Insights + Opinion

Mark Ruffalo: The Renewable Energy Race Is On

Mark Ruffalo: The Renewable Energy Race Is On

The climate agreement reached in Paris is provoking a flurry of caveats, criticisms and cautions. Many of those criticisms are warranted and there’s a lot of work ahead to make sure countries live up to their promises. But we should not miss a chance to celebrate a historic turning point. World leaders finally made commitments to […]

Join our newsletter

The best of EcoWatch, right in your inbox. Sign up for our email newsletter!

    Lifting Crude Oil Export Ban Locks in Fossil Fuel Dependency for Decades to Come

    Lifting Crude Oil Export Ban Locks in Fossil Fuel Dependency for Decades to Come

    One year ago this week, Gov. Cuomo banned fracking in New York, listening to the growing movement to keep fossil fuels in the ground. So it’s especially disheartening that Congress, through a provision included in the omnibus appropriation, has just lifted the decades-old crude oil export ban—locking us into fossil fuel dependence for decades to come. At […]

    No to Coal Exports in Oakland

    No to Coal Exports in Oakland

    The San Francisco Bay might be the last place that comes to mind when you think of dangerous coal projects. But as it turns out, there’s a big coal export proposal in Oakland, intended to ship coal to Asian markets from our nation’s biggest coal reserves, in the Western U.S. And the project is facing […]

    Carl Pope: Paris Agreement ‘Greatest Single Victory Since Emergence of Modern Environmental Movement’

    Carl Pope: Paris Agreement ‘Greatest Single Victory Since Emergence of Modern Environmental Movement’

    Dear friends, The world acted. Not perfectly, not timely, but with seriousness and gravity. The metaphor of the day was some variant on turning point/pivot/fork in the road/hinge of history. No one proclaimed “mission accomplished.” Beyond ratifying the substantial but inadequate voluntary national commitments to lower climate emissions which had already emerged as the first […]

    The End of Fossil Fuels is Near

    The End of Fossil Fuels is Near

    The wheel of climate action turns slowly, but in Paris it has turned. There’s much in this deal that frustrates and disappoints me, but it still puts the fossil fuel industry squarely on the wrong side of history. Parts of this deal have been diluted and polluted by the people who despoil our planet, but […]

    How World Leaders Can Solve Global Warming With Regenerative Farming

    How World Leaders Can Solve Global Warming With Regenerative Farming

    France, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, the U.K., Germany and Mexico are among the more than two dozen countries that have so far signed on to what one day will likely be recognized as the most significant climate initiative in history. France’s 4/1000 Initiative: Soils for Food Security and Climate puts regenerative food and farming front […]

    Remembering Doug Tompkins: ‘Never Stop Exploring’

    Remembering Doug Tompkins: ‘Never Stop Exploring’

    Seven years ago, I found myself on a two-person airplane flown by Doug Tompkins, as he gave me an aerial tour of one of the protected areas he and his wife Kris had preserved in Chilean Patagonia. I remember the plane being tiny and almost as transparent as Wonder Woman’s and I remember it was […]

    John Kerry Pledges New Support to Vulnerable Countries at COP21

    John Kerry Pledges New Support to Vulnerable Countries at COP21

    This afternoon at the COP21 negotiations at Le Bourget in Paris, Sec. of State John Kerry addressed the conference. Sec. Kerry announced he would double the U.S. commitment to support efforts in nations and communities to more than $800 million. Sec. Kerry’s important announcement is another example of American leadership helping bring nations around the […]

    Patti Smith, Thom Yorke and Flea Rock Out at Pathway to Paris Concert

    Patti Smith, Thom Yorke and Flea Rock Out at Pathway to Paris Concert

    Is it possible to have a music concert in Paris after Nov. 13? And, if so, can the music give voice to the emergency of climate change and the desperate hope for a meaningful climate treaty, which is now being drafted in this very same city? The answer is a grief-filled, joy-filled, resounding yes! Great […]