News Items

The Forum regularly posts news articles of interest here from a variety of sources and news outlets. You can check back here or view the most recent ones from the homepage. We also archive these articles here, for those doing research, with news going back to 2006. Use the menu on the right to explore the archived articles.

News

To understand the Dakota Access Pipeline protests, you need to understand tribal sovereignty

Policy has to be paired with indigenous people’s experiences.

By Victoria M. Massie
Vox
September 9, 2016

My 48,180-pound trash pile

September 8, 2016
By Jennifer Mertens
National Catholic Reporter

Four years of waste in a single mason jar?

“That’s crazy!”

My reaction was similar to many who discover the story of Lauren Singer, a 25-year-old woman committed to a “zero waste” lifestyle.

Caring for creation - central to Pope Francis' papacy

September 8, 2016
By Tony Magliano
Catholic Online

As the first pope in history to write an encyclical letter on the environment, Pope Francis demonstrated to the Catholic Church and world, the urgent importance of caring for God’s creation.

But Francis’ challenging green encyclical “Laudato Si’ ” (subtitled “On Care for Our Common Home”) was but the first major...

VIDEO: Dakota Access Pipeline Company Attacks Native American Protesters with Dogs and Pepper Spray

September 4, 2016
Democracy Now!

On September 3, the Dakota Access pipeline company attacked Native Americans with dogs and pepper spray as they protested against the $3.8 billion pipeline’s construction. If completed, the pipeline would carry about 500,000 barrels of crude per day from North Dakota’s Bakken oilfield to Illinois. The project has faced months of resistance from the...

Morocco to give 600 mosques a green makeover

Mosques across Morocco will be fitted with solar energy systems in government scheme to boost clean energy awareness

By Arthur Neslen
The Guardian
September 5, 2016

Six hundred “green mosques” are to be created in Morocco by March 2019 in a national consciousness-raising initiative that aims to speed the country’s...

Earth Institute Postdoctoral Fellowship Program in Sustainable Development

The Earth Institute at Columbia University in New York, NY, seeks applications from innovative, doctoral candidates or recent Ph.D., M.D., J.D., or Sc.D. recipients interested in a broad range of issues in sustainable development.

Season of Creation marks month of eco-contemplation for Christians

September 1, 2016
By Brian Roewe
National Catholic Reporter

Christians across the globe Thursday joined in celebrating the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, but for many the day only marks the beginning of a longer contemplation on the planet the pope regularly refers to as our common home.

Deeming Pollution of Earth Sinful, Pope Proposes Climate Action as Sacred Duty

Humans are turning the planet into a ‘polluted wasteland full of debris, desolation, and filth,’ says Pope Francis

By Nika Knight, staff writer
Common Dreams
September 1, 2016

Pope Francis on Thursday put forth an urgent call for people to actively work to save the environment, proposing that the Catholic Church add such a duty to the list of “seven mercies,” which...

Catholics are obligated to care for the planet, just like care for the sick, Pope Francis says

September 1, 2016
By Julie Zauzmer
Washington Post

Pope Francis, who has made the environment a clear focus of his papacy over the past three years, deepened his vision Thursday of a green church in which caring for the planet is as important a Catholic commitment as caring for the sick and the hungry.

Why is Canada denying its indigenous peoples clean water?

August 30, 2016
By Amanda Klasing
The Globe and Mail

“She likes to take a bath, but [the water] irritates her skin,” Susan said of her active two-year-old daughter. When the little girl was 18 months old, Susan started to notice rashes all over her daughter’s legs. “I thought it was something from the grass,” she said. Instead, a doctor informed her...

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