Island Press Field Notes

The environment is facing tough times in a Trump presidency. Within an hour of his inaguration, all mentions of climate change were removed from the White House website. Since then, key environmental regulations have been slashed, and a bill has been introduced calling for the abolishment of the EPA. So what's an environmentalist to do? Below, Island Press authors share their advice for agitating for action on climate change and continuing to push an environmental agenda forward in the face of an unsupportive administration. 

Cities and states can step up their efforts to tackle global warming—with or without federal leadership.

What will happen when thousands of people overwhelm communities? Climate change is mostly a “slow onset” phenomenon.  It does, however, generate fast-onset disasters/catastrophes as well.  Multiple years of drought slowly debilitate the ecosystem, threaten crops growth and healthy forests that absorb rain when it comes. Wildfires fed by dead/dying plant growth destroy communities rapidly, thus leading to soil poised to contribute to mud slides, etc., etc.  The rhythm of the unexperienced and destructive dynamics of climate change play themselves out.

Two weeks ago, the Oakland City Council unanimously voted to ban the handling and storage of coal in the city, quashing a proposal to build what could have been the largest coal export facility in California.