Environment

20 Major Wins For Indigenous Rights In 2025

June 15, 2025 John Ahni Schertow, Intercontinental Cry. Create! Amazon Rainforest, Colombia, Ecuador, Environment, Environmental Justice, Indigenous Rights, Land Rights, Landback, Landback Movement, Victoria Nuland, Victory

So far, 2025 has been a powerful year for Indigenous rights. Over the past 6 months we have seen many hard-fought victories and long-awaited acts of justice for Indigenous Peoples across the globe. While these wins vary in scale and geography, a common thread runs through them all: Indigenous leadership. Whether resisting oil drilling in the Peruvian Amazon, overturning mining projects in Arizona, or securing court protections for uncontacted peoples in Colombia and Ecuador, these movements reflect a resurgence of Indigenous authority in matters that directly affect their survival and future.

Trump Administration Abandons Deal With Tribes To Restore Salmon

June 15, 2025 Tony Schick, Pro Publica. Educate! Biden administration, Dam Removal, Dams, Environment, Indigenous Rights, Joe Biden, Salmon, Trump Administration

Less than two years ago, the administration of President Joe Biden announced what tribal leaders hailed as an unprecedented commitment to the Native tribes whose ways of life had been devastated by federal dam-building along the Columbia River in the Pacific Northwest. The deal, which took two years to negotiate, halted decades of lawsuits over the harm federal dams had caused to the salmon that had sustained those tribes culturally and economically for thousands of years. To enable the removal of four hydroelectric dams considered especially harmful to salmon, the government promised to invest billions of dollars in alternative energy sources to be created by the tribes.

Wai Bill Becomes Law: Major Victory For Water Protectors

June 10, 2025 Healani, Sonoda-Pale, Popular Resistance. Resist! Environment, Hawaii, Legislature, Red Hill, Water Protectors

Honolulu, Hawaiʻi — After more than two years of steadfast community advocacy and legislative effort, the Water Alliance Initiative Act—addressing long term clean up and remediation of Oahu’s water and land and protecting the water source for over 400,000 residents—was signed into law on Friday, June 6, 2025, and is now officially Act 197 (Gov. Msg. No. 1297). This landmark law creates a WAI Policy Coordinator under the Department of Land and Natural Resources and establishes a Red Hill Remediation Special Fund to support long-term cleanup, monitoring, public education, and restoration of Oʻahu’s primary aquifer in the wake of the 2021 Red Hill fuel contamination crisis.

Residents Demand Answers On US-Owned Toxic Waste Dump Expansion

June 9, 2025 Éanna Mackey, Rabble. Resist! Canada, Environment, Quebec, Waste

An emergency provincial law passed in late March has allowed Stablex—an American waste disposal company— to expand its Blainville operations into ancient nearby wetlands — overriding local opposition, shutting down debate in the National Assembly, and drawing growing concern over environmental contamination. Bill 93, pushed through by the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) government on March 28, forced the City of Blainville to sell over 60 hectares of public forest land to Stablex and granted the company immunity from legal consequences for any actions taken prior to April 15 — a federal deadline protecting bird nesting areas. The bill was described by opposition parties as custom-built for the American firm.

Yurok Tribe Acquires 47,000 Acres In California’s Largest Land-Back Deal

June 9, 2025 Chez Oxendine, Tribal Business News. Create! California, Environment, Indigenous Rights, Land Back, Salmon

The Yurok Tribe has gained control and stewardship of 73 square miles of land along the Klamath River in a $56 million transfer — the largest land-back deal in California’s history. The tribe announced on June 5 it had completed the final phase of the land-transfer partnership with Portland, Ore.-based nonprofit Western Rivers Conservancy, a process that began in 2022. With the land under their control, the Yurok have designated 15,000 acres of the 47,097-acre property as the Blue Creek Salmon Sanctuary and established the remainder as the Yurok Community Forest. “The impact of this project is enormous,” Joseph L. James, chairman of the Yurok Tribe, said in a statement. “We are forging a sustainable future for the fish, forests and our people that honors both ecological integrity and our cultural heritage.”

Please Ensure That The Planet Does Not Burn

June 6, 2025 Vijay Prashad, Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research. Strategize! Capitalism, climate crisis, COP30, Environment

It is important to emphasise the fact that environmental degradation has not been caused by humans in general, but by a certain system of organising society which we call capitalism. The problem with the term Anthropocene (which began to be used first by scientists, then by social scientists) is that it implies that humans – as an undifferentiated whole – have created the ecological crisis we are facing. This subtly downplays the role of the capitalist system and its accompanying class and national divides. However, data shows that humanity is using the equivalent of about 1.7 Earths to sustain our current consumption levels.

Brazil’s MST Promotes Agrarian Reform Amidst Environmental Crisis

June 4, 2025 Telesur, Orinoco Tribune. Organize! Agrarian Reform, Brazil, Environment, Landless Workers’ Movement (MST), MST, Reforestation

Brazil’s Landless Rural Workers’ Movement (MST) launched the third edition of Nature Day this Monday, an initiative that is part of its national plan “Plant Trees, Produce Healthy Food.” The goal is not only reforestation but also strengthening popular agrarian reform as an alternative to the current environmental crisis. This was stated by Camilo Augusto, project coordinator, in an interview with local media. Since 2021, the MST has promoted this event across Brazil, carrying out activities that include planting, seed distribution and mobilizing around environmental preservation.

How The Rights Of Nature Movement Is Reshaping Law And Culture

June 2, 2025 Dana Zartner, Resilience. Strategize! Colombia, Environment, Environmental Justice, Lake Erie, New Zealand, Rights of Nature

The mountain dominates the western coast of New Zealand’s North Island, also known as Aotearoa. Its peak is like the center point of a sundial, the shadows on its slopes telling time. The cloud formations drift in and out, shaping the weather. There are several Māori stories related to the creation of Aotearoa’s geography. One tells of four mountain warriors who lived in the interior of the North Island: Tongariro, Taranaki, Tauhara, and Pūtauaki. Two of them, Tongariro and Taranaki, were in love with a maiden mountain, Pīhanga, and they fought a mighty battle over her affections. Taranaki was defeated, and in shame and sadness, he left the center of the island.

The Chris Hedges Report: Facing The Climate Crisis And Human Mortality

May 22, 2025 Chris Hedges, Scheer Post. Resistance Report Capitalism, climate crisis, Environment, Mortality

In a world gripped by daily catastrophes, there is one that affects all but lacks the attention it deserves. The climate crisis — pervaded by ecological collapse, war, endless resource accumulation fueled by capitalism — is the issue of our time. The warning signs are there but as author Eiren Caffall tells host Chris Hedges, people are not able to handle the facts regarding the “fragility of our ecosystem, and [they] just don’t really have a great way of managing the emotional impact of that.” Caffall joins Hedges on this episode of The Chris Hedges Report to discuss her novel, All the Water in the World, and her memoir, The Mourner’s Bestiary.

Cultural Values On Indigenous Lands Help Forests Thrive

May 22, 2025 Cristen Hemingway Jaynes, EcoWatch. Educate! Conservation, Environment, Indigenous Peoples, Panama

In Panama, forest cover on Indigenous lands has remained stable at almost double the rate of protected areas — including government parks — due in great part to deeply-ingrained cultural values, a new study led by researchers from McGill University has found. The findings challenge a longstanding assumption about conservation: that in order to protect biodiversity, people must be kept out. “Local land use emerges from peoples’ worldviews and values regarding nature,” the authors of the findings wrote. “[D]eforestation and disturbance in Indigenous lands exhibit a low density, spatial concentration on forest edges, and temporal stability, explaining forest cover stability.

Where Spirits Weep Beneath The Snow: The Cry Against Arizona Snowbowl

May 22, 2025 Natasha Cortinos, The Daily Wildcat. Educate! Arizona, Environment, Indigenous Rights, pollution, Sacred sites

On the western slope of Arizona’s highest landmark, Humphreys Peak, and approximately 4.8 miles from its 12,633-foot-tall summit, rests the skeleton of a 777-acre-wide ski resort. The Arizona Snowbowl, a piece of engineering made up of eight lifts that serve 61 runs, is beloved by some but resented by others. It’s been torn between these two sides since 1938, the year it first started serving skiers from Arizona and beyond on its groomed runs, tree-lined back bowls and terrain parks. Flagstaff meteorologist Mark Stubblefield has been riding the Snowbowl’s slopes almost every winter since 1987.

Rally Against Army’s Environmental Impact Statement For Pohakuloa

May 9, 2025 Marti Townsend, Popular Resistance. Resist! Environment, Hawaii, US military

Honolulu, HI – This Friday, May 9, at 8:00 AM, community members, cultural practitioners, and environmental advocates from across the paeʻāina will gather outside the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) ahead of the 9:00 am Board meeting at the Kalanimoku Building (1151 Punchbowl St., Honolulu) to demand the rejection of the U.S. Army’s Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the Pōhakuloa Training Area (PTA). The Army’s proposed retention of 23,000 acres of public, “ceded” lands on Hawaiʻi Island has generated widespread opposition. Community advocates say the FEIS is inadequate, failing to address decades of documented environmental destruction, cultural desecration, and health risks associated with military use—including the confirmed presence of depleted uranium, over 1,000 wildfires, and unremediated contamination.

Trump Shuts Down 25 USGS Centers That Monitor Drought And Flooding

May 7, 2025 Cristen Hemingway Jaynes, EcoWatch. Educate! Chemical Spill, Donald Trump, Drought, Environment, Flooding, Oil Spill, United States Geological Service (USGS)

More than two dozen United States Geological Service (USGS) centers that monitor the country’s waters for flooding and drought, as well as manage water supply levels to make sure communities don’t run out, have had their leases terminated by the Trump administration. The 25 centers being targeted are part of a network that tracks the quality and levels of surface and ground water, reported The Guardian. The data the centers’ employees and equipment provide plays a crucial role in protecting human life and property while maintaining water supplies and helping to clean up oil and chemical spills. In the aftermath of a chemical or oil spill, USGS data tracks plumes with real-time monitoring in some locations to protect drinking water, Inside Climate News reported.

Panamanians Gear Up For Indefinite Strike On April 28

April 28, 2025 Pablo Meriguet, People's Dispatch. Resist! Environment, General Strike, Militarization, Mining, Neoliberalism, Panama, Panama Canal, US Imperialism

On April 24, thousands of Panamanians took to the streets to protest the recent approval of the pension reform in Panama promoted by the neoliberal government of José Raúl Mulino. Law 462 has been the source of a lot of controversy in the Central American country because, according to several unions, it will reduce retirement pensions compared to the previous system. The mobilization was called by the Association of Professors of Panama (ASOPROF) and the Single National Union of Industry and Construction and Similar Workers (SUNTRACS), who have announced that they will embark on an indefinite national strike on April 28.

Report: America’s Ten Most Endangered Rivers

April 18, 2025 Cristen Hemingway Jaynes, EcoWatch. Educate! Environment, pollution, Rivers, United States

According to the 40th annual America’s Most Endangered Rivers report by American Rivers, half the rivers in the United States contain unsafe pollution levels, with freshwater species becoming extinct faster than land or ocean species. The Mississippi River topped the list, with federal flood management changes putting the health of the river at risk, jeopardizing the safety and clean water of those who depend upon it. Flooding is the most common and costly natural disaster within the Mississippi River Basin, according to the report. More severe and frequent floods have damaged homes, agriculture and businesses.

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