Hallelujah! The Senate just passed the first comprehensive climate change bill in U.S. history, restored our leadership on the global stage, and paid for it all while reducing the federal deficit. In Bill McKibben’s words, the legislation “. . . clearly transforms not just the energy landscape but the political…

I drove right into it. Heading west from Chicago on I-80 for my annual visit to my sister on the Iowa border, I entered the searing heat dome which ultimately smothered so much of the continent the week of June 13, 2022. Another wrecking ball hit the record store with…

It’s 7:30 AM. The angled light isn’t yet glaring on the white pavement and pillars along Napoleon Avenue, and the dewy air has let go of just enough of yesterday’s heat to make for a pleasant walk as I search for some coffee. Uptown New Orleans in early May, a…

The revolutionary rock musical Hair encapsulated the angst of a generation confronting environmental degradation, racism, sexism, homophobia, and an endless unwinnable war (sound familiar?). It laid bare — especially in the last scene — the disillusionment with a bleak future and job prospects that only perpetuated the problem. Young people…

“I can’t think about climate change, because I can’t think about anything other than to try to survive.” These are the words of Svitlana Krakovska from her home in Kyiv, Ukraine, while Russian troops surrounded the city and bombarded peoples’ homes. The urgency and terror engendered by these unprovoked attacks…

It’s 2022, and Groundhog Day was February 2 (all those 2s!). What better time to emerge from my winter blog-free burrow and share the shadow with my home state’s oracle. Yes, he saw it, so we’ll be celebrating six more weeks of winter. Yes, celebrating! …

I’ve been writing this blog to chronicle my emergence as a climate crisis activist for a few months now. I’m enjoying it immensely, and I thank the folks who have read, commented, clapped, and followed. I will be taking a little break for a few weeks because I’m taking on…

I am being happy about climate change these days. Last week was, officially, “Climate Week” in New York City, and the U.N General Assembly assembled to hear Xi Jinping announce that China would stop building coal-fired power plants around the world. Joe Biden committed to doubling U.S. assistance to help…

“Spirit” comes from the Latin word “to breathe.” What we breathe is air, which is certainly matter, however thin. Despite usage to the contrary, there is no necessary implication in the word “spiritual” that we are talking of anything other than matter (including the matter of which the brain is…