Insights

Demanding Plastics Reform in Washington

Andrew Schwartz June 14, 2024

I spent a few days in Washington, D.C. last week lobbying lawmakers alongside other members from the Break Free From Plastic Coalition, a coalition of some 200 organizations working on plastics issues. CEE proudly joined Break Free in 2023. The pervasive impacts of plastics pollution are just now being fully understood by the public. As a technology, plastics far oustripped any research into its potential impacts to human health and

A Message From Center for Earth Ethics Regarding the Columbia University Protests

CEE Staff May 29, 2024

In the past month, we have witnessed student protests on the Columbia University campus and elsewhere, and we want to share thoughts that guide our understanding of this complex and charged situation. First, the free expression of moral conscience is key to making necessary social change. Most of the protestors come from this place. They object to the role that the institutions they belong to are playing in facilitating the

INC-4: The Brink of the Plastics Problem

Andrew Schwartz May 27, 2024

The fourth gathering of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-4), aimed at reaching a global treaty to combat the plastics crisis, concluded on April 29 in Ottawa. The week-long negotiations as a whole failed to deliver, though the lack of ambition was unfortunately predictable due to the prevalence of fossil fuel interests at the negotiations. An analysis by CIEL of the UNEP list of INC-4 participants unveiled a stark reality: 196 lobbyists

“It’s Not the Earth that Needs Fixing”: Gore Addresses Harvard Design School Graduates

Timothy Cross May 24, 2024

“We need you. … We need your energy, your insights, your work ethic, and especially your creativity.” In its 2024 commencement issue, Harvard Magazine profiled the address by CEE Executive Director Karenna Gore at the Harvard Graduate School of Design Class Day on Wednesday, May 22. In her talk, Gore (who graduated from Harvard College) encouraged the graduates to use their skills not only to improve the built environment but

Beyond Development: “Freedom to Be” Presents Indigenous Perspectives on Spirituality and Progress

Ned Joyner May 19, 2024

“For me, true development would be the sovereignty to practice our own spirituality, beliefs and rituals. And when we get back these practices, I think we will have the development that we want.” Taily Terena articulated this crucial insight during “Freedom to Be: Indigenous Perspectives on How the Mainstream Development Model Affects Their Right to Freedom of Religion or Belief,” a discussion organized by the Center for Earth Ethics on

Empowering Climate Action: The Climate Reality Project’s New York City Training

Aja Two Crows May 19, 2024

On the weekend of April 12, former Vice President Al Gore headlined a massive Climate Reality Project training in New York City. Experts, politicians, activists and more than 3,000 trainees, primarily from the northeast United States, joined Mr. Gore to discuss the state of the climate crisis and practical steps that we can take to create a better future for ourselves and our planet. A few key themes emerged from