Climate change raises the risk from failing sewage systems. So Catherine Coleman Flowers is working for a new way to deal with waste. Originally published DECEMBER 17, 2020 by Sarah Kaplan for the Washington Post – Climate Solutions. LOWNDES COUNTY, Ala. — To Catherine Coleman Flowers, this is “holy ground”: the… Read more

Originally published December 18th by Brian Lowe for Earthbeat: a project of National Catholic Reporter at NCR Online. *** By now it’s well understood that climate change leads to rising seas and rising temperatures. It is also increasingly linked to rising conflicts. In 2014, the Pentagon issued a major report that referred… Read more

Excerpt from The New York Times online. Originally published Nov 17, 2020. Read the complete review here. ———————————— Flowers brings an invigorating sense of purpose to the page. “Waste” is written with warmth, grace and clarity. Its straightforward faith in the possibility of building a better world, from the ground… Read more

Mold, Possums and Pools of Sewage: No One Should Have to Live Like This Before she died of Covid-19, Pamela Rush opened her home to show the world what poverty looks like. Originally Published Nov. 14, 2020 Ms. Flowers is the author of the forthcoming “Waste: One Woman’s Fight Against… Read more

By Justine [email protected]  Nov 13, 2020, 4:26pm EST The Verge Doctors couldn’t diagnose the rash spreading across Catherine Flowers’ legs and body. But the activist thought it had to do with the day she wore a dress during a visit to a family whose yard featured “a hole in the ground… Read more

November 17, 2020 – Official Release Date Waste: One Woman’s Fight Against America’s Dirty Secret by Catherine Coleman Flowers With a foreword by Bryan Stevenson Where to Purchase About The MacArthur grant–winning “Erin Brockovich of Sewage” tells the riveting story of the environmental justice movement that is firing up rural America,… Read more

Big Shift Global – Research Papers Calling for an end to public financing of fossil fuels and a shift to investing in sustainable, renewable energy to provide energy access for all World Bank provides assistance and finance for fossils despite climate pledge Energy transition too slow to avert climate crisis… Read more

As heard on Morning Edition and originally published by NPR October 21, 2020 Heard on Morning Edition EMMA BOWMAN If Catherine Flowers ever received a calling to take on a career in environmental activism, it likely came in the form of mosquito bites. In 2009, Flowers was doing economic development work… Read more

What’s at stake in the U.S. election: The Globe and Mail has asked a group of writers to offer their opinions. Scroll to the bottom for links to the full series. Most of the historic 1965 Selma to Montgomery voting rights march went through rural Lowndes County, Ala. The area… Read more

On October 22, 2020, the International Center for Religion and Diplomacy (ICRD) hosted its first ever Virtual Faith-in-Action Awards. Honoring Karenna Gore, Founder and Director of the Center for Earth Ethics at Union Theological Seminary, the event highlighted the important intersection of faith, climate, and stability. Watch ICRD President and… Read more

Congratulations to the state of Oregon on the announcement of closing its only coal-fired plant! Gratitude to all the community members who worked diligently towards this result. Many thanks to the Sierra Club and it’s Oregon Chapter for their dedication towards this important win.  Updated Oct 15, 2020; Posted Oct 15,… Read more

Introducing the Bloomberg Green Festival September 14 – 18, 2020 The Bloomberg Green Festival 2020 was a 5-day immersive experience featuring global voices and proprietary insight. The Bloomberg Green Festival was organized to be a true thought leadership experience operating at the crossroads of sustainability, design, culture, food, technology, science,… Read more

BY RENEE CHO |Originally published SEPTEMBER 22, 2020 for State of the Planet – The Earth Institute’s blog at Columbia University   September 21-27 is Climate Week in New York City. Join us for a series of online events and blog posts covering the climate crisis and pointing us towards action.   While… Read more

‘We Need to Focus On People As Well’ In one of the wealthiest countries in the world, access to sanitation still isn’t a guarantee. Catherine Coleman Flowers has been working to fix that. KATE B. LITTLEBOY AUTUMN 2020 – EarthIsland.org Catherine Coleman Flowers grew up in rural Lowndes County, Alabama… Read more

The Center for Earth Ethics has been participating in the Climate Crisis Policy review of climate bills and legislation for 2021.  This week, CCP discussed the Environmental Justice for All Act.  If you missed the CCP call and would like to learn more about this legislation, you can join the… Read more

With 60 Days to Save the Earth… Catherine Flowers among experts interviewed for the Guardian. Individual acts alone won’t stop the climate crisis, but there are things we can do. We asked experts what they do in their daily lives to make a difference. Valerie Yurk in Washington, Published: Wed… Read more

In Climate Reality’s Putting Justice and Human Rights First in the US breakout session, you can hear directly from climate and environmental justice leaders to better understand the history of injustice in the United States and the way forward in the fight for climate and social justice. Tune in to… Read more

Mari Margil on Rights of Nature – Read the complete text published by the Center for Humans and Nature. Our insistence that each human being is an image of God should not make us overlook the fact that each creature has its own purpose. None is superfluous. The entire material… Read more

Catherine Coleman Flowers Uncovers “America’s Dirty Secret” n “Bloody Lowndes,” Alabama By Sienna Zuco for Global Climate Pledge “Because I’m country!” Said Catherine Coleman Flowers when asked why she was passionate about working for rural communities as an environmental justice advocate. Growing up in the “Black Belt” region of Alabama, which… Read more

2020 has been a year of loss.  Even before the pandemic, we were grieving for our planet. We were grieving for loss of species, for children in cages, for the disparity in our world. But the last few months have been wrought with heartbreaks from Covid-19 to George Floyd to… Read more

In Alabama, doctors and nurses are seeing record numbers of hospitalizations associated with COVID-19. The state has reported more than 1,300 deaths since the pandemic began. But certain regions and populations within the state are faring far worse than others — and huge health disparities among Black residents are causing… Read more

by Catherine Flowers Published June 22nd 2020 on World War Zero When people think about climate change and environmentalism, the image that comes to mind is a polar bear on a melting block of ice. However, that image neglects to include people, especially living in communities that are suffering from lack of… Read more

Excerpts from “The Black Climate Scientists and Scholars Changing the World” by SOPHIE HIRSH. Read the Full Article on Green Matters. Environmentalism is intersectional — to effectively protect our planet and fight the climate crisis, we must also fight for the rights of marginalized groups around the world, especially those… Read more

Moved by a visit to Lowndes County, Alabama, Bernie Sanders has appointed Catherine Coleman Flowers, Founder of the Center for Rural Enterprise and Environmental Justice (CREEJ) and CEE Fellow on Environmental Justice and Civic Engagement to the ‘Unity’ Task Force on Climate Change. Flowers has been shining a spotlight for… Read more

Traditional indigenous beliefs are a powerful tool for understanding the pandemic Native American spiritual leaders say this is a time to recalibrate for a better future. BY RACHEL HARTIGAN SHEA PHOTOGRAPHS BY JOSUÉ RIVAS Read the complete article at National Geographic online – May 12, 2020 *** ‘Blood memory’ For indigenous people,… Read more