Eaarth Feels

There is no going back. Now that we have recognized our interconnectedness, how do we move forward to a more balanced, equitable world? The answer may lie in the Haudenosaunee Seventh Generation Principle.

This story originally appeared in The Nation and is republished here as part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story.

Lawns cover 50 million acres of land in the USA. A full 2% of our land mass. And they feed no one.

We spend $30 Billion yearly to maintain them.

Imagine if we put those resources to better use.

The Haudenosaunee Confederacy, comprised of the Mohawks, Oneida, Cayuga, Onandaga and Seneca Peoples, offer their Thanksgiving Address as a central prayer to the Natural World, thanking each life-sustaining force for the abundance it brings to all our lives. This address speaks aloud mutual respect, conservation, love, generosity, and the responsibility to understand that what is done to one part of the Web of Life, we do to ourselves.

The Haudenosaunee Confederacy, comprised of the Mohawks, Oneida, Cayuga, Onandaga and Seneca Peoples, offer their Thanksgiving Address as a central prayer to the Natural World, thanking each life-sustaining force for the abundance it brings to all our lives. This address speaks aloud mutual respect, conservation, love, generosity, and the responsibility to understand that what is done to one part of the Web of Life, we do to ourselves.

Carbon Capture and Sequestration is our best hope for solving the climate crisis. Richard Matthews, author of The Green Market Oracle, gives us a fundamental lesson in this existing, viable and cost effective technology.

" 'Inner social action' is necessary in order to make our outer actions productive."

In this article published before his death in 2019, spiritual guru Ram Dass addresses the fine line those of us who care deeply about social justice and the health and sustainability of the planet find ourselves walking these days; we need to pay attention to the material world while maintaining a healthy inner balance. This article was originally posted on ramdass.org, and is written by Ram Dass & Raghu Markus.

"How, in our modern world, can we find our way to understand the earth as a gift again, to make our relations with the world sacred again? I know we cannot all become hunter-gatherers--but even in a market economy, can we behave 'as if' the living world were a gift?"

Robin Wall Kimmerer is a plant ecologist, writer, and Distinguished Teaching Professor at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse, NY and a member of the Potawatomi First Nation. In this podcast episode, Rose and Christine discuss what Kimmerer's 2013 book, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants, has to teach us about being in a reciprocal relationship to the Earth.

The opening chapter from Robin Wall Kimmerer's Braiding Sweetgrass recounts the Indigenous story of Creation, Skywoman Falling, and asks if humanity can learn from its elders.

Today's youth have inherited a planet already experiencing the devastation of global warming. What would they like their elders to understand about this crisis? Ten Youth Climate Activists weigh in.