Posts Tagged ‘Equity’

Originally published in Rolling Stone It’s obvious how this should end. You’ve got the richest industry on earth, fossil fuel, up against some college kids, some professors, a few environmentalists, a few brave scientists. And it’s worse than that. The college students want their universities to divest from fossil fuel – to sell off their stock in Exxon and Shell…

Why do African American families use less energy than white households, but pay more for it—literally and figuratively? It’s true. The average African American family emits 20% less carbon dioxide than the average white household does, yet we are more susceptible to increases in energy and water costs that result from climate change. As extreme weather events like blizzards, droughts,…

The floods that struck São Paulo in early 2015 quickly overwhelmed urban infrastructure, transforming roads into rivers and washing cars away. The region as a whole, however, suffered from severe drought. São Paulo, whose 12 million inhabitants make it the largest city in the Southern Hemisphere, was watching its reservoirs dry up. When the storm abided, the reservoirs were still…

A career in photojournalism has rendered New Zealand native Robin Hammond a seasoned global traveler. Several projects have entailed extended travel in sub-Saharan Africa, and others have required stays in Europe and Asia. With a slate of philanthropic projects that showcase some of the world’s most flagrant and underreported human rights issues, Hammond’s dedication to his career reveals a refreshing…

It is no surprise that the standard development model in the United States is deeply flawed. The narrow maximization of economic profit that drives much development often results in the broad diminishment of human, environmental, and aesthetic values. This pattern of extracting value from people and the land is not new; even ancient Rome was known to have slumlords. Yet,…

King County is the economic engine of the Pacific Northwest. Some of the world’s most prosperous companies, abundant natural beauty and influential hubs of creativity and entrepreneurship lie within the county’s borders. King County encompasses booming places like Seattle and Bellevue, and the county’s cities and towns are among the most diverse and populous in the state of Washington. But…

Social justice and equity in the workplace are high on the agenda in an array of important platforms, ranging from the media, political landscapes, to both non- and for profit boardrooms. President Obama has been a strong advocate for gender pay equity and for an increase in the federal minimum wage. Pope Francis has made the issue of income and…

Every generation has a tendency to consider its way of living to be normal—the way it always was, how it will continue and how it should be. We are self-centered that way, which makes some sense because our patterns of behavior make up our entire direct context. History lessons sometimes seem abstract, and the future hasn’t happened yet. We know…

Robert Jones once lived on the streets, struggling with substance abuse, mental illness and a criminal background. But Robert is no a longer a statistic—he now lives in one of A Community of Friends’ (ACOF) supportive affordable housing communities in South Los Angeles. Since moving into his new home, he has found employment and been reunited with family. Robert feels…

Surrounded by the majestic mountains of Appalachia, the area of Welch, West Virginia, located in McDowell County, was once a bustling working-class town completely dependent on the extraction economy of coal. Deeply connected to the dirty energy, Welch was the world’s largest producer of coal. As a child, my mother-in-law would wave goodbye to her father each day as he went…

In the last 20 years, the green building movement has gone mainstream. The pace of change is extraordinary: at the International Living Future Institute we are pushing boundaries we couldn’t have even imagined a decade ago. Setting a high bar, one that many thought unachievable, has proven to be a catalyst for transformative change. And it’s time to do it…

Pittsburgh’s Hazelwood neighborhood has suffered in recent decades as American manufacturers have sent operations overseas and shuttered their U.S. factories. Pittsburgh, once known for its steel production, has transformed itself in the 21st century into a mecca for technology companies, with Google, Intel, Apple, and IBM siting facilities in the city—but by and large, Hazelwood has been left behind by…