Health inequalities cannot be eliminated without addressing the injustice that contribute to weathering – the physical toll
Accelerating Climate Change and Global Inequality: Indigenous People were the Heroes of COP30
Greenfield, Mass. (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – Contradictions pervaded the latest UN climate conference (COP30) held in Belem, Brazil. Progressive President Lula da Silva of Brazil proclaimed it would a positive turning point in progress, while he authorized his state-owned oil producer to do exploratory drilling for oil near the Great Amazon Reef System. […]
What I saw in Vietnam, 50 Years after the War and Ecocide
Greenfield, Mass. (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – This year 2025 is the 50th anniversary of the liberation of Vietnam from the “American War.” The war officially ended in 1973 but the remaining Americans fled South Vietnam in chaotic air and sea lifts two years later as North Vietnam forces invaded to unite their country. […]
The Mortal Sins of Patriarchy
Greenfield, Mass. (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – How much are women and girls–half of humanity–valued? When men violate us for sex in prostitution. When nearly 1 in 3 of us worldwide are violated physically or sexually in our lifetime. When, despite having equal intellectual abilities and more developed social and emotional intelligence, we lack […]
There’s no Such thing as Someone Else’s Children*
Greenfield, Mass. (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – Medford, a city of 60,000 people in Massachusetts, voted to pass an historic ordinance to divest from weapons companies that contribute to human rights violations. Their vote included Israel’s ongoing genocide, starvation and destruction of everything that makes life in Gaza possible. The Medford City Council passed […]
We are What we Eat: A Step We all Can take to Fight Climate Breakdown
Greenfield, Mass. (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – Nuclear physicist Edward Teller predicted in 1959 that the risks of burning fossil fuels, by increasing carbon dioxide (C02) in the atmosphere, may be sufficient in time to melt polar icecaps and submerge all coastal cities. These predictions, which are proving accurate, were buried by the fossil […]
We Made the Climate Breakdown; We can Halt It, before it is too Late
Greenfield, Mass. (Special to Informed Comment; Feature)In the summer of 2023, researchers “binge-watched 250 of the most-rated movies” of the past 10 years for climate research purposes. A mere 13 percent of films made mention of climate-related disasters, some more seriously and others “offhandedly” in dialogue. In contrast, since the rise of Hollywood as the […]
The Earth and Human Beings must Be Saved Together
Greenfield, Mass. (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – A postcard I use as a bookmarker contains a set of principles for gardening in urban soils for minimizing risks to human health from exposure to lead and other contaminants. Developed many years ago for Boston Natural Areas Network by Dr. Wendy Heiger-Bernays, a toxicologist, and myself, […]
The Serviceberry: Native American Ecology and the End of Carbon Capitalism
Greenfield, Mass. (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – No one wrote more powerfully about humans’ poisoning the Earth and its consequences than biologist Rachel Carson–with a focus on one contaminant, the pesticide DDT. She traced its toxicity through the food chain of nature and the loss of beneficial insects and birds, and then warned of […]
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