A Healing Walk through Canada’s Tar Sands Dystopia
Cree organizer Clayton Thomas-Muller provides a deeply personal account of a ceremonial healing walk through the broken landscape of Canada’s tar sands. This year’s walk begins July 4.
YES! Article archive
YES! Magazine Wins Top Award in Independent Media
2013 Utne Media Award is a win for solutions journalism.
Illinois’ Flawed Fracking Law Is Everyone’s Problem, Ecologist Says
The backroom negotiations behind the midwestern state’s new fracking regulations may be a taste of what’s to come in other places.
3 Global Cities That Are Doing Bike Shares Right (And One’s in Texas!)
From China to San Antonio, cities are using rental bike programs to create healthier commutes. Here are a few insights from some of the world’s best programs.
Better than Cyber Utopia: How the Internet Helped Us Create the Sharing Economy
Back in the ’90s, people thought the Internet was going to open up a zone of perfect cyber-freedom. It didn’t work out that way. But the Internet’s real significance may be found elsewhere: in a growing sector of the economy based around peer-to-peer sharing networks.
Pussy Riot’s “Punk Prayer” Reminds Us to Cherish Freedom of Spirit—Not Just Speech
What we still have to learn from the world’s favorite riot grrrls.
A New Deal for Appalachia’s Forests: Growing Biofuels?
The mine-ravaged communities of Eastern Kentucky have been increasingly abandoned by the coal economy. Could growing biofuels jump-start a new local jobs market—and renew the land in the process?
A Roadmap to a World Without Drone Proliferation?
It’s not too late to forge a drone-free future. International treaties have already helped ban landmines and nuclear weapons testing—and could mitigate drone warfare’s worst atrocities.
Why Sticky Cabinets Have a Place on My Dream Farm
When we visualize the lives we desire, we often leave out the difficulties and frustrations. But they’re inevitable, and in the end they make the rewards of life more satisfying.
Melodeego: The Hippest Bike-Powered Band in Town
Melodeego has been making music for the environment for years. Their songs include protests of the Keystone XL pipeline and other topics inspired by the anti-climate change movement.
Meet the Rainforest-Dwelling Malaysian Farmers Fighting to Keep their Land above Water
The dams would cost $105 billion, flood an area twice the size of LA, and force the relocation of tens of thousands of indigenous people. Against all the odds, the local forest-dwelling people are coming together and organizing in a way that’s unheard of in this part of the world.
March Against Monsanto: Saturday’s Fight for Food Freedom Spreads to 36 Countries
This weekend, people in 250 cities on 6 continents will march against meddling in the global food supply by Monsanto—the company that brought us Agent Orange, Dioxin, PCBs, and the bovine growth hormone.
Will the 99% Outbid the Billionaires Trying to Buy the LA Times?
A new player has joined the high-stakes bidding war over the Tribune Company, which owns some of America’s largest newspapers: the people of the United States.
Marriage Equality for Minnesota? You Betcha!
In just six months, the “Land of Lakes” went from debating a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, to legalizing it this week. One proud resident on celebrating change in one of our more politically quirky states.
Nerds, Jocks & Conscientious Objectors: The Hidden World of Israel’s High School War Resisters
High school's tough enough without having to face prison time for refusing to serve an occupation you know is wrong.
Fracking the Suburbs: An Explosive Combination?
As oil and gas get harder to find, the industry is drilling in suburbia—and the neighbors aren’t pleased.
The Farm Bill’s “Government Handouts”: Who Really Benefits?
There’s nothing like talk of “government handouts” to get people upset. But when it comes to farm bill, the real culprits might not be who you think they are.
“Modified Social Benches”: An Experiment in Outdoor Socializing
An installation of creatively shaped benches in Belgium pushes the edge of urban sit-ability.
Mothers Day Cards that Actually Depict Our Moms
The reality of motherhood in America has little in common with the comfortable images portrayed in cards and on TV. A set of Mothers Day e-cards you can send for free shows moms that better reflect our diverse society.
Why Sharing News About Solutions Is a Revolutionary Act
Scary stories of kidnappings and explosions lead our news feeds, but it's the good news that helps break down the myth of our own powerlessness.
Worker-Owned Window Factory Opens for Business
When the company known as Republic Windows and Doors closed its Chicago factory, the workers raised the money to buy back the company themselves. The worker-owned cooperative they formed opens today.
Housing Crisis on the Rez: Why Haul a Run-Down Shack from the Plains to DC?
Tribal leaders trucked the battered old home to Washington to show the nation’s leaders what the housing crisis on reservations looks like in person.
Would Smokey the Bear Get Arrested to Stop Fracking?
When artist Lopi LaRoe used Smokey the Bear imagery to encourage anti-fracking activism, the Forest Service threatened her with a lawsuit.
The Bright Side of the Money Crisis
Is this “the most exciting time to be alive in human history”? The economists and scientists interviewed in this film think so, and the reasons are all about the chance to create a more fair and sustainable global economy.
Not Your Father’s Union Movement: NYC’s Young Workers Committee
The Young Workers Committee of New York’s transit union was out on the streets in a vibrant march. This video shows the group rallying, taking over an official’s office, and using the Occupy-style “people’s mic.”
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