Justice at the Heart of Climate Activism
The modern environmental justice movement understands the health of the planet and well-being of people are connected.
Environmental Justice
YES! Media’s environmental justice coverage recognizes that people are not separate from the environment but are an integral part of it—and responsible for its care. Because Indigenous and frontline communities suffer the worst impacts of environmental injustice, we center their experiences and solutions in our coverage. We lift up the stories of people who are holding polluters accountable, passing life-sustaining legislation, enshrining the legal rights of nature, and decolonizing their relationship with the land. As such, we don’t aim to “save” the environment, but to move away from extractive models (and industries) that create inequitable and unlivable futures for all living things. Instead, we feature intersectional, holistic models that balance the needs and rights of all life—human and non-human—on this planet.
Growing Food and Latino Culture in Tucson’s Barrio Centro
T-shirt entrepreneurs-turned-farmers are turning an abandoned elementary school into a community hub.
Cultivating Food Sovereignty Through Regenerative Ocean Farming
The first Native-owned and Native-led land trust is working to empower and equip young Natives to successfully farm kelp.
Care Workers Demand Federal Support as First Responders in Climate Crises
Domestic care workers have been overlooked in the economy and as political actors for too long.
There Is Enough Food, Just Not Enough Food Access
Community fridge networks across the country are an important start—and symbol—in the work to make sure everyone has enough to eat.
The Unsung Caribbean Roots of the Vegan Food Movement
While eating a plant-based diet is often presented as a white, millennial fad that accompanies gentrification, Black people have a long and rich tradition of plant-based eating.
To End Fossil Fuels, End Settler Colonialism
Much environmental framing misses the point about capitalism and Indigenous sovereignty.
What Solar Energy Policies Can Do for Low-Income Households
Two words: energy justice.
The Queer-Led Groups Modeling a New Form of Land Access
Changing ownership and wealth distribution, even at a small scale, presents a model for how to ultimately address the climate crisis.
How a Seattle Neighborhood Confronted Food Insecurity in the Pandemic
Seattle’s square-mile neighborhood of South Park has turned its early pandemic community supports into a sustainable system tackling food insecurity.
In a World on Fire, Is Nonviolence Still an Option?
“How To Blow Up a Pipeline” is not in fact a manual, but rather a treatise inviting the climate movement to widespread sabotage and property destruction, and it is surprisingly compelling.
Cooperation and Chocolate: The Story of One Colombian Community’s Quest for Peace
A community in Colombia is ditching traditional capitalist models in order to build a collective future.
Generation Z Is Voting on Climate Change in 2020
Young voters are intimately aware that they will be forced to bear the full effects of climate change—and they’re voting with that in mind.
The Power of Inclusive, Intergenerational Climate Activism
The energy and intersectionality of youth along with the experience and engagement of elders are putting climate issues at the forefront of the 2020 elections.
These Small Dairy Farms Are a Model for a Resilient Food System
Due to the coronavirus, dairy producers are dumping thousands of gallons of milk every day. But these New Jersey dairy farmers have a better system.
What’s in a Social Justice Diet?
You can make whatever diet you’re currently eating even healthier.
Virtual or Not, a Passover Seder for the Earth
This year, many people will have Passover Seder over the internet rather than in the physical company of friends and family.
Turning Skiers Into Climate Voters
With 10 million skiers in the U.S. who are at risk of losing their snow to climate change, it's time to mobilize.
An Aspirational Vision of Life After Fossil Fuels
Building sustainable communities is the antidote to fear of a changing climate.
Why Aren’t Fossil Fuel Companies Held Accountable for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women?
Resource extraction takes a toll on more than just the economy and the environment.
Meet the Farmers Reclaiming Puerto Rico’s Agricultural History
Residents in a rural Puerto Rican community are reviving a historic botanical garden to serve as an example of local and sustainable farming.
How Cuba’s Women Farmers Kept Everyone Fed
“I wake up early, I spend all day on the farm, working hard, managing the workers, planting, harvesting, selling, teaching—I do all of this out of love.”
How Tucson Preserves Its Native Food Heritage
The prevalence of food-related disease among indigenous people, like members of the Tohono O’odham Nation, is glaring—and drives many of the city’s food justice efforts.
This Isn’t Just Another Urban Farm—It’s a Food Bank
The Tucson, Arizona, food bank isn’t just giving away packaged foods. It’s growing healthy food—and teaching people how.
We Aren’t Alone in Our Cities: 12 Ways Animals Have Adapted to Urban Life
City living is changing animals in surprising ways. But they’re also transforming the cities they share with us.
Inspiration in Your Inbox
Sign up to receive email updates from YES!
Our Vision to Create the Best Stories Imaginable
In 2025, we will temporarily pause the printing of YES! Magazine.
LEARN MOREHelp Fund Powerful Stories to Light the Way Forward
Donate to YES! today.