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The Megamachine spreads its devastating skewers in all directions:
towards the ocean floor, other planets, and the last remaining areas of wilderness on Earth. There are many places to take a stand against a suicidal culture which, if not thwarted, will not stop before all known lifeforms have been consumed by runaway technological expansion. Not least of all in the Rhineland, so-called Germany, a European heartland of industry and extractivism.

Situated between Aachen and Cologne, the Hambach coalmine is the largest in Europe – and it is getting bigger every day. Run by the
mega-corporation RWE, this toxic pit supplies nearby weapons factories with electricity, pumps out untold quantities of carbon dioxide, and swallows forests and villages whole. There could hardlyy be a more concise image of what the expansion of civilization looks like.

Blocking the growth of the mine is the “Sündi”, a small woodland
squatted in autumn 2024, since then a zone of resistance against
capitalism and the state. RWE devastated the Sündi last winter, cutting most of its trees – although the occupation itself remains unevicted.

The desert has been unable to expand as expected since then, but cannot afford to do so any longer. An eviction attempt of the Sündi therefore seems likely this autumn – the cutting season starts October 1.

Let it be known that our beacons have been lit. You are invited to come from far and wide to the Sündi in September and October, to join the resistance here. Or to the nearby Hambacher Forest, which was squatted in 2012, and remains an autonomous zone to this day. This region was once a hotbed of struggle against power in all its forms – let us make it so once again, and answer with fire and sedition those who would see these habitats obliterated.

No compromise with industrial expansion!

For anarchy and high treason!

Streamex, a New York-based cryptocurrency trading platform, joined mining hall of famer Frank Giustra’s company to secure $1.1 billion (C$1.5 billion) this month to put gold assets on blockchain.

They plan to launch a gold-backed treasury strategy, Streamex founder Henry Mcphie told The Northern Miner at a recent industry conference in Boca Raton, Fla. The idea is to turn assets into tokens that can be traded like cryptocurrency. Streamex expects its first asset issuance by year‑end and wants to eclipse existing gold tokens within three years.

“We’re going to denominate our balance sheet in gold,” McPhie says in a new video.

Tokenized gold will track spot prices one‑to‑one while avoiding the friction of futures and traditional custodial models, he said. Streamex combines blockchain transparency with physical backing, he said.

In the same interview, Giustra, chairman of financier Fiore Group, said tokenization opens commodity markets to a new audience. Giustra predicts tokenized gold could play a stabilizing role if buyers demand physical delivery rather than paper leverage.

With the U.S. government facing a $2.4-trillion increase in its budget deficit over the next decade, a revolt in U.S. Treasury auctions could push yields higher and trigger a liquidity crisis, he warned.

“There will be a day of reckoning and it’s coming faster than any U.S. government can imagine,” he said.

Watch below the full chat with The Northern Miner’s Western Editor, Henry Lazenby (we apologize for the inconsistent audio in this interview).

Contact: kayla@unbendablemedia.com 

In response to the introduction of the SPEED Act today by Natural Resources Committee Chair Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) and Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME), Climate Justice Alliance Executive Director KD Chavez, issued the following statement.

“This permitting bill is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. It claims to speed up environmental review and infrastructure projects, but in reality, it speeds up disaster. It does nothing to ensure efficient environmental oversight and strips already-limited legal recourse from communities—especially those most impacted by pollution—to defend themselves against polluters and powerful industry interests.

By narrowing what qualifies as a “major federal action” and weakening the requirement to study long-term or cumulative impacts, this bill strips away essential tools like the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) that Tribal Nations and frontline communities use to protect their lands, waters, cultural resources, and public health. And as if that weren’t enough, this so-called “bipartisan deal” blocks access to the courts and limits remedies for harmful federal decisions, further deepening environmental injustice and eroding trust.

Tribal governments were not meaningfully consulted with, despite the bill’s direct threat to cultural resources and sacred sites; all for the sole purpose of expanding AI infrastructure, certain to accelerate climate chaos. This is a clear violation of tribal sovereignty and the federal trust responsibility. 

It’s time lawmakers listen to the people and put forward a permitting reform bill that safeguards communities, instead of sacrificing them. This kind of legislation has already been defeated numerous times, and for good reason. It’s time to stop beating this dead horse.

Let’s call it what it is: another attempt to repeal NEPA, not a serious effort at permitting reform.  If passed, this bill would accelerate a public health crisis and undermine treaty rights, rather than offer real, sustainable solutions.

Our representatives should focus on building stronger public engagement tools, ensure progress towards climate resiliency, protect public lands and sacred sites, and invest in clean, community infrastructure that safeguards public health, not the profits of polluting industries.” 

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The post Latest Permitting Proposal is a Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing appeared first on Climate Justice Alliance.

President Donald Trump is temporarily exempting medical sterilization facilities that use the colorless gas ethylene oxide from tighter emissions standards, including plants in Georgia that have generated health concerns for residents living nearby.

Last year, then President Joe Biden’s administration finalized new emissions limits for plants that use ethylene oxide, also known as EtO.

The rules require facilities install new controls to limit releases of the gas, monitor continuously for leaks, and meet other requirements. The standards were set to phase in starting in 2026, with the largest EtO users given an extra year to comply. Under Biden, the Environmental Protection Agency said the stiffer regulations would reduce emissions from EtO facilities by 90 percent and protect residents living near them.

But in a Thursday proclamation, Trump said he would extend the deadline for a slew of facilities across the country to meet the requirements, claiming the technology is not “commercially viable” to meet the timelines. Now, sterilizers will have two more years to make upgrades.

Trump argued the current rules would “likely force existing sterilization facilities to close down, seriously disrupting the supply of medical equipment.”

“In short, the current compliance timeline would undermine our national security,” Trump’s proclamation says.

Read Next How medical supply warehouses poison workers with ethylene oxide Naveena Sadasivam & Lylla Younes

The extension applies to several Georgia facilities, including: Becton Dickinson, or BD, facilities in Covington and Madison; the Sterigenics plant in Cobb County; Kendall Patient Recovery, or KPR, near Augusta; and Sterilization Services of Georgia’s facility 15 miles from downtown Atlanta.

EtO plays a critical role maintaining safety in medical and dental settings by killing dangerous bacteria that can’t be eliminated by other methods, like steam or radiation. About half the medical devices used in the United States — approximately 20 billion devices each year — are sterilized with EtO, according to the EPA. It is also used to kill potentially harmful microbes lurking in spices, dried vegetables, walnuts and other food products.

But the gas has been known for years to be dangerous to humans.

In 2016, the EPA reclassified ethylene oxide as a human carcinogen and the gas has been linked to breast, lymphoid, leukemia and other types of cancers. That same year, the EPA determined ethylene oxide is dangerous at much lower levels than previously thought.

Based on its new threshold, EPA air modeling flagged several census tracts in Georgia for potential elevated cancer risks from exposure to ethylene oxide in 2018. But neither the agency nor the state Environmental Protection Division alerted the public. A year later, media reports revealed the potential for increased cancer risk based on the modeling faced by residents in neighborhoods surrounding Sterigenics’ Cobb County plant.

Read Next The unregulated link in a toxic supply chain Naveena Sadasivam & Lylla Younes

The situation spawned a slew of lawsuits and in 2023, Sterigenics agreed to pay $35 million to settle dozens of claims by people who alleged their exposure to EtO from the plant caused cancer and other injuries. Sterigenics did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Trump’s proclamation.

Hundreds of lawsuits are still pending in Georgia against BD, Sterigenics, and KPR. In May, the first of those to reach trial resulted in a $20 million verdict for a retired Covington-area truck driver, Gary Walker, who claimed decades of exposure to EtO from BD and its predecessor, C.R. Bard, was to blame for his non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Michael Geoffroy, an attorney who’s part of Walker’s legal team and involved in many other EtO cases, said the Trump administration’s move “is only going to make things worse.”

“Loosening rules or delaying implementation of safety standards that are there to keep communities safe and make it to where fewer people get sick with cancer is just a step in the wrong direction,” Geoffroy said.

In a statement, BD spokeswoman Fallon McLoughlin said the company is “committed to the safe and responsible operation of our medical sterilization facilities and has a long history of compliance with local, state and federal regulations related to EtO emissions.”

She added BD has already installed new emissions controls at many facilities and is committed to meeting the new standards. But she said doing so could require new equipment that may not be available in time to meet the deadline.

“The recently announced exemption will ensure there is a more realistic time frame to comply with the new requirements,” McLoughlin said.

A representative for Sterilization Services declined to comment. KPR did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Mindy Goldstein, director of the Turner Environmental Law Clinic at Emory University, said the federal Clean Air Act allows presidents to exempt certain facilities from compliance for up to two years. But to do so, they must prove that the technology to meet the requirement is not available and the extension serves a national security interest.

Trump used both rationales in his proclamation. But Goldstein said he included little evidence to support the claims, which could give opponents an opening to challenge the move.
The Trump administration, meanwhile, has already said it’s reevaluating the Biden-era EtO rules, but it’s unclear whether they’ll seek to change the standard. Trump’s EPA has already unwound much of his predecessors’ environmental legacy, announcing plans to reconsider drinking water standards for certain toxic “forever chemicals,” roll back limits on greenhouse gas emissions from power plants and much more.

This story was originally published by Grist with the headline Georgia sterilization plants using toxic gas among those exempt from new rules on Jul 26, 2025.

Yet again this week, Premier Danielle Smith renewed her pitch for a new bitumen pipeline to be added to the federal government’s list of nation-building projects.The topic of pipelines has been persistently rumbling in Calgary for years — but these...

Our food systems are at a breaking point, with climate change putting lives and livelihoods at risk. While Europe and the United States are sweltering in unprecedented heatwaves, smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa, who grow up to 70 percent of the region’s food, are battling temperatures higher than in any year since the dawn of agriculture over 10,000 years ago.

The global funding context has also dramatically altered, with official development assistance under strain and geopolitical tensions shifting donor priorities towards defense.

The first U.N. Food Systems Summit four years ago laid out an ambitious vision for transforming how countries grow, process, and consume food—making social and environmental concerns as important as productivity and nutrition. Against a backdrop of pressing global challenges, next week’s summit in Ethiopia will take stock of how far we’ve come—and where we go next.

Despite the headwinds, I am optimistic. There is no single blueprint for food systems transformation, but there are common levers of progress. One of the most powerful of these is innovation. When combined with other key levers—smart investments and increased political will—we will see impact for farmers at scale.

Innovation is not a luxury. Accelerating access to innovation for smallholder farmers must be a priority. Ensuring they get the tools and technologies they need will enable them to grow more food, earn more income, and protect the land they depend on while limiting harmful environmental impacts.

Nowhere is this more urgent than in the production of staple crops. Demand for cereals in sub-Saharan Africa is projected to triple by 2050 as the population soars. Unless farmers can rapidly and sustainably increase their yields, the only alternative to import dependency will be massive expansion of cropland, with devastating effects on biodiversity and greenhouse gas emissions.

Taking a food systems approach—a holistic view that includes every aspect of food, from farm to table, and its connection with health, the environment, and the economy—requires investing quickly in a new generation of technologies and practices. This includes, for example, Fast-tracking improved crop varieties and livestock that are more resistant to drought, heat, and pests, and shifting to naturally resilient crops like millet and sorghum; unleashing the power of AI to deploy next-level mobile phone-based advisory tools and weather forecasting to help farmers judge what and when to plant; and accelerating the adoption of green fertilizers to restore soil health.

Ethiopia proves climate-smart farming pays off. In the country, innovation is already driving progress at the field level. One example is the Farmer.Chat app. Powered by AI, it allows extension agents to share highly personalized information and advice with farmers, including on the use of fertilizer and water and pest control. It works in local languages and has the preferences of women farmers baked into its design.

Impact studies have shown that its fertilizer advice alone increased crop yields by 38 percent, without increasing the amount of fertilizer used, and cut the cost of agricultural extension tenfold. The government is now scaling the tool through four states.

Importantly, global political will is aligning with opportunity: We’re seeing political will to prioritize innovation, as governments recognize the need to do more with less.

In January, African agriculture ministers adopted the Kampala Declaration, committing to mobilize a total of US$100 billion in public and private sector investment in African agriculture and food systems by 2035, including funding agricultural research and development to the tune of 1 percent of AgGDP. And at the World Bank- IMF Spring Meetings last April, finance ministers signed up to the IMF’s prescription for economic growth, which highlighted mobilizing innovations and technology adoption, alongside a better environment for business by removing excessive regulation and fighting corruption.

The next frontier will be to finance and scale. For innovation to drive lasting, systems-level change, including transforming policy frameworks and other underlying structures, we now need to unlock financing and scale it up.

Private sector capital will be critical, as will climate finance directed towards adaptation. Currently, food systems receive only 4 percent of climate finance, and only 1 percent of total climate finance goes to smallholder farmers. For many African governments, high debt-servicing costs leave little fiscal space for public investment, even when political will is strong.

COP30 in Brazil will be a key moment. The “Baku to Belém Roadmap” includes a commitment to identify how to scale up climate finance from $300 billion to the estimated US$1.3 trillion needed. However, with persistent disagreement at the Bonn climate talks over inadequate funding for loss and damage and the role of public versus private finance in meeting shortfalls, followed by many leaders opting not to attend the Financing for Development Conference, current efforts are not encouraging.

What matters now is finding common ground to turn commitment into action and ensuring food systems are at the center of the conversation. The promise of impactful new technologies, as Ethiopia is already demonstrating, provides an important key towards finding this common ground.

This is a critical juncture for global food systems. Smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa are operating in uncharted territory. But with the right investment in innovation—adapted to context, accessible to all, and supported by smart policy—they can be at the forefront of food systems transformation.

UNFSS+4 is our chance to turn momentum into sustained progress through greater investment and a bold commitment to innovation.

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Photo courtesy of Eyelit Studio, Unsplash

The post Op-Ed | To Transform Food Systems, Start with Innovation appeared first on Food Tank.

18206 When we talk about the importance of emblematic ecosystems, the majestic beauty and relevance of mangrove forests is almost always brought up.  But beyond this more general recognition, the...

The Department of Defense announced this week a $6.2 million award to Guardian Metal Resources (LON: GMET) to advance its Pilot Mountain tungsten project in Nevada.

The funds will enable London-listed Guardian Metal’s wholly-owned US-based subsidiary Golden Metal Resources to deliver a pre-feasibility study for Pilot Mountain, located southeast of Hawthorne. Guardian is the only company with US based tungsten assets to receive an award, and is also advancing another tungsten project in Nevada: Tempiute.

The tungsten market had an estimated value of around $5 billion in 2023. It is the material of choice for a key defense application — penetrators — which are high-density, armour-piercing projectiles. It’s also required in US Department of Defence (DoD) contracts.

European tungsten prices surged to their highest in 12 years in May, driven by China’s tightening grip on critical mineral exports, including tungsten.

Tungsten production in the US ceased in 2015, when it was no longer commercially viable due to low prices and competition from China.

China dominates global tungsten production, accounting for over 80% of last year’s total output of 81,000 tons, according to the USGS.

Another company exploring tungsten deposits in the US is American Tungsten, which started construction and building work in May for the mine plan at its Ima project in Idaho. Between 1945 and 1957, the property produced approximately 199,449 metric ton units of tungsten trioxide (WO3).

Excitement brewing in tungsten space

While Guardian Metals CEO Oliver Friesen is fairly new to the tungsten space, he is an exploration veteran in the state of Nevada, and worked as a geologist for Barrick on numerous drill campaigns.

“Pilot Mountain came across my desk and it just so happened to have the largest tungsten deposit in the entire USA in Nevada,” Friesen told MINING.com in an interview in June. “I realized that there was something really exciting brewing in the tungsten space.”

“[It was] contrarian to acquire a tungsten deposit when no one wanted it in the US,” Friesen said. “And now obviously it’s become incredibly valuable and we’ve positioned ourselves very strategically in the US to lead the reshoring efforts here in the country.”

“Our plans are to continue to de-risk our two main assets in Nevada and get them into production. What we have is really important for US national security and we can supply a very meaningful amount of tungsten to the US market.”

The company is working towards expanding its mineral resource estimate (MRE) which was established in 2017 and 2018 that outlined 12.53Mt at 0.27% WO3 with significant copper-silver-zinc credits.

Drilling to support the updated resource for the PFS is all now complete, Friesen said, adding high grade gallium has also been intersected at both the Pilot Mountain and Tempiute projects.

In June, the company released assay results and announced newly staked exploration targets at Tempiute.

In July, Guardian acquired additional mining claims in the Walker Lane mineral belt, about 15 km northwest of Pilot Mountain, to form what is to be known as the Pilot North tungsten project.

“On the permitting side, we’re seeing tailwinds from the new administration and the DOI,” Friesen said. “Given our position in US tungsten, we’re getting chased to get [applications] submitted. The government is serious about fast tracking defense metal projects. US investors want American mines … here’s a very viable solution for domestic mined tungsten.”

Audubon Florida and the Jacksonville Airport have partnered on a new exhibit to celebrate 125 years of Audubon in Florida. Formed in 1900 to bring wading birds back from the brink of extinction...

We, the participants of the African Chefs’ Gathering and Policy Convening on African Food Systems, representing 23 countries across the continent have come together in a spirit of unity, purpose, and solidarity to issue this collective declaration. Celebrating Our Heritage We affirm the beauty, dignity, and sacredness of African food systems, which have nourished bodies, […]

The post Declaration of the First African Chefs’ Gathering and Policy Convening on African Food Systems first appeared on AFSA.

Today, as the climate and biodiversity crises rage across America, Reps. Westerman and Golden introduced the Standardizing Permitting and Expediting Economic Development (SPEED) Act. Under the guise of streamlining infrastructure permitting, the proposed law takes an axe to the nation’s bedrock environmental law, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

Permit reform advocates have fallen prey to numerous myths that NEPA is impeding construction of roads, housing, and other infrastructure, yet data proves the law leads to better decisions and ultimately better projects. Instead of taking a reasoned approach to identifying and addressing specific permitting needs, this bill would open the door to plundering our nation’s resources on public lands and dramatically cut back the public’s ability to be heard during project development or to seek redress for violations of law in court. Last week, WELC led a coalition of 27 western conservation groups, authoring a letter to Rep. Huffman and the members of the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources advising all to exercise extreme caution on NEPA rollbacks such as this.

The sponsors’ press release bemoans NEPA’s “cumbersome and lengthy process,” which experts agree is rooted in chronic underfunding and under-staffing federal agencies—a problem created by Congress. The sponsors complain that NEPA “is currently the most litigated environmental statute,” but the fact is less than a quarter of a percent of NEPA decisions end up in court annually.

“The SPEED Act in this Congress is certain to virtually eliminate public participation and crucial environmental and health protections, opening the door to unchecked public lands exploitation without consideration of impacts to ecosystems and the communities that depend on them.” said Kyle Tisdel, Climate and Energy Program director at the Western Environmental Law Center. “The SPEED Act’s proposal to reduce the timeline for filing a legal claim from 72 months to five months would dramatically limit communities’ ability to seek recourse for harms to our air, water, and landscapes. This bill would provide near-blanket legal immunity to polluters for poisoning people and the environment.”

Congress has passed numerous updates to NEPA that are meaningfully reducing permitting times, such as FAST-41, the Inflation Reduction Act, the Fiscal Responsibility Act, and others. Before creating a new fast-track process, we should see how all of these changes play out.

Significantly, by defining the law as purely procedural, the bill guts NEPA’s central purpose to ensure that all federal agencies consider the environmental impacts of their actions. For 50 years the law has directed agencies to consider environmental consequences of proposed actions, engaging the public and communities in that process to ensure that “to the fullest extent possible,” they “look before they leap” and make well-informed decisions that encourage harmony between human beings and the environment for present and future generations.

The bill also limits the types of projects subject to environmental review and eliminates an agency’s ability to consider the combined impacts of other projects, meaning environmental reviews will no longer fully inform the public. In addition, it takes away standard judicial remedies by eliminating courts’ ability to set aside agency actions that violate NEPA, meaning there would be no incentive for agencies to comply with the law. Moreover, projects would be able to proceed while any violations are corrected—tantamount to “bulldoze first, consider impacts later.”

We can improve the speed of permitting, and we already are. We must, because the climate and biodiversity crises demand swift and powerful responses. But we must not erode community and environmental protections to achieve this goal.

Contact:

Kyle Tisdel, Western Environmental Law Center, 575-770-7501, tisdel@westernlaw.org

The post NEPA rollback bill, SPEED Act, would threaten environment, communities, provide legal immunity to polluters appeared first on Western Environmental Law Center.

VA registered nurses with National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United are hosting a town hall on Thursday, July 31, in Augusta, Ga., in response to the administration’s unprecedented attacks on federal workers and veterans’ health care, and the VA as a whole.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 25, 2025

Contact: 

Alexandra Nagy, alexandra@sunstonestrategies.org

Tribes and environmental advocates raise alarm over exclusionary “voluntary agreements” and ecological impacts

Sacramento, Calif. — The California State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) released its long-awaited proposed updates to the San Francisco Bay-Delta Water Quality Control Plan (“Bay-Delta Plan”), a critical policy governing water quality and ecosystem health for California’s largest and most imperiled estuary. 

The updates and revisions include “voluntary agreements” (VAs), in which powerful water districts commit to provide limited additional river flows and funding in exchange for regulatory exemptions. This approach is drawing sharp criticism from Tribes, environmental justice organizations, and conservation advocates, who argue it represents a step backward for ecological protection and water rights. 

The release of the plan updates come despite an ongoing Title VI Civil Rights Act complaint filed by the Delta Tribal Environmental Coalition (DTEC), comprised of the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians, the Winnemem Wintu Tribe, Little Manila Rising, Restore the Delta, and Save California Salmon. The complaint is driven by the State Water Board’s failure to uphold basic environmental protections in the Bay-Delta, disproportionately harming Tribes and other communities of color.  

“We’re encouraged to see Tribal Beneficial Use designations of the Bay Delta Watershed still included in the Plan. We would have liked to see both the Tribal Cultural and Tribal Subsistence uses designated but still see the Tribal Cultural use designation as a win for tribes and an important step forward to tribal uses of water being protected should it remain in the final plan,” said Vice Chair Malissa Tayaba with the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians. “We’re disappointed to see the Voluntary Agreements still moving forward. We stand strong in our belief that the proposal is scientifically inadequate. Eight years of an experimental “voluntary” taking and giving of instream flow with questionable oversight is eight years too long that could mean complete devastation for our salmon relatives. Tribal voices and indigenous knowledge was completely and intentionally excluded from VA negotiations from the beginning and now that the Water Board has made it a viable proposal, language has been included to create optics of tribal inclusion with no real mandates for the actual incorporation of Tribal input, Tribal decision-making or Tribal co-governance.”

“It is clear that the State Water Board is continuing its inclusion of the Voluntary Agreements proposals despite the fact that there is a Title VI Civil Rights complaint filed against them, in part, for doing just that.” said Gary Mulcahy, Government Liaison with the Winnemem Wintu Tribe. “The VAs have been in process now for over 9 years, and have failed to include environmental justice communities, Disadvantaged Communities, and California Tribes in their planning and implementation processes. A clear violation of the civil rights of those groups who will be significantly affected by their actions.” 

The negotiations leading to today’s Bay-Delta plan draft update have been criticized for being conducted in secret and excluding Tribal and frontline communities. “The Water Board is now saying you need to talk to the Tribes, but that is the old term of a day late and a dollar short – 10 years after the VAs began planning,” said Mulcahy.

The proposed updates also raise fundamental concerns about equity, transparency, and science-based water governance. “The State Water Board is betting on the livelihood of Delta communities and future generations that will be left to live with the consequences of poor policy making,” said Cintia Cortez, Policy Program Manager at Restore the Delta. “The Board’s failure to address these issues is evident by their failure to resolve DTEC’s Title VI Complaint. Instead the Board is aligning itself with a Governor that continues to push an agenda for his personal gain and does not benefit Californians.”

The current Bay-Delta Plan has not been substantially updated since 1995, despite repeated admissions from government fish and wildlife agencies that existing flow standards are insufficient to support native fish species, including Chinook Salmon, Longfin Smelt, and White Sturgeon. Salmon fisheries have remained closed for three consecutive years due to catastrophic declines in their breeding grounds. 

“Fish need cold water in rivers, but today’s proposed updates to the Bay Delta Water Quality Plan show that the Water Board still chose politics over science,” said Devon Pearse, Lead Scientist of Friends of the River. “Outdated water quality regulations for the Bay-Delta Estuary have pushed the ecosystem to the brink, yet the Water Board’s own analysis found that restoring flows to protect the Bay-Delta will have minimal economic cost. Instead of solving California’s water crisis, this plan entrenches the status quo that’s bankrupting our ecosystems, fisheries, and future. But, it’s not too late! The Water Board can still change course and publish a scientifically-defensible final plan.”

“This is a sad day for the State Water Board and one more on a long list of bad days for salmon,” said Scott Artis, Executive Director at the Golden Gate Salmon Association. “The Board seems to be collapsing under pressure from the Governor to approve the fatally flawed voluntary agreements. The VAs are a scam that could cost taxpayers billions, enrich water agencies and make the rivers even sicker. The VAs set the stage for even more damaging diversions by the massive Delta tunnel. Commercial fishing in California has been closed for 3 years because of unsustainable water diversions. This looks like a plan to kill California’s most important wild salmon runs and fishing jobs.”

Artis further explains, “the voluntary agreements aren’t a solution—they’re a water diversion tactic dressed up as progress, with consequences California’s natural heritage, salmon, people and communities can’t afford.”

The Water Board’s decision to advance the VAs instead of an “unimpaired flow” (UIF) approach, developed through 15 years of scientific review, has also reignited tensions over the state’s management of one of the most ecologically fragile regions in California. 

“Today’s movement on the Bay-Delta Water Quality Control Plan had the potential to make real progress for water policy, but instead it is another lame-duck gesture meant to buy time to address the inadequate and out-of-date water quality standards for the Bay-Delta Estuary,” said Ashley Overhouse, Defenders of Wildlife water policy advisor. “Clearly, this is just the latest attempt by the Newsom administration to promote the woefully insufficient Voluntary Agreements, undercutting bare minimum protections for people and wildlife. The proposal to cut freshwater flows through the Delta during wet and dry years by over 20% will be devastating for species and the overall health of the Estuary. After years of delay, Californians and our wildlife deserve better.” 

“Over the past two decades, the State Water Board has admitted repeatedly that its water quality standards are totally inadequate to protect California’s clean water, fish, fisheries, and the people that depend on them,” said Jon Rosenfield, Ph.D. Science Director for San Francisco Baykeeper. “Even with additional protections under state and federal endangered species acts, California diverts over half of the water destined for San Francisco Bay in an average year. Today’s proposed updates to water quality rules for the Bay’s watershed double-down on a status quo that has brought seven native fish species to the brink of extinction, devastated fishing communities across the state, and promoted neon green toxic algal blooms in the Delta. The proposal is a complete capitulation to political pressure from Governor Newsom and powerful water barons.”

With a civil rights investigation still unresolved and the Delta ecosystem in crisis, the State Water Board’s decision to prioritize unregulated voluntary agreements over science-based regulation is drawing serious legal and ethical scrutiny. Questions remain including whether Governor Newsom will continue to attempt to insulate the Bay-Delta Plan from CEQA review, enforcement mechanisms for VAs that fail to protect beneficial uses and how water districts not party to the VAs will be held accountable. 

The Water Board will receive comments on the revised draft in writing by September 10, 2025 and at a public hearing on September 8 and 9, 2025.

###

Reviewed By KAY MATTHEWS

I have lived directly beneath the shadow of nuclear war my entire life, first as a child in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where NORAD lies beneath Cheyenne Mountain, and as an adult, downwind from Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. LANL has released radioactive contamination via the Cerro Grande Fire of 2001 and a long list of subsequent workplace accidents. Now faced with the production of LANL plutonium pits, we downwinders could end up with the same fate that left two former plutonium and plutonium pit producers, Hanford in Washington, and Rocky Flats in Colorado, contaminated superfund sites.

James Patrick Thomas, author of Atomic Pilgrim, How Walking Thousands of Miles For Peace Led to Uncovering Some of America’s Darkest Nuclear Secrets, is also a child of the Cold War who grew up in Spokane, Washington, where B-52 nuclear bombers were stationed at Fairchild Air Force Base. One hundred and ten miles southwest of Spokane is the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, which produced the plutonium in the atomic bomb that obliterated Nagasaki in World War II. As a practicing Catholic, during young adulthood, Thomas was drawn into the Catholicism that emerged from the Second Vatican Council and the Jesuits he met at his high school and college. Seeking a way to contribute to a better society, he joined—and helped organize—the Bethlehem Peace Pilgrimage for nuclear disarmament in 1982. The group of 19 core pilgrims would walk from the Bangor submarine base that housed nuclear Trident missiles near Seattle to Bethlehem, over almost two years.

The first two-thirds of the book details the pilgrims’ arduous walk across the United States and Europe to Bethlehem. The last section of the book, “Pursuing the Truth About Hanford,” is the story of how Thomas continued to work for disarmament, only this time very close to home, documenting the radiation leaks at Hanford that poisoned downwind communities (see my previous book review of The Hanford Plaintiffs: Voices From the Fight for Atomic Justice).

Readers might ask how a group of mostly religious pilgrims thought a 6,700-mile walk would contribute to world peace. Thomas asked himself the same question any number of times as he shouldered his pack and headed down another road. Several of his fellow pilgrims were always there to help him answer that question, however: Father George Zabelka and Father Jack Morris, both Jesuits over 60 in age. Zabelka had served in World War II on Tinian Island as the Catholic chaplain to the men who dropped the atomic bombs on Japan. After the war he was assigned to a military hospital in Fukuoka, halfway between Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Here he saw firsthand what the bombs had wrought: “the whole Tinian Island experience . . . had scalded my soul. I was confused and troubled with a growing feeling of dark guilt that wouldn’t go away.” When Father Morris read an interview with Zabelka, who expressed his guilt and “failure as a Christian and a priest” for not opposing this mass destruction, Morris said to himself, “I’m going to walk to Bethlehem.” When he contacted Zabelka with his crazy idea, Zabelka told him he wouldn’t be walking alone.

Their route across the US took them through cities, sparsely populated rural communities, and numerous military sites that housed nuclear-related materials, where they stopped to pray and pass out literature to workers. While many of the workers were hostile to the group, most of the people they met casually across the country were friendly and helpful. Local churches and peace groups supplied accommodations and forums for community presentations. In Washington, D.C, they marched to the White House and rallied in Lafayette Park decrying President Reagan’s buildup of nuclear weapons.

The European march began after several weeks’ respite for family visits. Thomas does a good job of encapsulating the vibe of each county they cross in their long march from Ireland to Israel. Ireland’s welcoming reception with almost daily parades contrasts with Northern Ireland’s heavily armed sectarian population still entrenched in “The Troubles.” Incessant rain, poor organization, and a preponderance of nuclear missiles made the English march less welcoming. The trip through continental Europe included France, Switzerland, Italy, Yugoslavia, Greece, and finally, the Holy Land. The group agonized over its route through Yugoslavia; in 1983, the country was ruled by a Communist government that instilled a certain amount of fear in the peace activists who were perhaps unduly influenced by Western propaganda. Fortunately, a volunteer translator named Zvonko Curkic eased their fears with steadfast help.

Upon reaching the Holy Land, Thomas provides a realistic picture of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict at that time in both the West Bank and Lebanon. Israel had invaded Lebanon in 1982 with a death toll of over 20,000 that included the massacres in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps. The situation in the West Bank in 1983 is the precursor to today’s apartheid regime: water restrictions, armed Israeli troops, checkpoints, blocked economic development, refugee camps, settler incursion, and daily killings of Palestinians. The Pilgrims celebrate the end of their journey on Christmas Eve on the outskirts of Bethlehem by reciting the names of all the nearly 400 towns they had stayed in on their journey.

The final section of the book is the story of Thomas’s reintegration to life as a post-pilgrim who wants to remain an advocate for disarmament. The vehicle for this becomes the exposé of the Hanford Nuclear Reservation releases, both planned and inadvertent, of the radioactive isotope iodine-131 that was carried downwind to contaminate pastures. The primary way people were exposed to iodine was by drinking milk from cows that grazed the pastures. The result was thyroid cancer. Thomas’s role in this exposé was as a member of the Hanford Education Action League (HEAL) that filed a Freedom of Information Act request for documents on Hanford’s operational history. The release of 19,000 pages of declassified records was unprecedented, which Thomas read and documented for HEAL. Here he found reference to what was called the “Green Run,” an intentional release of radiation in December of 1949. Hanford officials knew of the hazards of drinking milk from contaminated cows but never warned the public. Today there are no active nuclear production facilities at Hanford; however, the site contains some of the nation’s most complicated nuclear and mixed dangerous waste. About 60 square miles of groundwater remains contaminated above federal standards.

Thomas ends the book with emotional accounts of his two trips to Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1993 and again in 2023. This is his assessment of the existential threat of nuclear weapons:

“Abolishing nuclear weapons will not happen because of a treaty. Nor will a well-honed policy argument do the trick. The nuclear weapons complex is entrenched, much like the Jim Crow laws before the Civil Rights Movement. I believe that only collective action by concerned citizens will rid the planet of nuclear weapons.”

 

As we speak, up to two million people in Gaza are being threatened with starvation, as the state of Israel, backed by the US government, continues to blockade humanitarian aid into Gaza, attack basic infrastructure, and brutally murder Palestinians at aid distribution sites. Moreover, Israeli officials continue to push for open ethnic-cleansing of Palestine, all with continued military support from the United States.

As Al-Jazeera reported:

Tonnes of food, clean water, medical supplies and other items sit untouched just outside Gaza as humanitarian organisations are blocked from accessing or delivering them by Israel.

Ten new deaths linked to famine and malnutrition have been recorded during the past 24 hours by hospitals in the Gaza Strip, according to the Ministry of Health. The grim count brings the total number of people starved to death in the territory to 111, the ministry’s statement said.

In recent weeks, more than 1,000 desperate people have been killed trying to reach food, mostly in mass shootings by Israeli soldiers posted near GHF distribution centres, according to the United Nations…Israel, which controls all supplies, food, medicine and fuel entering Gaza, has imposed a punishing blockade for months…Medical personnel and journalists continue to work under intensive duress, worsened by their own hunger.

Genocide and forced starvation of Palestinians is happening right before our eyes. As Mondoweiss recently reported, “Among the most affected are newborn children who have no means of feeding. Mothers are unable to breastfeed due to malnutrition, which makes it difficult to produce milk.” The Guardian also noted, “Rates of severe malnutrition among children aged under five at Médecins Sans Frontières’ Gaza City clinic have tripled in the last two weeks, the charity has said, as starvation in the Israeli-besieged strip worsens.”

Watching the news coming out of Gaza can make many feel powerless, but we all can help rally in solidarity with groups on the ground who are working non-stop to create life-lines with those living through the brutal occupation. Listed below, are direct ways that people can help mutual aid groups on the ground – both by donating to them and spreading the word about the work that they are doing. Donations and support are direct ways we can help those attempting to survive an active genocide. Mutual aid groups listed below also are posting constant updates about their work, showcasing how solidarity from across the world manifests in the creation of life-saving infrastructure and the meeting of direct needs.

Our hope is that people will take the initiative and organize benefit events and show solidarity with these mutual aid projects. By building up our capacity to extent material solidarity, we can all help those directly impacted.

The Sanabel Team

The Sanabel Team is “a Palestinian-led mutual aid team providing support in Gaza since 2018.” The group distributes cash aid, cooks hot meals which they distribute daily, brings in water trucks, distributes basic necessities like diapers and formula for infants, and works to provide items like tents and tarps to those displaced by the ongoing occupation. They post constant updates on their work on Instagram and are involved in a wide variety of projects in multiple areas. 

SOURCE: The Sanabel Team

About:

This team all started with Osama; an activist from Gaza that began in his small city of Khan Younis, helping families in need. These community-based efforts has expanded since 2018, serving thousands of Palestinians from funding education, feeding many families, and proving necessities over the years.

Our mission is to continue providing direct aid that’s available on the ground, to families during this time. Funds will go towards necessities like food, water, and building materials for shelter when available. Life rebuilding will be in the next phase. We thank you for your ongoing support friends!

Every day we remain steadfast, every action we take is a step towards a brighter future for the families we have been supporting in Gaza since 2018. Together, we create a ripple effect that nourishes not just bodies, but souls. Our commitment to making a difference in our community is unwavering.

IG: https://www.instagram.com/thesanabelteam/

Web: https://www.thesanabelteam.com/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SanabelTeam/

The Sadaqah Team

A mutual aid initiative on the ground in Gaza and Lebanon.

SOURCE: The Sadaqah Team

About:

Our initiative depends completely on the generosity of people like you. Every donation we receive helps us reach more communities who urgently need support. The situation in Gaza and Lebanon is heartbreaking. With so little international aid getting through, people are struggling for even the basics. Together, though, we can make a difference, providing some relief and hope in these devastating times.

IG: https://www.instagram.com/the.sadaqah.team/

PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/TharcisZaaruolo

Gaza Food Relief Project

Mutual aid project organized by two-brothers on the ground in Gaza.

IG: https://www.instagram.com/gazafoodreliefproject/

Chuffed: https://chuffed.org/project/4444-gaza-food-relief-project-by-mohammed-ayyad

GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/f/Gaza-Food-Relief-Project-By-Mohammed-Ayyad

PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=5UM6RDCWQPB44&fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAae0TC6e9cbnonOwV8Hlrq4441-6SWyX7CsImxbQxcoQhv2KQiRR2tSgDCOIsw_aem_zoYSPHJA-GI4UZ8JQ-lSDw

Operation Olive Branch

Mutual aid initiative supporting communities on the ground.

About:

Operation Olive Branch is a volunteer-powered grassroots collective effort to connect with and amplify Palestinian voices in an effort to support their critical needs, which include but are not limited to their mutual aid requests. Our solidarity initiative is steered by a diverse core council of global advocates including Palestinian and Jewish voices.

We strive to verify the fundraising efforts of families, as well as our medical partners, to best support them to navigate the challenges of social media and fundraising.

Please find a list of our “verified” families and medical aid partners here: Verified Families & Mutual Aid

We quickly identified over a hundred families who required urgent perinatal care and support during pregnancy, birth and postpartum. Faced with malnutrition, lack of food, clean water and limited access to medical support, families are experiencing severe perinatal medical complications.

GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/f/operationolivebranch

Gaza Mutual Aid Collective

Mutual aid group providing on the ground support in Gaza through hot meals and direct support.

SOURCE: GMAC

About:

GMAC is a grassroots collective committed to monetarily helping the people of Gaza, whose quality of life has been progressively deteriorating for almost two decades by the colonial air, land, and sea blockade and siege by the Zionist occupation.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gazamutualaid/

Web: https://gazamutualaid.substack.com/

Venmo: @/amirqudaih

PayPal: amirqudaih@gmail.com

Thamra

Group in Palestine promoting food sovereignty, food distribution, and restoration of the land.

About:

A Palestinian organization fostering food sovereignty. Working to achieve self-sufficiency and restore our land. We invite you to support a vital agricultural project that is bringing life back to the land, following the destruction of the occupation and the famine its people are enduring.

IG: https://www.instagram.com/thamra_org

GoFundMe: https://gofund.me/771b0495

The Sameer Project

Mutual aid project running various campaigns to provide direct support and aid in Gaza.

SOURCE: The Sameer Project

About:

Donations based initiative, led by Palestinians in the diaspora, working to supply aid to displaced families in Gaza.

IG: https://www.instagram.com/thesameerproject

LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/thesameerproject

Butterfly Effect Project

Group that verifies mutual aid requests on the ground in Gaza, and links those hoping to donate to those in need of support.

About:

We are an international team of dedicated volunteers united by a common mission: to amplify the voices of the oppressed and support war victims, with a particular focus on the people of Palestine – Gaza. Our primary mission is to share their stories on social media, ensuring their experiences and struggles reach a global audience.

In addition to amplifying voices, we provide immediate on-the-ground relief, meeting the urgent needs of countless families affected by conflict. Our long-term commitment extends to advocacy and campaigning, where we work tirelessly to raise awareness and drive meaningful change.

Through our efforts, we aim to foster a more just and equitable world, giving a platform to those who have been marginalised and silenced.

IG: https://www.instagram.com/butterflyeffect.project/

Web: https://www.thebutterflyeffectproject.org/

List of Verified Campaigns: https://www.thebutterflyeffectproject.org/verified-campaigns2

In July, Audubon Florida staff teamed up with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), the Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, Audubon of the Western Everglades, and...

This October, the World Food Prize Foundation will formally award Dr. Mariangela Hungria as the recipient of the 2025 World Food Prize. Hungria is being honored her work on work on nitrogen fixation, soil health, and crop nutrition.

Hungria, a researcher with the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (EMBRAPA), is credited with helping Brazil become an agricultural powerhouse. But her methods weren’t always widely embraced.

The World Food Prize laureate attended school in the 1970s, a time when when crop yields were seeing dramatic increases as a result of the Green Revolution, characterized by the heavy use of fertilizers and pesticides. But Hungria was interested in microorganisms, and she believed they offered a solution that didn’t require farmers to rely so heavily on synthetic chemicals. She called it a micro green revolution.

The pushback that Hungria received from her teachers and peers was significant. “Everybody said that I had no future with biologicals,” she tells Food Tank. But Hungria persisted. In her research, she proved that it was possible for farmers to apply less fertilizer, thereby cutting greenhouse gas emissions, while also improving their yields and livelihoods.

And through her career, farmers remained central to her work, Hungria says. “Every research that I did, it was because a farmer came to me to talk about something. It was because a farmer came [to me] or I met a farmer in the field, and he told me what he wanted and what was happening, and that gave me ideas to do my work.”

Read more about Mariangela Hungria’s work in a new piece on Forbes, and watch or listen to a conversation with the World Food Prize laureate on a new episode of “Food Talk with Dani Nierenberg.”

 

Articles like the one you just read are made possible through the generosity of Food Tank members. Can we please count on you to be part of our growing movement? Become a member today by clicking here.

Photo courtesy of Lucas Friederich, Wikimedia Commons

The post Dr. Mariangela Hungria Is Driving an Agricultural Revolution for People and Planet appeared first on Food Tank.

Recent cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Medicaid will result in substantial job loss and declining state revenues for years to come, according to researchers at George Washington University.

In anticipation of the budget reconciliation bill, the researchers ran an economic modeling system to estimate the effects of federal funding cuts for Medicaid and (SNAP) on state economies. Their model projects a myriad of economic ramifications for Americans, including about 1.3 million jobs lost nationwide in health care, food related industries, and other sectors. The cuts will also result in lower state gross domestic products (GDPs) — amounting to US$113 billion in losses.

President Donald Trump signed the tax and spending bill into law early July despite pushback from anti-hunger advocates and community leaders. The bill includes reductions of more than US$1 trillion between Medicaid and SNAP. These cuts will result in about 5 million people seeing reduced SNAP benefits. Additionally, 11.8 million Americans may lose their health insurance according to estimates from  the Congressional Budget Office.

“These cuts are bad for families, bad for businesses, and bad for the economy as a whole,” Crystal FitzSimons, President of the Food Research & Action Center (FRAC) tells Food Tank. “SNAP is one of the strongest tools we have for keeping people fed and supporting local economies, especially in rural areas. Every SNAP dollar generates up to US$1.80 in economic activity during a downturn, supporting everyone from farmers and truckers to grocery store clerks and small businesses.”

States are already grappling with how to balance budgets and are beginning to cut other critical programs such as the Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) program which provides free lunches to school-aged children. Without these systems in place FitzSimons warns that, “families will once again be left to make the impossible choice between paying for groceries or paying the rent. No one should have to make that choice.”

SNAP benefits, historically funded solely by the federal government, will now be shifted to state contributions. States must contribute to SNAP benefits in relation to error rates, the higher a state’s error rate, the higher amount of contributions it must make. Additionally, states will be required to cover 75 percent of administration costs and new work requirements will go into effect.

According to research from George Washington University and the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, work requirements fail to lead to increased employment. Instead, they “push even more families off [SNAP benefits] and deepen rural food insecurity.” FitzSimons tells Food Tank.

“Cuts to Medicaid and SNAP have drastic repercussions for the states and have economic effects that ripple out beyond healthcare and food,” Dr. Leighton Ku, Director of the Center for Health Policy Research at George Washington University and one of the lead researchers on the report, tells Food Tank. “The cuts are deep and harm state economies, employment, and state and local tax revenues.”

The modeling from Ku and his colleagues is based on the original House bill, and they are currently working on a revised analysis that takes into account the detailed provisions of the law. But, Ku tells Food Tank, he expects the general effects will not differ greatly, noting “the overall impact is similar with more [than] $1 trillion in cuts over a decade.”

GWU’s model reveals a multiplier effect: Every dollar cut from SNAP and Medicaid will lead to a larger negative impact on the economy. Health care providers such as hospitals, doctors’ offices, pharmacies, and nursing homes, as well as grocery and food stores will likely see lower revenue as eaters’ spending falls. Employer income loss can lead to reduced salaries, cuts in staffing, and job loss. State and local government revenue will drop as well due to reduced sales, income, and property taxes. Ultimately, the researchers show that states’ economies will suffer.

“Not only do [SNAP and Medicaid] directly support major parts of the health and food economy in each state, they are counter-cyclical programs, designed to provide more aid when the economy is weak and there are more poor people,” Ku explains to Food Tank. “Cuts to Medicaid and SNAP have drastic repercussions for the states and have economic effects that ripple out beyond health care and food.”

Articles like the one you just read are made possible through the generosity of Food Tank members. Can we please count on you to be part of our growing movement? Become a member today by clicking here.

Photo courtesy of Rithika Gopal, Unsplash

The post Medicaid and SNAP Cuts Threaten Jobs and State Economies appeared first on Food Tank.

La Via Campesina expresses its deep concern over credible reports indicating that the Handala Solidarity Boat, currently en route to Gaza, is under drone surveillance—signaling a serious and escalating threat to this peaceful civilian mission organized by international civil society.

The post La Via Campesina expresses grave concern over the safety of the Handala Solidarity Boat and its participants appeared first on La Via Campesina - EN.

This article What fantasy stories teach us about defeating authoritarianism was originally published by Waging Nonviolence.

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An earlier version of this article was published by The Fulcrum.

Like many true elder millennials, I find comfort in escaping into fantasy worlds — “Harry Potter,” “Lord of the Rings” and “Star Wars.” But lately, these stories haven’t just been a break from the chaos of real life. They’ve become a lens for understanding it. They remind me what courage looks like when the odds are stacked against you — and what it means to stand up, not just to threats to justice, but to silence, complicity and fear.

Lately, I’ve been thinking less about the final battles, the catharsis, the clarity, the triumphant arrival of friends. We’re not there yet. Not even close. What I keep returning to is “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,” despite the deep discomfort of doing so — since it means revisiting a story that shaped my early moral imagination while reckoning with the dehumanizing and othering beliefs and behavior of its author. For all its flaws and the real harm she has caused, it remains a story that gave many of us early language for power, resistance and moral choice. This is that chapter — the one where everything tightens. The danger is real. The protagonists are scattered. The institutions are eroding and the air gets heavy with denial and dread.

Voldemort has returned, but the Ministry of Magic refuses to admit it. Rather than confront the threat, those in power turn on the people who do. Truth-tellers are ridiculed, surveilled and silenced. Education, once meant to foster critical thinking, is recast as indoctrination. Dissent becomes disruption. Truth becomes dangerous.

At the center of it all is Dolores Umbridge, smiling through pink cardigans and kitten plates as she issues decree after decree. Her power doesn’t come from brute force, but from something more insidious: the weaponization of bureaucracy. She governs through policy, paperwork and punishment, tightening control with every rule and ritual designed to reward obedience and punish defiance.

It’s also not just the rules; it’s the gaslighting. A kind so relentless that it makes you question your memory of what’s right, of what’s real. For instance, when Harry insists Voldemort has returned, Umbridge punishes him for “lying,” forcing him to write the phrase “I must not tell lies,” a denial of truth etched into his own skin.

Today’s decrees aren’t written in magical ink, but they echo those same tactics. They come dressed as executive orders, targeted investigations and retaliatory firings masked as efficiency, which looks like governance but functions as something else entirely. As political scientists Steven Levitsky, Lucan Way and Daniel Ziblatt warn, “Most 21st-century autocrats are elected. … They convert public institutions into political weapons.” In this model, repression hides behind bureaucracy. It’s disguised as a process, making it harder to name and easier to doubt your instincts.

The goal isn’t just control. It’s to make resistance feel reckless. As those political scientists note, “When citizens must think twice about criticizing or opposing the government — because they could credibly face government retribution — they no longer live in a full democracy.”

That’s the danger right now: Fear pushes people into isolation, and when they are isolated, silence starts to feel like strategy.

What makes it more disorienting is that we can’t even agree on what’s happening. Some see democratic collapse. Others see righteous restoration. Many disengage entirely and are unmoved, overwhelmed or unwilling to name it.

This isn’t just polarization, it’s a fracture in our shared reality. And beneath that fracture, there is something even more destabilizing: a collapse of trust.

Trust is more than a sentiment. It’s the scaffolding of civic life, the thing that makes dissent possible, and gives us confidence that others will stand beside us, even if they don’t fully agree.

But according to a new report by the Pew Research Center, 64 percent of Americans say most people can’t be trusted, a number that hasn’t budged since 2016. And when trust erodes, democracy doesn’t collapse all at once; it decays quietly, from within.

Even in that decay, though, something begins to grow, not because it’s safe, but because it’s necessary.

In “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,” the institutions are compromised. The leadership is absent. The heroes are scattered. And still, something forms. Dumbledore’s Army doesn’t begin with a sweeping call to arms. It begins in the margins, with a few people deciding they won’t wait for permission to defend what matters. It wasn’t a dramatic uprising. It was a quiet refusal to comply in advance.

This is where we choose what kind of characters we want to be, not waiting for a rescue (because no one is coming), but recognizing the story depends on us.

Fantasy stories — and history — remind us: Turning points rarely feel like turning points. They don’t come with clarity or consensus. They come with hesitation. They come when people stop waiting for the right moment and start acting anyway.

Dumbledore’s Army begins

In every story we turn to for meaning — such as “Harry Potter,” “The Lord of the Rings” and “Star Wars” — there’s a moment when it feels like the heroes might lose. The world is unraveling faster than it can be repaired. The danger is real, the enemy is advancing and help isn’t coming.

That kind of despair isn’t just emotional, it’s strategic. It’s exactly what authoritarianism counts on. Not brute force, but momentum. The illusion that resistance is futile. That no one else will act. That the outcome is already decided.

But illusions can be broken.

And that has been happening in the United States. We’ve already seen cracks in the surface: mass protests, legal victories, institutional pushback. By the end of March 2025, there were more than three times the number of protests in the U.S. from the same time in 2017. As researchers Erica Chenoweth, Jeremy Pressman and Soha Hammam observed, “Americans seem to be rediscovering the art, science and potency of noncooperation. The resistance isn’t fading. It’s adapting, diversifying and just getting started.”

The way forward doesn’t require perfect coordination. It requires commitment and showing up however and wherever we can. This isn’t a single movement, it’s a mosaic. And that’s a strength, not a flaw.

We know what works. We’ve tested interventions, built infrastructure and shifted narratives. The question now is whether we’re showing up, consistently, creatively and together.

And that is starting to happen as people recognize that democracy isn’t self-sustaining. Educators are shielding students from political interference. Lawyers are refusing to capitulate under threat. Institutions and public servants are holding the line. Neighbors, coworkers and faith leaders are choosing not to normalize the unacceptable. People are stepping outside their comfort zones, seeking connection, building trust and strengthening the civic fabric.

The work is underway. The call now is to keep going and to bring others with us.

As Ian Bassin of Protect Democracy reminds us, “To believe in democracy is to believe that we, collectively, have the power to shape our future … until democracy is completely vanquished, and even after, ultimate power rests in the hands of We the People.”

Chenoweth’s research shows that almost every nonviolent movement in modern history that has mobilized at least 3.5 percent of the population has succeeded, and many have won with less. Reaching that threshold doesn’t happen on its own. It takes people inviting others in, making participation feel possible, even joyful.

And that’s what gives me hope. As long as enough of us keep speaking up, showing up and standing together, the story doesn’t end here. We still get to shape what’s written in the next chapters.

The magic is us

Fantasy stories remind us that it was never about the numbers; it was about the networks. Dumbledore’s Army. The Fellowship. The Resistance.

They didn’t wait for permission. They didn’t wait for someone else. They stepped into the story, scared, unsure and in motion.

Now it’s our turn. Now it’s your turn.

Maybe you’ve never seen yourself as an activist. Maybe you still don’t. That’s okay. Because this isn’t about activism as an identity, it’s about citizenship as a practice. And somewhere along the way, we stopped practicing it.

In America, we’ve come to treat citizenship like a spectator sport, something you check into every few years. Something reserved for politicians, pundits or the loudest voices in the room. But democracy was never meant to be a performance. It’s a collective act, sustained by ordinary people showing up in ordinary ways.

Real citizenship is how we meet this moment, not just in resistance, but in participation. Not just when the stakes are high, but when no one’s watching. Not just in protest of what we’re against, but in active pursuit of what we’re trying to build.

If we want to keep the experiment of American democracy alive, we can’t treat it like someone else’s job. We have to be participants, not spectators.

So, how do we start showing up?

Remember, we’re working with a mosaic. Practicing citizenship looks different for each of us, but here are three ways anyone can begin:

1. Find your people. Find your joy.

Democracy isn’t just sustained by protests and policies; it’s sustained by relationships. And right now, we’re living through a loneliness epidemic. According to Pew, nearly half of Americans say they don’t have a single person they could call in an emergency, or even trust with a spare key. That kind of isolation doesn’t just erode well-being, it weakens our capacity to care, to engage, to stand up for each other.

So start small. Community doesn’t have to be big to be powerful; it just has to be real.

If you’re looking for ways to start building community, here are a few places to begin:

• The Longest Table is a global movement bringing neighbors together over shared meals to build connection and empathy.
• National Good Neighbor Day is a national initiative encouraging neighborly acts and stronger local ties.
• A Wider Circle hosts “Neighbor to Neighbor Day” and other community engagement efforts that foster dignity and mutual aid.

And most importantly, make space for joy. Share meals, laughter and stories. These aren’t distractions from the work, they’re what the work is for. Even in the darkest chapters of history, people still fell in love. Still celebrated. Still found each other. Because joy, connection and belonging aren’t extras. They’re part of how we endure. They’re how we honor our shared social contract to care for one another.

2. Model the democracy you want

Our democratic values don’t just live in constitutions and courtrooms; they live in us. In what we expect. In what we tolerate. In how we treat people, especially those with whom we disagree.

That means refusing to accept injustice, corruption or dehumanization as normal. And it means calling in, not just calling out: having honest, respectful conversations that challenge harmful ideas while leaving room for learning and growth.

You don’t have to be a politician to shape democratic culture. Just let your values be visible in how you listen, how you speak and how you engage across differences.

These groups offer tools, trainings and spaces to help you do that work:

• Team Democracy encourages citizens to commit to safe and fair elections through their Principles for Trusted Elections Pledge — a visible, nonpartisan act of support for electoral integrity and civic trust, both during elections and in everyday life.
• Citizen University hosts Civic Saturday gatherings and leadership programs that help people practice civic rituals, build community and strengthen democratic culture.
• Civic Genius creates tools and events, like “How to Run for Office” workshops, that make it easier for everyday people to understand and engage in local government.
• Better Together America promotes civic unity by helping Americans engage across political differences, support democratic values, and restore trust in institutions and one another.
• One America Movement works with faith leaders and communities to confront toxic polarization by fostering relationships across religious and political divides.

3. Protect the process

Democracy doesn’t run on autopilot. It depends on systems that are fair, transparent and accountable, and on people who make sure they stay that way. Protecting the process means keeping those systems visible, responsive and strong.

That might mean volunteering as a poll worker or helping a neighbor get the ID they need to vote. Or it could mean attending a town hall, tracking how public money is spent, or submitting a comment on a local policy.

Here are some organizations that make it easier to get involved and stay informed:

• VoteRiders helps voters navigate complex ID laws and ensures access to the ballot.
• League of Women Voters offers nonpartisan guides and local engagement opportunities, such as candidate forums, ballot explainers and voter registration drives.
• Power the Polls recruits volunteers to serve as poll workers and ensure safe, fair and accessible elections in local communities.
• Open States lets you follow your state legislature and track bills in real time.

These practices aren’t side quests. They’re the main storyline, the way turning points begin — quietly, collectively and often before we realize it.

And if these stories have taught us anything, it’s this: The arc shifts when ordinary people decide the story is theirs to shape.

As Dumbledore once told Harry, “It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.”

We don’t need magic to know what comes next — just the courage to believe that our choices now determine how the story ends.

UPDATE 7/28/25: Added critique of “Harry Potter” author’s dehumanizing views.

This article What fantasy stories teach us about defeating authoritarianism was originally published by Waging Nonviolence.