Many people seem to view environmentalists as being more concerned about polar bears than about people. I think this is just a case of bad marketing.
Several months ago, the images accompanying articles about the federal government’s plans to expand offshore oil and gas exploration on the outer continental shelf surrounding the United States and on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge got me thinking about polar bears.
I admire polar bears as magnificent fellow Earth inhabitants, but I do not think that the polar bear is a good symbol for environmentalism.
I was pondering writing about polar bears when Impakter approached me asking if I would be interested in writing an article for them. The timing was perfect. I pitched three ideas of which two were accepted. I choose to write a piece about polar bears.
Being an environmentalist is just one aspect of who a person is. I believe first, and foremost, many, if not most environmentalists are doing what they do because of the people in their lives. Environmentalists work on all kinds of people related issues including clean water, clean air, toxin-free homes and workplaces, safe and nutritious food, and clean renewable energy.
In the Impakter article, The True Environmentalist: Caring About Both the People and the Polar Bears, you will have the opportunity to meet four women that you might not immediately identify as environmentalists—but they are. Children, young farmers, people living in disadvantaged communities, and people of faith are at the center of their stories.
Featured Image at Top: Two Women and a Child Enjoying Lunch at Hunts Point Riverside Park in 2015 – Photo Credit Hunts Point Alliance for Children
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- Diary of an Eco-Outlaw – Book Review
- Eco Amazons – Book Review
- Everyone is an Environmentalist
- Living Downstream – Book Review
- Love Canal – Book Review
- Love God, Heal Earth – Book Review
- Sustainability Success Stories
- The Legacy of Luna – Book Review
- The World is Blue – Book Review
- This Changes Everything – Book Review
Resources
- Agrarian Trust
- Center for Health, Environment & Justice (CHEJ)
- Impakter
- Interfaith Power & Light (IPL)
- Majora Carter Group
