From Stephanie Feldstein, Population and Sustainability Program Director |
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This November will mark the 10th anniversary of World Vasectomy Day, a global event to increase awareness of, and access to, vasectomies. According to The New York Times, demand for the procedure seems to be on the rise. With economic concerns and climate anxiety playing a growing role in family planning decisions, plus the rollback of reproductive rights for women, there’s an increase in younger men who want to be childfree getting snipped.
But the taboo around choosing not to have children is still strong. Starting this fall the Center will host an east coast campus film tour that confronts these issues. My So-Called Selfish Life is an entertaining and inspiring documentary about reproductive rights, the cultural pressure to have children, and the decision not to. Learn more about the film and how to bring it to your campus, then read on for the latest updates on population, food justice and the extinction crisis.
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Stories of extinction are all around us. Now you can explore amazing extinct species in all 50 states with the Center’s new interactive map. By learning about what we’ve lost, we can save what remains. |
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Watch: Environmental Toxicity and Reproductive Health |
The Center recently held a webinar with Nurses for Sexual and Reproductive Health on how toxic chemicals and climate change impede reproductive justice. Our expert panel discussed the connections between environmental and reproductive health, inequity and the drive for endless growth, along with solutions that address the complex dynamics among these issues. Watch the presentation online, then read the report to learn more about how fossil fuel extraction, plastic production, industrial agriculture and climate chaos harm fertility, pregnancy, infants and children.
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Happening Now: Food Justice Film Festival |
Our 3rd annual online Food Justice Film Festival — starting today — is getting a lot of buzz. More than 2,000 people have already registered. If you’re not one of them, don’t worry — it’s not too late for you to sign up too.
Today and for the next three days, Sept. 15-18, we’re screening feature-length and short documentaries that tell the inspiring stories of people fighting to protect their home from toxic agricultural chemicals, working long hours in the fields and factories to help their families, pursing justice against discrimination, reclaiming traditional foodways, and using organic gardening and hip hop to curb gang violence. Sign up now to watch the films, and check out our panel discussions with filmmakers and activists from two of the featured films.
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Study: Cattle Pollute National Seashore
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The National Park Service calls Point Reyes National Seashore “a natural sanctuary” — a breathtaking landscape with an array of wildlife including tule elk, a subspecies found in no other national park. Thanks to subsidized cattle ranching, it also has water-pollution levels that are a danger to public health and the environment. A recently released independent water-quality report found bacteria concentrations that exceed state standards in several popular destinations along the seashore, adding to the mounting evidence that beef and dairy ranching are harming the national park. Earlier this year the Center and allies filed a federal lawsuit to challenge the Park Service’s plan to expand private agriculture at Point Reyes and allow harmful water pollution and the killing of tule elk.
Here’s one thing you can do: You can choose not to support cattle ranching that’s a leading cause of water pollution and threats to wildlife across the United States by eating less beef and dairy. |
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Service Workers Fund Their Own Reproductive Care |
Following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the safe, legal right to abortion, dozens of corporations announced that they’d cover travel costs for any employee needing to travel out of state to receive abortion care. But service workers — who are often paid below minimum wage, are uninsured, and face high rates of sexual assault — typically didn’t receive this support and lacked access to reproductive healthcare long before the court’s decision. Two nonprofits that represent service workers have stepped up to offer some relief. The Service Worker Reproductive Access Fund was started by One Fair Wage and I’ll Have What She’s Having and offers financial assistance for tipped workers seeking reproductive healthcare, including abortion, family planning counseling and contraception.
Here’s one thing you can do: Reproductive healthcare should be a basic right, regardless of income or industry. But as we continue to fight for reproductive rights, you can support the Service Worker Reproductive Access Fund directly and share the project with your network. |
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Dive Into the Complex World of Sustainable Food |
Food production is the greatest threat to biodiversity. What we grow and how we grow it is also a key piece of health, history, culture, identity and equity. Food policy is as complex as the stories of how food is produced, its influence on our lives, and its impact on the natural world. Each month Senior Food Campaigner Jennifer Molidor explores these issues in Food X, our newsletter about creating a just, sustainable food system that protects people, wildlife and the environment. You can read previous editions and sign up today to receive the next Food X in your inbox.
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Wildlife Spotlight: Lesser Prairie Chicken |
Lesser prairie chickens are famous for the males’ elaborate spring mating dances, stamping their feet and showing off their reddish-orange air sacs on the “booming grounds” of the southern Great Plains. These showy birds once roamed the Great Plains by the millions but have dwindled to a fraction of their historic range. Lesser prairie chickens need large swaths of intact native grassland to survive, but their habitat has been fragmented and degraded by cropland, powerlines and telephone poles, oil and gas development, and climate-related heat and drought. The Center has been fighting for these birds for decades. Most recently we filed legal action against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for failing to protect the birds under the Endangered Species Act.
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Center for Biological Diversity
P.O. Box 710
Tucson, AZ 85702
United States |
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