Christus Natus Est!
Steady In Every Storm
Now comes the Deputy Director of the Berkshire Environmental Action Team, Brittany Ebeling, with the following solstice missive:
“Together, we experience the darkest day of the year each winter solstice. As defenders of wildlife and the environment, it often feels as though our struggles for clean air, water, and soil face a distressing long darkness of their own.
We are asking ourselves what it means to join with our neighbors to build meaningful healing to our hurting ecosystems in these times. Poet Jane Hirshfield writes,
The long darkness offers us new ways to gather together so our resilience is as robust and wise as that of a tree: open to new possibilities, ready to change in response to unexpected challenges, and steady in every storm. “
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Bridging Sacred Places
From Native American Rights Fund, we relay the following video that addresses how access to sacred places can relieve the intense loss and grieving experienced by Indigenous communities following extractive damage.
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Consider the Caterpillar
Now comes esteemed DP correspondent Joseph A. Jackson with a lucid & concise commentary on recent events within our beleaguered Republic:
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Drill, Baby, Drill
First off, we relay yesterday’s press release from the nonpartisan conservation organization, The Center for Western Priorities:
DENVER—President-elect Donald Trump announced at Mar-a-Lago tonight that he intends to nominate North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum to serve as Secretary of the Interior.
The Center for Western Priorities released the following statement from Executive Director Jennifer Rokala:
“Doug Burgum comes from an oil state, but North Dakota is not a public lands state. His cozy relationship with oil billionaires may endear him to Donald Trump, but he has no experience that qualifies him to oversee the management of 20 percent of America’s lands.
“Running the Interior department requires someone who can find balance between recreation, conservation, hunting, ranching, mining, and—yes—oil drilling. If Doug Burgum tries to turn America’s public lands into an even bigger cash cow for the oil and gas industry, or tries to shrink America’s parks and national monuments, he’ll quickly discover he’s on the wrong side of history.”
In April 2024, Doug Burgum and oil billionaire Harold Hamm organized a dinner at Mar-a-Lago where Donald Trump suggested oil and gas executives raise $1 billion for his campaign. At the dinner, Trump promised the executives they’d save far more than that after he repealed President Biden’s climate policies.
Quick facts
- The federal government owns less than 4 percent of North Dakota’s land — 1.7 million acres out of 44.4 million total acres.
- Seventy percent of Western voters want to protect clean water, air quality and wildlife habitats while providing opportunities to visit and recreate on public lands, compared to just 26 percent of voters who would rather ensure more domestic energy production by maximizing the amount of public lands available for responsible oil and gas drilling and mining, according to Colorado College’s 2024 State of the Rockies poll.
- Prioritizing conservation over maximizing energy production received majority support among Republicans, Democrats, and independents in the poll.
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Second, regarding the utter disgrace of COP29, we relay a quote from Dawda Cham, representing the Gambian NGO HELP-Gambia :
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Big Gifts For A Little Man
Now comes the brilliant master of photomontage John Heartfield with a timely broadside, dating from the 1930s.
MOTTO: MILLIONS STAND BEHIND ME
This Terrible Swamp
We are grateful for a DP correspondent for steering towards an excellent essay by the distinguished critic of hypertrophic technophilia, Andrew Nikiforuk , first published by The Tyee in January.
Excerpts below, with an image & caption added by DP.
FETISH OBJECT SUBJECTED TO SCRUTINY, CRITICISM AND CONTROL
A Dangerous Experiment
Now comes climate crisis researcher-writer David Wallace-Wells, with a few critically important and lucid comments made in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton within the lost paradise of Florida.
Here at DP, we have a strong suspicion, what the answer will be; an answer most are not prepared to contemplate, let alone live with the consequences.
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Everything Is Burning
Now comes the voice of Megaron Txucarramãe, an Indigenous elder and leader from the Amazon state of Mato Grosso, with a cry of urgency, agony and despair delivered within the context of a recent report (together with many valuable links), worthy of your close consideration.
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Of Wildness & Patriarchy
Now comes the vibrant voice of Pam Houston, author of the recently published book, Without Exception: Reclaiming Abortion, Personhood and Freedom. Excerpts from a recent interview below:
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Desperado Philosophy 