Indigenous Voices on Climate

Hello. This week in the newsletter we're spotlighting Indigenous perspectives and responses to climate change. That includes a powerful art project to preserve voices on the frontlines of the crisis, efforts to mitigate pollution, and to restore fish impacted by a dam. We've also got fascinating new research from our science partners at George Mason on what Americans believe is the great threat from climate change.

– Michael Crowe, Editor/Project Manager, Covering Climate Collaborative

Reporting from Our Partners

A woman in traditional Indigenous apparel holds a bird wing in this screenshot from ABC 7 news video

ABC 7 Bay Area: SF de Young Museum exhibit explores indigenous views on climate change

The faces and voices filling the theater as part of a new exhibit at San Francisco's deYoung Museum are members of native communities indigenous to California. Their unique perspective and urgent warnings about climate change are captured in both moving pictures and still portraits by photographer Kirti Bassendine.

A leaking well sits just outside a private property in Brighton, Colorado on September 27, 2023. This is one of the 300 wells that have recently been inspected in Adams County, and county leaders hope to do more inspections with federal funding from the Interior Department.

KUNC Denver: Millions of dollars go to plug oil and gas wells on tribal lands and other areas

The Department of the Interior is spending around $40 million in tribal communities to plug old oil and gas wells that have caused serious pollution.

Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe Chairman James Phoenix (left) speaks about the tribe’s history and culture while standing at Popcorn Overlook on Pyramid Lake in Nev. on Sept. 13, 2023. Vice Chairman Steven Wadsworth is standing next to him.

KUNR Nevada: Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe attempts to recover native fish with $8 million dam revamp

"As climate changes in places, we’re seeing changes in snowpack, changes in the timing of when you have snow melt, changing water temperatures. All of that is definitely affecting fish populations, fish habitat.”

From Our Science Partners

A graph from George Mason U showing the ranked issues americans are concerned by climate change. Topping the list is weather extremes and changes.

George Mason University: What do Americans think is the biggest threat from global warming?

Americans have become more worried about and interested in global warming and started to perceive it as a greater risk in recent years, but less is known about which specific threats they find most concerning. GMU asked Americans to tell them – in their own words – what they think is the greatest threat global warming poses to the United States. They then categorized their answers to identify common themes.

What we're reading

From Sammy Roth at the LA Times, with a new labor political coalition focused on climate change, can activists and unions representing fossil fuel workers find common ground?
Toyota is putting $8 billion into a North Carolina battery and EV plant, ABC reports
NBC reports on 'ghost forests' and 'zombie fires,' climate impact that can haunt us in the future

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