Emily Hunter - The Next Eco-Warriors: 22 Young Women and Men Who Are Saving the Planet

They are passionate optimists who believe that their efforts can make a difference, and they are addressing every conceivable environmental issue around, from energy use to overfishing, food distribution and hunger to waste management, green jobs to the disappearance of indigenous cultures and rainforest. And they are using every path and tactic they can think of.

In this collection, 22 of these young eco-warriors tell the stories of their own green revolutions and incite you to start your own. Enei Begaye, a Dine activist, is bringing green jobs to the reservation; Jamie Henn, co-founder of 350.org (350 parts per million is the safe upper limit for carbon dioxide in the atmosphere we are currently at 389), is building a global movement to solve the climate crisis; Tanya Fields, an African American woman, is fighting poverty in her community through guerilla farming in New York City; David Nickarz, a Canadian cancer survivor, engages in direct action to end the use of dangerous pesticides; Wen Bo, a Chinese student, dared to become an eco-activist just after the Tiananmen Square massacre; Kevin Ochieng, a young Kenyan, is leading a climate movement with underprivileged youth across Africa. In all their stories, one common theme emerges clearly: anyone can be an eco-warrior. Just identify the issues you are passionate about and get out there and do something for change.

Never say that today's young people are apatheticas Emily Hunter makes absolutely clear in this great volume, youth are out there in force, trying every creative tactic they can think of to safeguard the planet on which they will live out their lives. The only question is if the rest of us will follow their lead. I know I'm inspired!

BILL MCKIBBEN, AUTHOR OF EAARTH, CREATOR OF 350.ORG

More and more young people are having to give up youthful innocence in pursuit of saving their very future from the hands and decision-makers of those who are destroying it. It is a profoundly powerful testament to these same young people that not only are they willing to do this but that they are doing so with such clarity, commitment, and creativity. This book will break your heart, then inspire you, and hopefully move you into looking at how you can use your life to make a positive difference for the planet and all the life it sustainsnow and for future generations.

JULIA BUTTERFLYHILL, TREESITTER, ACTIVIST, AUTHOR OF THE LEGACY OF LUNA

Seeing all these brilliant activists and reading about the work they are doing on so many fronts has had an enormous impact on me. Together, their stories make this abundantly clear: No matter what your passion or calling, no matter your resources or circumstances, you can get out there and DO SOMETHING to effect change. So, what are you waiting for? Go do something to save our planet. Now!

JOHN ROBBINS, AUTHOR OF THE FOOD REVOLUTION, DIET FOR A NEW AMERICA, AND THE NEW GOOD LIFE

We've arrived at a point in time when being an activist is no longer enough, it's about being an actionist! Emily Hunter's The Next Eco- Warriors is a rich and compelling read that provides insight into the world of today's real planet 2.0 heroes. Any young aspiring actionist really can't afford not to have this brilliant book front and center in their library.

DAVID DE ROTHSCHILD, AUTHOR OF THE LIVE EARTH GLOBAL WARMING SURVIVAL HANDBOOK

A persuasive collection of personal stories by the next generation of environmental activists. Although some might not agree with all of the methods advocated, the different points of view make this book very much worth the read.

KUMINAIDOO, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, GREENPEACE INTERNATIONAL

First published in 2011 by Conari Press

An imprint of Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC

With offices at:

500 Third Street, Suite 230

San Francisco, CA 94107

www.redwheelweiser.com

Copyright 2011 by Emily Hunter

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC. Reviewers may quote brief passages.

ISBN : 978-1-57324-486-2

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

The next eco-warriors : 22 young women and men who are saving the planet / editor, Emily Hunter.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-57324-486-2 (alk. paper)

1. EnvironmentalistsBiography. I. Hunter, Emily.

GE55.N49 2011

333.720922dc22

[B]

2010048431

Cover design by Barb Fisher

Interior design by Maureen Forys, Happenstance Type-O-Rama

Typeset in Karmina Sans, Chalet, Chalet Comprime, and Futura Condensed

Cover photographs: Allana Beltran by Matthew Newton; Enei Begaye by Calvin Johnson; Benjamin Potts by Jo-Anne McArthur; Rob Stewart by Brennan Grange; Tanya Fields by Flonia Telegrafi.

Printed in Canada

TCP

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Printed on 100% post-consumer recycled paper

To all eco-warriors

yesterday's, today's, and tomorrow's

you are my hope.

At its heart, this movement sought to give political form to an awareness that predates Buddhism but is at the same time as new as the science of interdisciplinary ecology. It grew out of a flickering awareness that all our relationships are political, and that the crucial political relationships with which we must concern ourselves now have almost nothing to do with the man's relation to man, but with man's relation to the Earth itself. It is our relationship to our planetary environment, which is the most important issue of all. All human structures inevitably rest upon it.

The time has arrived when we must begin to examine the underlying realities of our relationship to all life around us.... Otherwise, in our lifetimes, we shall suffer the enactment of the saga of Genesis: our expulsion from paradise and the fall of nature itself.

ROBERT HUNTER, WARRIORS OF THE RAINBOW (1979)

THE WORD ECO-WARRIOR WAS COINED BY MY FATHER, Robert Hunter, after a Cree Indigenous prophecy called the Warriors of the Rainbow. It is because of original eco-warriors like him that this next generation could exist.

Special thanks to Olivia Scobie, my assistant editor, whose hard work, support, and friendship made this book possible. To my assistant researchers, Marco Oved, Dayna Boyer and Graham F. Scott whose talents made this book shine. To Alisha Sevigny, my literary agent, for taking a chance on a new writer when nobody else would.

To Farley Mowat, for contributing a foreword to this book and whose prose continues to inspire new generations. To my friend and personal hero Paul Watson, who taught me to push the boundaries of activism and never apologize for it. To the crew of Sea Shepherd, who showed me for the first time that the next eco-warriors do exist.

Many thanks to my mother, Bobbi Hunter, who empowers me every day and whose love made it all possible. This world would not be what it is today without you.

And thanks to all the next eco-warriors who submitted writing for this book; you are my hope!

WE ARE CURRENTLY WITNESSING THE MOST SIGNIFICANT conflict ever to engage the human species. It is the conflict between those who possess the means and the will to exploit the living world to destruction and those who are banding together in a desperate and last-ditch attempt to prevent the New Juggernaut from trashing our small planet.