By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org The Goldman Environmental Prize ceremony was held this week, just prior to Earth Day.  It is an annual prize given to six environmental activists who face tremendous struggles – even death threats – to protect their environment. As the world endures increasingly serious environmental problems and intensifying impacts from climate change,
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By Kimberly Absher, guest youth blogger, www.howmany.org. This April 22nd marks the 45th anniversary of Earth Day. With a rich history beginning in 1970, when 20 million Americans took to the streets, their actions led to the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of critical laws to protect our air, water, and endangered
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By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org. It’s shocking, but a mainstream media outlet has actually mentioned the idea of limits to growth and limits of nature.  The New York Times, no less, has run a front-page story on the drought in California, invoking the concept of limits, in an article titled “California Drought Tests History of Endless
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By Kimberly Absher, guest youth blogger, www.howmany.org. You can have no influence over those for whom you have underlying contempt. -Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Many of us involved in efforts for a more just and sustainable world generally have strong opinions on issues that get people excited, such as climate change and reproductive rights. If
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By Suzanne York. “Can the world get richer forever?” asks a recent article in the BBC News. If you ask a politician, mainstream economist or the 1%, the answer is likely to be “yes.”    As noted in the BBC piece, growth “is almost universally seen as a Good Thing.”  If you ask most environmentalists, scientists
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By Kimberly Absher, guest youth blogger, www.howmany.org. After looking at sexual education challenges in South Africa and in the U.K., it seems appropriate to examine our sexual education picture in the United States. Currently there are no national standards for sexual education. Instead, the width and breadth of what students learn is determined on a state
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By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org. If you’re an American, you might be pleased to hear how your taxpayer dollars are being used at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), especially in support of women.  On this International Women’s Day, here is a brief look at what our international aid agency is doing. Gender and Empowerment
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By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org In the U.S., almost all the weather news seems to be fixated on the snow storms back East.  Yet despite the cold and snow, more records for heat have been broken than for cold.  The winter of 2014-15 has been so warm across much of the West that more than 20
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By Kimberly Absher, guest youth blogger, www.howmany.org. My last post discussed sexual education in South Africa, and this week I am in the United Kingdom, where sexual education is a hot topic. I recently spoke with Simon Ross, Chief Executive of Population Matters, an organization promoting small family size and mindful consumption. They are part of
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By Kimberly Absher, guest youth blogger, www.howmany.org. In many parts of South Africa, condoms are free and widely available, and local clinics offer free birth control, HIV tests and treatment. Brochures and signs can be seen throughout the country encouraging safe sex. Despite these public health efforts, survey after survey indicates high numbers of unprotected sex,
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