First Five Earthshot Prize Winners Announced, Visiting Baltimore’s Great Kids Farm, Meet Climate Champ– Sandra Steingraber, Science And Environmental Health Network

FIRST FIVE EARTHSHOT PRIZE WINNERS ANNOUNCED AT LONDON GALA

So yesterday on The Climate Daily, we talked about how Prince Charles called out the Prime Minister of Australia for possibly not attending COP26 and how Prince William called out billionaires for using their money to engage in space tourism rather than saving the planet. 

Well, speaking of saving the planet, Prince William’s and the Duchess of Cambridge’s initiative The EarthShot Prize, announced its inaugural five prize winners Sunday night in London, England. Each will receive 1 million pounds prize money and a beautiful one of a kind prize medal designed by Award-winning Dutch designer Christien Meindertsma, inspired by the iconic Earthrise photo taken of the Earth from space from the Apollo eight mission in 1968. 

And it was created from recycled materials to ceremony Captain 10 month global search with over 750 nominations from around the world. 

The five winners represent five categories of the EarthShot Prize, “Protect and Restore Nature”, “Clean Our Air”, “Revive Our Oceans”, “Build a Waste-Free World” and “Fix Our Climate.” 

The Republic of Costa Rica won the protect and restore nature prize. Congratulations to Costa Rica. The Clean Air winner was Takachar, which The Climate Daily profiled earlier this year. Revive Our Oceans winner is Coral Vita from the Bahamas. Build a Waste-Free World winner was the City of Milan and Fix Our Climate winner is AEM Electrolyzer! Congratulations to all the winners of the inaugural EarthShot Prize. 

DEEPER DIVE: EARTHSHOT PRIZE, Fox News, BBC, CNN, The Royal Foundation

BALTIMORE’S GREAT KIDS FARM

Philadelphia native Corina Newsome, aka The Hood Naturalist has said, “Heavily modified urban landscapes have almost no observable wildlife. The wildlife species WE may see while walking down the street are Rock Pigeons, House Sparrows, and European Starlings (if we’re lucky). But then there are some we might see inside: all manner of cockroaches, rats in the subway, and bedbugs in the furniture if we’re really unlucky. The only “wildlife” people tend to notice are the ones encroaching on their space and comfort.”

In that context, interactions with wildlife are almost exclusively experienced and described as being associated with infestation, plague, and pestilence. That’s why urban youth often feel disconnected from the natural environment, and thus non-committal to its protection.

The best way to get today’s urban youth committed to combating climate change is to expose them to nature in a positive way. That’s just what Great Kids Farm is doing in Baltimore, MD., with the help of the non-profit organization,  “Friends of Great Kids Farm”.  The non-profit was created to support, promote and enhance the programming at Baltimore City Public Schools’ Great Kids Farm and the district’s Farm to School programming.

“Friends” works with City Schools to bring students to the Farm, a 33-acre urban farm with a stream, woods, fields, and greenhouses, providing students hands-on opportunities to connect farm and plate, reinforce curricular concepts, strengthen environmental literacy, and promote healthy habits for the whole child.

Additionally, they empower youth to understand, engage with, and co-create THEIR food system in ways that can improve food security and sovereignty, while also preparing youth to be systems thinkers and social change-makers.

The Farm’s programs help kids to:

•   Eat well and enjoy nutritious foods
•   Learn rigorous academic content
•   Experience the joy of learning and the peace of nature
•   Develop career skills to help them lead healthy, successful lives
•   Connect with and preserve their natural environment

 DEEPER DIVE: FGKF, ‘Hood Naturalist, Great Kids Farm

MEET DR. SANDRA STEINGRABER

Meet Dr. Sandra Steingraber. Sandra Steingraber holds a Ph.D. in ecology and to many, she’s what we call an “old head,” because she’s a baby boomer not a Gen Green New Dealer. Steingraber is also a biologist, climate advocate, author and poet. Her specialty is exploring the links between human rights and the environment (particularly regarding chemical contamination); fracking and climate change.

Steingraber has written widely about the environment but her seminal work has to be Living Downstream: An Ecologist’s Personal Investigation of Cancer and the Environment. It was adapted to a documentary film in 2010. For many, it’s our generation’s version of the environmental/ecological classic Silent Spring, by Rachel Carson.

If you like the book or the film, it’s worth it to read two other of her award-winning books, Having Faith: An Ecologist’s Journey to Motherhood; and Raising Elijah: Protecting Our Children in an Age of Environmental Crisis.

Steingraber’s honors for her work as researcher and science writer include the Rachel Carson Leadership Award, the American Ethical Union’s Elliot-Black Award, and, in 2011, the Heinz Award. By donating the Heinz cash prize to the anti-fracking movement, she became, in 2012, a co-founder of New Yorkers Against Fracking, a statewide coalition of hundreds of grassroots organizations that helped win a statewide ban on fracking in 2015. The 2018 documentary film Unfractured told the story of New York State’s fracking ban, featuring Steingraber as its subject.

Steingraber is also a member of the Science and Environmental Health Network. You can check out the trailer to Living Downstream by clicking on the link in the Deeper Dive section of this story at theclimate.org/episodes.

DEEPER DIVE: Twitter, SEHN, Living Downstream-Trailer, Living Downstream-Book, Silent Spring

SCIENCE AND ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH NETWORK IS HERE TO HELP

The Science and environmental Health Networkwas founded in 1994 by a consortium of North American environmental organizations (including the Environmental Defense Fund, The Environmental Research Foundation, and OMB Watch) concerned about the misuse of science in ways that failed to protect the environment and human health.

In service to communities, the Earth and future generations, the SEHN mission forges law, ethics, and science into tools for action. Their vision? Quote: Fulfilling our responsibility to govern ourselves and our communities wisely, to create and sustain a just and healthy world now and for future generations.

How does SEHN accomplish its mission?  By:

• Translating law and science for the public and decision-makers.

• Providing the scientific and legal tools needed to protect and restore justice and ecological wholeness.

• Serving environmental, public health and environmental justice coalitions and grassroots campaigns with legal and scientific expertise.

• Lifting up women’s voices and leadership to address the challenges before us.

Some of the SEHN’s projects include the Women’s Congress, activist tips and a web/podcast series called Conversations, chats held with local female community leaders to amplify their voices.

And why does the Science and Environmental Health Network matter to us? Because of the Precautionary Principle. It states, “When an activity raises threats of harm to human health or the environment, precautionary measures should be taken even if some cause and effect relationships are not fully established scientifically.”

In other words, if it looks like it’s causing harm, then let’s act like it’s causing harm and cease doing “it” whatever “it” is. Too often, human innovation and invention have been from the standpoint of, “Create and market it NOW. If a problem arises, we’ll create a solution later.” And look where that’s gotten us? Facebook and Climate Change.

DEEPER DIVE: SEHN, Conversations, The Precautionary Principle, Wikipedia