Debunking the Issue Silo Myth: Why the Broader Progressive Movement is Green
You can’t have a real discussion about biofuels without talking about indigenous people affected by deforestation, or people who survive on corn and are stuck with higher prices. You can’t discuss a carbon-free economy without talking about green jobs and alternative infrastructure. But instead of integrating environmentalism into the broader progressive agenda, mainstream media and even some non-profits keep green in a silo. We gain nothing by such segregation. Hear progressive activists, bloggers and environmentalists discuss environmentalism as it is understood by the rest of the world—as an issue that permeates most others.
Josh Hilgart has participated in the field of online organizing and communications for the last eight years. He directs Friends of the Earth's communications with the public and the grassroots, and previously served as the Director of Internet Strategy at People for the American Way (PFAW). Josh has experience using a wide range of online tools and strategies, pioneering now widely adopted online techniques, such as the use of mobile phone text message activism, deployed by PFAW in its successful campaign to defeat Republican efforts to strip Senate Democrats of their ability to filibuster judicial nominees.
David Roberts writes about climate change, energy policy, and the politics surrounding both on Grist.org, the best source of green news and commentary on the whole interwebs. His work has also appeared in Fast Company, The Guardian, The Boston Globe, and a number of obscure outlets, and he has guest blogged for Vanity Fair, The Nation, and Huffington Post. He lives in Seattle with his wife and two young sons, and is currently seeking hobbies that don't involve typing.
Ilyse Hogue has worked both in campaigns and communications at MoveOn and has spent the better part of a decade working on issues of climate change and energy transition. She's from Texas, calls San Francisco home, and is spending the year in DC. She thinks we can make our own myths, and that's the fun part.
Natasha Chart has been blogging about politics and the environment since 2002, mostly at PacificViews. Her writing has also appeared at MyDD, OpenLeft and the youth climate action blog, ItsGettingHotInHere.org. She spent her time in college studying biology, agroecology and agricultural policy; which areas of interest she may leverage in attempting to take over Philadelphia for urban gardening. Her hobbies include drinking coffee, arguing, reading, omphaloskepsis, roving about and search engine marketing consultation.
As a first generation Nigerian, Nwamaka Agbo did not actively begin pursuing her interest in civil rights and social justice issues until college. Nwamaka is passionately committed to the work of the Green Collar Jobs Campaign because she believes that the pressing environmental justice concerns are the civil rights movement of her generation. Nwamaka is also an active member of Ella's Daughters, a new national networking organization focused on connecting women activists and organizers from across the nation around issues affecting our communities in memory of Ella Baker.
