News
Getting Started in Impact Investing with Annarie Lyles
Each year for the past four years Rachel’s Network Member Annarie Lyles has been shifting 2% of her assets away from conventional stocks to businesses that align with her values. Here’s how she got started in impact investing, and how you can too.
Extreme Energy’s Threat to the Great Lakes
The Great Lakes of North America form the largest group of freshwater lakes in the world, holding more than 20 percent of the world’s surface freshwater and 95 percent of North America’s. Despite the incalculable value of this resource, they’re in serious trouble. Climate change, invasive species, and wetland loss all taking a terrible toll on a watershed that provides life to so many people and species. Now, companies are using the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence Seaway as a carbon corridor for a newly aggressive North American energy industry. This poses the greatest threat yet to these waters.
Conserving Water One Farm at a Time, One Million Strong
The agricultural sector is the single largest user of water, representing 70 percent of global freshwater withdrawals and up to 90 percent of national water use in some countries. An estimated 40-60 percent of that water is wasted through inefficient irrigation systems and other substandard practices. To address this, the Rainforest Alliance helped to create the Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN), an international body that manages a comprehensive sustainability certification program for more than one million farms.
Collaborating for Cancer Prevention on World Environmental Health Day
More than 50 years ago Rachel Carson noted how chemicals could travel through soil, water and air, accumulate in creatures’ bodies and impact their health. On World Environmental Health Day (September 26) we need to look at our landscape in the way Rachel Carson did — through a systemic lens. The Breast Cancer Fund is partnering with other organizations to move our economy away from hazardous materials and technologies.
Rachel’s Network Joins the People’s Climate March
This month, world leaders will travel to New York City for a United Nations summit to begin negotiating a global climate agreement. Rachel’s Network is proud join over a thousand organizations rallying with the People’s Climate March on September 21st to show the UN that people are ready for action on climate change. To demostrate that solutions are within reach, we will march with tens of thousands of others wearing our “Women Funding Climate Action” buttons. Here some of our members share their reasons for participating in the People’s Climate March.
Going the Extra Mile on Car Free Day with Abigail Rome
Member Abigail Rome believes Car Free Day can do even more for those of us ready to aspire to loftier goals. Taking a car-free pledge offers an opportunity to consider not only how and when we use our automobiles, but also how we can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and curb climate change on a much larger scale.
Top 10 Water Documentaries
Humanity is at a crossroads when it comes to water. More severe droughts and floods as well as growing demands on our water supply are forcing us to rethink how we manage this vital resource. Much of this soul searching has been spawned by thoughtful documentaries like those listed below. As Rachel’s Network champions solutions to water challenges in Milwaukee for our Fall Retreat , watch these great films and get inspired to act.
Fracking’s Water Impact
Sucking oil and gas from dense shale formations involves drilling, explosions, toxic chemicals, and millions of gallons of water pumped at crushing pressures. Drillers maintain that these processes are well understood and tightly controlled and take place far below groundwater supplies. But ultimately the safety and quality of a well is dependent on the operator, the particularities of each site, local regulations and politics, and many other details. As water constitutes the largest component of fracking fluid by far, it is not surprising that questions about the quantity and quality of water used by drillers have been contentious.
Getting Smart About Water and Energy
Until recently, water has been one of the ignored components of power generation, but that’s changing. In 2013, the World Bank launched its Thirsty Energy program to develop solutions to electricity demands on global water supplies. The U.S. Department of Energy followed suit by releasing a similar initiative in 2014. Now that we see the connections between water and energy, let’s work with utilities and governments to build an integrated, resilient, and sustainable system that safeguards our resources.
Expert Q&A with Julia Hamm, Solar Industry Leader
What will it take to drive the large-scale transition to solar power? Rachel’s Network explores this question with Julia Hamm, president and CEO of the Solar Electric Power Association (SEPA) and one of the world’s foremost experts on the nexus between utilities and solar energy. In this Q&A, Julia shares how SEPA helps utilities integrate solar energy into their portfolios, her successes, and inspiration.