Meet Garrett Marino, the youth climate leadership coordinator for The Wild Center in Tupper Lake. With a love for literature and the outdoors, Marino uses communication and science to teach others about climate change.
Here’s what he said about his philosophy on climate action:
“It’s not that we need to be afraid of this, so we should be inspired to action. It’s that we love our planet and we love nature and we love the critters and the bugs and everything on it. And it’s worth protecting.”
Watch his video and visit our Climate Voices of the Adirondacks page at this link.
Shifting focus from Western science to Indigenous knowledge
Two convenings of scientists and educators spotlighted Indigenous voices this month in the High Peaks. Their messages called for respect of traditional knowledge and history, and its inclusion in the broader scientific conversation.
Traditional ecological knowledge has existed in the Northeast for thousands of years, though mainstream scientists may have been slow in recognizing it. Yet studies show shifting from the colonial view of science and conservation to traditional practices can lead to improved outcomes.
“Indigenous knowledge is also proof of the resilience and resistance to colonialism, genocide, and ethnocide that has been instilled, that has and is still happening to the Indian peoples,” Keeley Jock, climate justice fellow for the Adirondack North Country Association, said.
Read the story here.
Here are some stories I’m following:
Atmos: Congo’s Clean Energy Cobalt Mines Don’t Have to Be So Dirty
“The clean energy transition the climate crisis requires does not need to be rooted in the same dangerous practices that led the world to this point. Indeed, the climate justice movement demands a new world where frontline communities can finally prosper as fossil fuels phase out—not a world where alternative energy sources replicate the same exploitation and harm.”
MIT Technology Review: AI is an energy hog. This is what it means for climate change.
“…if we use rising electricity demand as a catalyst to lean harder into renewable energy and other low-carbon power sources, and push AI to get more efficient, doing more with less energy, then we can continue to slowly clean up the grid, even as AI continues to expand its reach in our lives.”
ProPublica: How 3M Executives Convinced a Scientist the Forever Chemicals She Found in Human Blood Were Safe
“Decades ago, Kris Hansen showed 3M that its PFAS chemicals were in people’s bodies. Her bosses halted her work. As the EPA now forces the removal of the chemicals from drinking water, she wrestles with the secrets that 3M kept from her and the world.”
AP: Sites with radioactive material more vulnerable as climate change increases wildfire, flood risks
“Dozens of active and idle laboratories and manufacturing and military facilities across the nation that use, store or are contaminated with radioactive material are increasingly vulnerable to extreme weather.”
Mongabay: Top brands buy Amazon carbon credits from suspected timber laundering scam
“Two major carbon offset projects in the Brazilian Amazon, whose credits have been sold to companies like GOL Airlines, Nestlé, Toshiba and PwC, may have been used to launder timber from illegally deforested areas.”
Photo at top: Garrett Marino, youth climate leadership coordinator for The Wild Center in Tupper Lake. Photo provided by Marino.
This first appeared in Chloe’s weekly “Climate Matters” newsletter. Click here to sign up
Chloe Bennett is a climate change reporter based in Lake Placid, NY. Originally from North Texas, Chloe has always been drawn to the natural world. In 2022, she graduated from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY where she focused on environmental reporting and audio production. She grew a deep appreciation for the Adirondack Park while interning for the Explorer in the summer of 2022.
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The Adirondack Almanack is a public forum dedicated to promoting and discussing current events, history, arts, nature and outdoor recreation and other topics of interest to the Adirondacks and its communities
We publish commentary and opinion pieces from voluntary contributors, as well as news updates and event notices from area organizations. Contributors include veteran local writers, historians, naturalists, and outdoor enthusiasts from around the Adirondack region. The information, views and opinions expressed by these various authors are not necessarily those of the Adirondack Almanack or its publisher, the Adirondack Explorer.
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