Gathering information and statistics for the presentation last Saturday was an unsettling reminder for us of how much is at stake in this battle for the autonomy of forests and forest people, but sharing our palm oil presentation with other steadfastly passionate activists was a positive reassurance: Minnesota’s garden of rabble rousers will “turnip” the heat on any monoculture that threatens peace and justice. On February 12th, members of RAN Twin Cities attended the annual Green Party MN winter meeting to share the work we’ve been engaged in over the past year and to raise... (continue reading)

We want environmental laws to be implemented and enforced. We want the authority and relevant agencies to go after anyone and everyone who is cutting down trees in protected forest areas and such. Yet, sometimes, it might not be that simple. I visited an Orang Asli (indigenous people) village in Tapah, Perak with a group of awesome people who aim to educate the Malaysian public and increase awareness of the Federal Constitution. Several topics were being brought up: Orang Asli rights as stipulated in the Constitution, unfair land purchases, standing up against corporations or entities that... (continue reading)

Deployment! In a span of time lasting no more than forty seconds, a minute of reality I barely recall, the shrill metallic screeching of chainsaws and the haunting sound of splitting forests filled the lobby of Cargill’s executive lake house with the cacophonous sounds of its rainforest-clearing supply chain. Last week, the Twin Cities chapter of Rainforest Action Network paid a visit to the top executives of the nation’s largest private corporation, locked down and blocked their lobby stairwell—disrupting business until Cargill CEO Gregory Page would meet with us and adopt RAN’s... (continue reading)

Over 150 people showed up for RAN • ART at the Tarnish & Gold Gallery in Northeast Minneapolis last Saturday, May 1, 2010. The event consisted of an art exhibition and concert hosted by Substance, RAN, and local art collective Rogue Citizen, in order to show the connections between rainforest destruction and two of the Twin Cities’ largest corporations, Cargill Incorporated and General Mills. The gallery exhibited art submitted around the theme: “What is the problem with palm oil?” I got to talk to Nolan Morice, co-founder of Substance and lead organizer for RAN • ART, about the... (continue reading)

I have the hope and belief that neoclassical economics is nearing its end of its two hundred-year era. In truth, neoclassical economics has to go altogether because, as much as it breaks my heart to admit, our world is dying on our watch. Neoclassical economics is a reckless paradigm that rages to the mantra of, “living fast and dying young.” We are burning through our world’s resources and the corporate world is showing no remorse. And because neoclassical economics is completely divorced of social and environmental ramifications – instead limiting itself to value productivity above... (continue reading)