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California Bans Fur, Sets National Humane Wildlife Standards

On October 12, California's Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law AB 44 banning the sale and production of new fur products, and AB 1254, which prohibits bobcat trophy hunting. This momentous legislation will spare countless wild animals from the cruel, unnecessary fur trade, and save bobcats from the horrors of trophy hunting. Earth Island's Project Coyote, along with a coalition of organizations, joined forces to rally support for these bills, resulting in California setting yet another national standard for the humane treatment of wildlife, after becoming the first state in the country to ban commercial and recreational fur trapping in September. With AB 44 on the books, California is now the first state to ban the sale and production of new fur products! Read "Hanging On," Earth Island Journal's deep dive into the fur industry and the growing anti- fur moment to learn more.

Earth Island's Richmond Trees is partnering with the City of Richmond, The Urban Forest Advisory Committee, and Groundwork Richmond, to host a tree-planting event on Arbor Day October 19. Volunteers are invited from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. to plant trees in the North Richmond neighborhood and celebrate our great volunteers. Lunch is being provided by EII's Food Shift! More information here.

For the second year in a row, Earth Island's Seeding Sovereignty is the invited Indigenous partner of the Social Capital Markets Conference (SOCAP) scheduled for October 22 to 25, at the Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture in San Francisco. SOCAP is one of the world's leading conferences activating capital markets to catalyze positive social and environmental change. Seeding Sovereignty has organized the Indigenous@SOCAP19 track, highlighting Indigenous-led regenerative economy based on the knowledge imparted from Indigenous business leaders, innovators, and culture bearers. Find more information here.

On Sunday, October 27, afternoon Earth Island's Love the Bulb will be hosting a free-ranging performance by Shinichi Iova-Koga of inkBoat, along with Suki O'Kane, Amy Rathbone, Kamerin McDonald, and workshop participants, at various spaces around the Albany Bulb, in Albany, CA. The unique landscape of the Bulb inspired the piece that explores the precarious position artists, and all of us, maintain in the face of social upheaval, economic inequality, and displacement. More information here.

On September 24, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a proposal to rescind emission limits for methane in oil and gas production and processing. This proposal is extremely dangerous for our climate. Methane has 25 times more heat-trapping potential than carbon dioxide and the largest emitter of methane is the oil-and-gas industry. Earth Island Advocates is urging people to speak up for our climate and tell the EPA that this giveaway to the oil and gas industry will have dire consequences for our planet. The public has until November 24, 2019 to submit comments.

Join Earth Island's Plastic Pollution Coalition and become a signatory organization for The Equitable and Just National Climate Platform, which advances the goals of economic, racial, climate, and environmental justice to improve the public health and well-being of all communities, while tackling the climate crisis. Learn more.

After three years of piloting its social enterprise in a small shared kitchen in Alameda, CA, Earth Island's Food Shift is expanding into a larger, centrally-located kitchen in the East Bay. This move will allow enrollment of more apprentices into job training, save more food from going to waste, and expand the project's vegetarian catering service. Learn more in this video from Robert Egger, who will be a guest speaker at Food Shift's December 14 celebration. Tickets available for purchase as an Indiegogo donation perk!

PGM ONE, a project of Earth Island, convenes leaders of color/the global majority in the environmental and outdoor movement to share, learn, collaborate, heal, celebrate, build community, find support, and sharpen their analysis of racial equity in their fields. The fourth annual PGM ONE summit will be in Chicago, IL September 23 -25, 2020. For more information on attendance or sponsorship please contact Grace Anderson at grace@pgmone.org.

The Best of Earth Island Journal

Get the latest environmental news from Earth Island Journal. Here are our favorite stories from the last two weeks:

Most Popular: Trump Doubles Down on His Assault on Alaska's Old-Growth Forests. Journalists Paul Koberstein and Jessica Applegate report from British Columbia's Prince of Wales islands where the US Forest Service's multiple plans to log vast swathes of the Tongass National Forest face stiff opposition.

Editors' Pick: Food Without Fields? Author and Journal columnist Anna Lappé discusses how tech-based "solutions" to agricultural challenges can actually perpetuate the industrialized food system and the many problems associated with it.