Alliance For Sustainability

Good News! Congratulations Supreme Court on making sure background checks are required on mail order, build-your-own “ghost guns”. https://lnkd.in/ecQy6QQH

Thanks so much Morgan Schafer and the Star Tribune for speaking out about toxic PFAS forever chemicals and for your vital and successful work to assure no other young or any person or species dies from PFAS poisoning. The Alliance for Sustainability and our college interns across the country stand shoulder-to-shoulder with you in this fight. Keep up your great work. https://lnkd.in/g9-GMgmS STAR TRIBUNE COMMENTARIES I’m 22, with a new job focused on clean water. Here’s why I’m doing it. Capitalism is meant to push society forward. It was not built to just accept the first product that completes a goal, especially when it poisons people and the environment. By Morgan Schafer MARCH 16, 2025 AT 5:29PM If I were to describe my generation, Gen Z, in one word, it would be “desensitized.” Growing up in a post-9/11 world, we have never known a world at peace; our lives have been punctuated by tragedy and unrest. At 10 years old, in a mandatory assembly following the Sandy Hook shooting, I learned I could be killed in my classroom at any time. At 14, I cried in the bathroom when Donald Trump was first elected, terrified I’d have fewer rights than my mother did at my age. During the COVID pandemic, my high school graduation moved online and college graduation was uncertain amid global protests. This isn’t to evoke sympathy, but to illustrate the America I grew up knowing. Born into a world that tells us and shows us we are disposable, those in my generation have seen a lot in our short lives. I’m a 22-year-old working my first job out of college at Clean Water Action Minnesota, fighting to protect and preserve clean, drinkable and fishable water for all. My team led the charge to advocate for and pass the most comprehensive PFAS restrictions in the world, Amara’s Law. PFAS, or the “forever chemical,” is a class of chemicals that repel both oil and water. It’s used in items like raincoats and nonstick pans, but also food packaging and care products like microwave popcorn, floss and cosmetics. PFAS is also a toxic chemical. This isn’t a secret; it isn’t an opinion. Manufacturers have been aware of this since its inception more than 75 years ago, and it is still being sold to consumers. A few years ago, Amara Strande and her family became unwavering advocates for PFAS restrictions in Minnesota. I didn’t know Amara, but I’m older than she ever lived to be. A rare form of cancer she believed to be linked to PFAS exposure took Amara’s life days before her 21st birthday; she died before she could see this law implemented. Hearing Amara’s story and her determined fight for change had a profound impact on me. I wasn’t just working to protect Minnesota, I was working to prevent another child like Amara from getting sick.

Have you wondered how algorithms controlled by Billionaire Bros on Facebook, Twitter (no, I don’t use the new name) and other social media platforms dictate our culture (including whether you can see and share this) and how we can fight back? You can at this fabulous, free Women’s March webinar tomorrow night (Thursday, March 27) at 7 pm CDT. Sign up and here’s the WM’s description: “We exist in a technological ecosystem where billionaires control the flow of information. Two of the most widely used social media platforms are owned by billionaires — Musk and Zuckerberg— who have enabled disinformation and digital manipulation that fuels rising authoritarianism. They’ve rigged the algorithmic game in their favor, but we’re here to expose their playbook. “Join Dr. Heather Woods and Dr. Leslie Hahner for a deep dive into the mechanics of digital power. We’ll unpack how platforms and algorithms operate, who controls them, and what we can do to outsmart the system and strengthen our resistance online. “What you'll learn: ? How social media algorithms amplify or suppress content ? Who profits from disinformation and digital manipulation ? How billionaire-controlled platforms are shaping our political landscape ? How to navigate and disrupt algorithmic bias to make our resistance louder “Big Tech may set the rules, but we decide how to play the game. RSVP now and bring a friend—because understanding the system is the first step to changing it.” https://lnkd.in/g8YkHXqs?

Wherever we live, we’re facing an unprecedented assault from a deeply dangerous forever chemical called PFAS. It is everywhere in our water, food, air, Teflon pans, raincoats, personal care products and bodies. While there is no escape, there is a solution. Stop the manufacturing and use of PFAS forever chemicals. In MN, we’ve achieved one important first step through the hard work of Avonna Starck and Clean Water Action MN in passing Amara’s Law in 2023, the world’s toughest ban on PFAS products. It’s a true gift to Minnesota that will hopefully be a model for other states, the nation and the world.

The Trump administration has closed critical environmental enforcement offices, frozen federal funding for environmental projects and laid off thousands of workers?for the sake of “Drill, baby, drill” and giving tax cuts to billionaires. To weaken the EPA, the administration has fired essential non-partisan public servants with critical scientific knowledge. These staff have provided impartial expertise to ensure policies are rooted in equity and science while holding polluters accountable. Congress must fight back and make sure agencies like the EPA can continue protecting the environment and our health.?Weak federal agencies means weakening environmental protections! The majority party has a very slim margin in Congress so every message from constituents truly counts.?Please join the Alliance and?sign the EarthJustice petition?to make Congress act now!

We swim into an underwater world with Chickasaw poet, novelist and environmentalist Linda Hogan, a place of “splendor and light.” We befriend “the beautiful swimmer, the mosaic growth of shell so detailed.” Sadly, this great mother encounters “the man from British Petroleum” responsible for her “burned and covered with red-black oil, torched and pained” shell. We share Hogan’s deep sorrow, “all I can think is that I loved your life.” “At once a praise song for the beauty of the sea, the earth, and its animals, this song also functions as a lament: for the history erased by industrial practices; for the lack of respect and love for living breathing other-than-human lives; for plastic and the plastic containers used to hold the body of a dead sea turtle. The poem veers towards a prayer, too, begging forgiveness for being ‘thrown off true,’” as shared by On Being with Krista Tippett. But we aren’t trapped in our sorrow. Brené Brown tells us, “Honest lament allows us to grieve what is lost while still making space for what is possible.” #WorldPoetryDay Read more: https://lnkd.in/eY_8BhXr

Thanks for this fabulous post from my fellow Alliance for Sustainability Board member and Clean Water Action MN Executive Director Avonna Starck for her brilliant, clear and concise analysis of the key, bipartisan-supported polluter pays bill on PFAS forever chemicals. MN passed Amara’s Law, the world’s toughest phaseout and ban on PFAS chemicals. It’s a model for other states and countries. Now it’s time to take it another step further and have PFAS Polluters Pay, taking the money from this pollution tax and giving it communities who’ve suffered the most from PFAS. As an economist, I totally support this principle as an essential tool to stop toxics and make things better for those injured. Please join me, the Alliance for Sustainability and Clean Water Action MN in passing SF-2124. Hi

Only You Can Protect Us from Teflon and other PFAS Forever Chemicals The Chemical Industry Wants to Weaken Our Landmark Legislation, the World's Toughest Restrictions on PFAS Forever Chemicals, Please Join Us Tomorrow, March 4 Rally at the MN State Capital and Send a Letter to Support Amara's Law

The Alliance for Sustainability has been taking action to stop dangerous pesticides for more than 40 years. While some changes have been made, many pesticides still harm insects, wildlife, humans, and biodiversity, especially from monoculture farming. The best way to try to avoid pesticides is to eat organic food. Some pesticides are systemic, meaning the chemicals are placed in water to be absorbed by the produce, like with apples. As a result, no amount of washing will remove the pesticide.

Disrupt the system. Tomorrow we unite in a nationwide economic blackout: no buying, no spending, no engaging with their system. We remind them who holds the real power -- the people. #economicblackout #economicblackout2025 #target #walmart #amazon #doforself #supportyourown #acceptyourownandbeyourself #blackwallstreet #publicenemy #buyblack