The Armenia Tree Project opened a new nursery in Gyumri on June 6 with the support of the European Union, within the framework of the EU4Environment: Green Community-Resilient Future Grant Project and partners Armenian Energy Agency, and the Jinishian Memorial Foundation.

Financial news was set ablaze last week when upstart hedge fund Engine No. 1 won at least two seats on Exxon’s board, siphoning shareholder votes–including backing from BlackRock–in their climate change-focused proxy battle. Chris James, Engine No. 1’s founder, was hailed as a victorious, environmental activist, securing industry recognition and what Matt Levine from Bloomberg called a “halo of environmental virtue” that Engine No. 1 “can fund raise off…forever.”

On Monday, May 10th, youth activists from the New Orleans and Houston Sunrise Movement, a national, youth-led climate justice movement dedicated to fighting the climate crisis and creating millions of good jobs, set off on their “Generation On Fire: Project 400,” a 400-mile trek from New Orleans to Houston. The trek represents the displacement from Hurricane Katrina, when many families fled to Houston and some never returned to New Orleans.

The Environmental Integrity Project, a non-profit watchdog focused on environmental regulation, released a report naming 5 oil refineries in Louisiana as above “action level” for benzene, a Group A carcinogen. The report, titled “Environmental Justice and Refinery Pollution: Benzene Monitoring Around Oil Refineries Showed More Communities at Risk in 2020” explored the relationship between cancer-causing releases and proximity to poor and Black and brown communities.

The New Orleans City Council voted unanimously on Thursday to pass Resolution 92, a bill introduced by City Councilmembers Kristin Palmer and Cyndi Nguyen that would oppose the proposed Formosa Plastics mega plant in St. James Parish and further petrochemical buildout in Cancer Alley. The introduction of the bill was deferred from last week after Formosa Plastics submitted objections for the Council to review.

On Monday night, activist from the Stop Formosa Plastics Coalition projected slogans including, “#BreakFreeFromPlastic,” “No Community Is Disposable,” “Libérate del Plástico,” “Environmental Justice = No New Plastic” and a skull and crossbones onto the Superdome. They join activist groups in cities across the U.S. including Washington D.C., San Francisco, Houston, Portland, and Pittsburgh who projected similar messages onto local landmarks to welcome the Break Free from Plastic Pollution Act

The experts specifically cited the controversial Formosa Plastics mega plant in St. James Parish, noting the threat it poses to the predominantly Black community’s health and cultural heritage, and urging “the US Government to deliver environmental justice in communities all across America, starting with St James Parish.”

Activists in New Orleans, St. James, and San Francisco coordinated banner drops Tuesday calling upon President Joe Biden and the Army Corps of Engineers to revoke the federal permit for the proposed $9.4B Formosa Plastics megaplant in St. James Parish.

The recurrence of outages– some of which have been ongoing since 2016, the volatility of market price shifts for fossil fuels, and the inconsistent usage of expensive peaker plants, highlight the inadequacies of our current energy systems, and the need for a reimagining of how we power New Orleans.

When you hear the phrase Instagram Influencer, what do you imagine? For me, it conjures up images of traditional (harmful, exclusionary) beauty standards to the extreme. Thin, white women, with immaculate hair, nails, and makeup posing with expensive goods, and expensive views. Paired with groundbreaking captions like *Thursday vibes* or *Beach vacay*, Instagram influencing can come off as insufferably shallow.