Jeff Biggers

Jeff Biggers is the author of numerous books, including his latest: "Resistance: Reclaiming an American Tradition?" His previous works include: "State Out of the Union: Arizona and the Final Showdown Over the American Dream;" "The United States of Appalachia;" and "Reckoning at Eagle Creek: The Secret Legacy of Coal in the Heartland." Follow him on twitter: @JeffRBiggers
Articles by this author
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Views Tuesday, March 23, 2021 Ethnic Studies Redux: Professor Rudy Acuña Still Has Work to Do The pandemic is not an excuse for mediocrity," declared Dr. Rodolfo "Rudy" Acuña, as he worked on another commentary in a rigorous writing schedule that would defy any Covid blues. As the debate over Ethnic Studies brews in California and the Biden administration transitions into power, the 88-year... Read more |
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Views Thursday, September 17, 2020 We Need a New Climate Narrative: Not a Dystopian Movie, but a Vision of Hope, Change and Empowerment As deadly wildfires raze millions of acres across the Western states, issuing a canopy of noxious smoke and eerie colors in coastal cities, and Hurricane Sally continues a historic pounding along the Gulf Coast , we have been overwhelmed by scenes of a climate emergency that the media is now... Read more |
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Views Wednesday, April 22, 2020 An Earth Day After Coal: Amid All the Bad News, A Major Turning Point This year's Earth Day will mark the first time in history that renewable energy production of electricity has outpaced coal-fired generation. According to an analysis by the independent research Rhodium Group, coal-fired generation of electricity could even fall below a mind-boggling 15 percent of... Read more |
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Views Wednesday, April 01, 2020 'How Are We Supposed to Protect Our Lungs?': Climate Strikers Blast EPA Suspension of Pollution Laws As our nation passed the grim benchmark last Thursday with the world's most confirmed cases of COVID-19, the Environmental Protection Agency quietly announced its new policy to relax oversight for water or air violations at power plants and other industrial operations. Global climate strikers, led... Read more |
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Views Wednesday, February 05, 2020 It's the Turnout, Stupid: The Real Story of Iowa Caucus We arrived at 6:25 p.m. on Monday night at our caucus location in Iowa City, assuming there would be an overflow crowd. Sure, there was a line, and the crowd was packed. But within 20 minutes, I was sitting snugly in my seat in the high school auditorium. Despite the pre-caucus hype of record... Read more |
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Views Saturday, January 25, 2020 Greta Thunberg Needs No Defense: Why We Must Keep Climate Striking While President Trump dismissed Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg and scientists as "perennial prophets of doom " at the World World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, climate strikers in drought-stricken southeast Australia were posting photos on Twitter of Biblical rounds of dust and... Read more |
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Views Wednesday, September 18, 2019 Parents, Time to Misbehave and Climate Strike With Your Kids The recent announcement by the New York Public Schools to excuse all students taking part in the Global Climate Strike on Friday, September 20th is an admirable and welcome step by educators to address the climate crisis. Student climate strikers, however, are not clamoring for parental and... Read more |
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Views Thursday, July 04, 2019 Climate Strike: Youth Activism Is Giving Their Parents' Generation a Second Chance For 11 weeks this spring, my 14-year-old kid refused to go to school on Fridays, setting up a climate strike picket line in front of his school district building or the city hall in Iowa City, Iowa, where we live. A handful of other students joined him, including his older brother, as did a cadre... Read more |
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Views Saturday, December 08, 2018 Climate Storytellers Inspire Roadmap to Action Earlier this year, taking a front row seat at a church in Gary, Indiana, I watched as a young rapper, local food leader, and an arts educator beguiled a standing-room-only audience with a theatrical envisioning of their city in the year 2030. Read more |
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Views Friday, October 12, 2018 We Need Cities of Resistance: Climate Adaptation Is No Longer an Option IOWA CITY—The arrival of Hurricane Michael on the heels of the landmark IPCC climate report is a reminder that climate "adaptation" is no longer a viable option. Adapting to a failed system in an age of climate change, as the devastation from Hurricane Michael attests, is failure, not adaptation... Read more |