Text by Arun N. Toké, editor; Photos by Paul Dix, Oregon.

A Rainbow at Sunset, Montana, the Big Sky State

Happy Earth Day 2026!

Planet Earth, our only home has been around for about 4.6 billion years. Since its beginning, there have always been constant changes on the planet. Early in Earth’s history, most changes were geological or astronomical, but over time, life and the biosphere have become significant drivers of change on our planet. 

With the beginnings of the industrial revolution, the human embrace of a collective growth mindset, and the subsequent emergence of multinational corporations and large-scale international trade, we have become the primary driver of changes to our global home.

With an exponentially-increasing human population, now approaching 8.4 billions in 2026, the extraction, production, and consumption of fossil fuels, minerals, plastics, and other chemicals have skyrocketed. Our carbon footprint is continuing to rise and carbon dioxide, methane, and other greenhouse gases are accumulating in our atmosphere and changing local and global climates. The impacts of pollution on the air, water, and land is observable globally and our collective actions (as well as inaction) are altering ecosystems and the biosphere. The human-caused climate change is occurring and its impacts are already being felt in vulnerable coastal areas, along ecological boundaries, and in our cities. Major consequences of climate change will be felt around the globe in a matter of decades.

Unfortunately, the majority of our governments, corporations, and businesses, either ignore the understanding gained through scientific knowledge and computer modeling, pretend to be ignorant of its consequences, or push off action to future generations. They keep on doing business as usual—growth, growth, growth. Wanting more profits and more control over the market, they go for more production, more consumption, and as a result, greater impact on the Earth’s natural systems. The current U.S. leaders side with corporations over future generations of people, favoring ecologically-suicidal fossil fuels—oil, fracked gas, and coal—over renewable energy like wind mills and photovoltaic (solar) power.

Emissions from a Steel Factory

Aluminum Cans and Beer Bottles in the Backyard a Bar in Montana

Everything is interconnected in nature: weather systems, ocean currents, and the cycles of important chemicals (water, nutrients, metals, etc.) are all mediated over long time periods by the Earth’s geology and make our Earth a unified system capable of nurturing diverse fauna and flora over hundreds of millions of years. But humanity, with our amazing ability to invent and create technological know-how and build huge systems to serve our ever-growing population, has reached a state where we’re able to alter the very environment that has enabled our growth. The planetary system has ways to balance the short term ecological changes that we have made in the last 200 years, but they operate over timescales (millions of years) that are inaccessible to us. As a result, we cannot rely on natural cycles to solve the serious problems we have created. We must be proactive to protect society and the natural cycles and systems as we know them. Else, life on this planet would become hard to sustain in many regions. It would need to be supported by artificial means because of life-threatening storms, huge temperature fluctuations, and large-scale habitat destruction. 

In this photo essay, we offer a glimpse of our precious planetary home. But having experienced various parts of this beautiful home of ours in real life, we know the limitations of this virtual medium. This visual-only medium is unable to fully convey the multi-sensory, magnificent nature of the Planet Earth! We want all of us to experience it in real life, because we know that when we’ve experienced it, we’d love it! And when we love nature, we’d do all we can to preserve its beauty, its wholesomeness.

We wish you a beautiful Earth Day, every day!

Nature is Priceless! A Demonstrator Raises Nature Awareness at the Oregon Coast

Mt. Aconcagua, in Argentina (elevation 22,858 ft.), is the highest peak in the Americas.

The Jirishanka Peak (almost 20,000 ft.) in the Andes, Peru, South America

Amboseli National Park, Kenya, Africa

Two Giraffes in Masai Mara National Game Reserve, Kenya, Africa

A Lioness Pride in Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya, Africa

Volcan de Fuego, Guatemala, Central America, is an active volcano.

Bison Roam in the Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. Yellowstone NP is 2.2 million acres in Size

An Intense Lightning Storm in the Big Sky State, Montana

Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) in Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska

Mt. Jefferson and Mt. Hood (Oregon), and Mt. Adams (Washington), an Aerial View

A Windmill Farm in the Columbia River Gorge, Oregon, has a 450 MW generating capacity.

Text by Arun Narayan Toké, editor, Skipping Stones, and photographs by Paul Dix, nature photographer and world-traveler, Oregon.

The Climate Collapse Presidency

“Climate change is the single greatest threat to a sustainable future but, at the same time, addressing the climate challenge presents a golden opportunity to promote prosperity, security and a brighter future for all.” 

  —Ban Ki-moon, former UN Secretary-General, Remarks at Climate Leaders’ Summit, April 11, 2024

The greatest existential threat humanity faces isn’t hiding in a military bunker or a terrorist cell. It’s in plain sight: the accelerating collapse of our only home’s life-support systems.

Trump’s first term was environmental arson. He gutted the EPA, installed fossil fuel executives in key positions, shredded over one hundred environmental protections, and abandoned the Paris Climate Agreement.¹ Scientists were silenced. Research was suppressed. The words “climate change” vanished from government websites as if deleting terms could delete reality.²

When confronted about climate’s role in the devastating 2020 wildfires, Trump smirked: “I don’t think science knows, actually.”³ Tell that to thirteen-year-old Wyatt Tofte, who died in Oregon’s inferno embracing his dog as he tried desperately to save his grandmother.⁴ As our Western skies turned blood-orange, Louise and I choked from a summer of wild forest fires, and record hurricanes pummeled our coasts, Trump mocked renewable energy and praised coal.

But his second term has proved apocalyptically worse. By April 2025, Trump had reinstated his “Schedule F” executive order, purging government agencies of climate scientists.⁵ His new EPA administrator—­formerly chief counsel for a coal conglomerate—is suspending methane regulations, gutting emissions standards, and fast-tracking permits for drilling in previously protected Arctic wilderness.⁶ The phrase “climate emergency” is now prohibited in federal communications, while years of expensive-to-compile government climate data are being systematically altered, hidden, or outright deleted.

Climate collapse reveals democracy’s most fundamental challenge: can we save our planet for our children and grandchildren when fossil fuel profits demand Republicans force inaction? The answer is becoming horrifyingly clear as tipping points approach: permafrost is thawing, ice sheets are destabilizing, and ocean currents are weakening.⁷

These aren’t distant threats: they’re happening now, accelerated by policies designed to benefit the donor class while sacrificing everyone else.

This betrayal falls hardest on poor and minority communities. Environmental justice and racial justice are inseparable.⁸ Studies consistently show that communities of color consistently face the highest levels of air pollution, toxic waste, and climate disasters while having the fewest resources to fight back. And to add further injury, Trump and Musk have now gutted FEMA.⁹

As droughts intensify, coastlines disappear, and climate refugees multiply, the social fabric unravels. Democracy requires at least a modicum of stability, but climate chaos breeds authoritarian “solutions.” The Pentagon itself identifies climate change as a “threat multiplier” that endangers national security. Scientists warn we have less than a decade to halve emissions before crossing irreversible tipping points.¹⁰

Our children will judge us not by our tweets or culture wars, but by whether we protected their right to a livable planet. The machinery of climate destruction doesn’t operate in isolation: it’s connected to the plutocracy that captured our courts, the propagandists who poison our media, and the authoritarians who threaten our democratic foundations.

This is the ultimate test of our republic: Can we break the stranglehold of fossil fuel money on our politics? Can we choose a habitable planet over quarterly profits?

Time is running out, and the climate doesn’t negotiate. Physics doesn’t care about political convenience. Either we reclaim our democracy from corporate capture and dark money in politics, or we surrender both a livable planet and our system of government to collapse.

© 2026 Thomas Hartmann, Oregon. Thom Hartmann, educator and commentator, is the author of a highly respected book: The Last American President. And this article makes the Chapter 11 of the book, and it was published in  The Hartmann Report, a reader-supported publication where all weekday articles are free and available to everyone. Reprinted with permission of the author. Opinion expressed is not necessarily that of Skipping Stones, Inc.

By Maya Govindaraj, age 17, from Texas, is currently studying in Chennai, India.

Plastic is Destroying our World!

Beaches are vital ecosystems that support diverse marine life. However, the beauty of beaches is increasingly threatened by pollution, littering, and unsustainable human activities. According to global health experts, “Ocean pollution is posing threats to human health that are great and growing. It is causing disease, disability, and premature death in countries around the world today.” My journey from the beaches of Galveston, Texas, to the shores of Chennai, India, brought me face to face with the complexities of beach cleanliness. By participating in a local beach cleanup event, I gained insight into the challenges facing beach conservation efforts. Galveston beach in Texas is known for its wide stretches of sand, warm water, and opportunities for activities like swimming, and sunbathing. Chennai, on the other hand, is a coastal city in India, situated along the Bay of Bengal with beaches stretching for several kilometers and known for its lively atmosphere, with vendors selling snacks and toys, and locals enjoying various activities like kite flying and cricket. While efforts are being made to maintain cleanliness along the Galveston beaches by local authorities; in Chennai, cleanliness efforts on beaches have faced challenges. Although local authorities and environmental groups are trying to address cleanliness issues it is difficult due to high population density, inadequate waste management, and limited public awareness and participation in conservation efforts.

Participating in a Beach Clean-up Event

By conducting an online survey among Chennai residents who frequent the beach, I was able to gather valuable insights regarding their attitudes and behaviors toward littering and beach cleanliness. Although the survey demographics skewed towards 68% female respondents, with the majority holding at least a high school or higher education degree, a unanimous consensus emerged among them. They emphasized the importance of maintaining beach cleanliness to protect marine life, reduce health risks, preserve the natural beauty of the shoreline, and promote tourism. They advocated for proper waste disposal in designated bins, the use of reusable items over disposables, educational projects to raise awareness, and active participation in organized beach clean-up efforts. According to respondents, the primary factors contributing to litter accumulation include irresponsible behavior, entrenched cultural attitudes towards littering, inadequate provision of waste bins, and insufficient efforts by authorities to address cleaning needs.

Beaches are valuable natural assets that deserve our protection and stewardship. By adopting responsible behavior, supporting local initiatives, raising awareness, and advocating for policy changes we should all play a part in keeping beaches clean to ensure improved health and well-being and their preservation for future generations.

Footnotes:

1. Texas Disposal Systems. “Ocean Pollution: Causes, Effects, Prevention | TDS.” Texas Disposal Systems, 2 Feb. 2024, www.texasdisposal.com/blog/ocean-pollution-causes-effects-and-prevention.
2. Landrigan, P J, et al. “Human Health and Ocean Pollution.” Annals of Global Health, vol. 86, no. 1, 2020, p. 151, doi:10.5334/aogh.2831.
3. “Beach Cleanups, MarineBio Conservation Society.” MarineBio Conservation Society, www.marinebio.org/conservation/ocean-dumping/beach-cleanups.
   
   

   Texas, the Lone Star State. By Maya Govindaraj, age 17.

   Editor’s Note: Please also read the article, My Indian Memories by Maya’s brother Arjun, also published today!

   About the Authors:
   Arjun and Maya are 17-year-old twins at the American International School in Chennai, India. As USTA-ranked tennis players, they love sports and have won medals in South Asian Interscholastic Association competitions. Both serve as Student Ambassadors, bridging cultural gaps through orientation and wellness programs. Passionate about community service, they have both worked with various organizations. They also have co-founded the non-profit Mission BE A Resource, securing grants to support disadvantaged children. Arjun is a tech enthusiast with a love for outdoor adventures, while Maya enjoys helping elementary school teachers and expressing her creativity through art.