Category: Essays

13 posts found

Essays Mary Wildfire November 1, 2018
Why I’m Going to Help Occupy Freedom Plaza
The prospect of sleeping on paved ground in October in a big, scary city is hardly appealing to me, a 55-year old woman who prefers lots of padding and my quiet ridgetop home. So why am I planning to participate in the October2011 takeover of Freedom Plaza in Washington DC, starting October 6? More
Issues: Climate ChaosRenewable energy
Essays Mary Wildfire November 1, 2018
Communities, Political Empowerment, and Collective Self-Sufficiency
As an activist concerned about climate change and environmental degradation, and peace and social justice, I’ve gone to countless demonstrations, spoken at many public hearings, had over a dozen op-eds and scores of letters to the editor published, and written hundreds of letters to “my” representatives. None of it, as far as I can see, has done any good. More
Issues: Community
Essays Mary Wildfire November 1, 2018
Customer as Criminal
This was a letter to the editor of the Roane County Reporter , written in disgust several years ago. No, I haven’t been back to Fruth’s since. More
Essays Mary Wildfire November 1, 2018
Professors at MIT do not know W.Va.
Written in snarky response to a Daily Mail editorial about an MIT professor’s talk on how we in West Virginia should embrace our fossil fuel destiny. More
Essays Mary Wildfire November 1, 2018
True Cost of Coal
Residents pay for more than what’s on their electric bills. We who complain about the ravages of the mining industry have long been told that we must tolerate the environmental damage because of jobs. More
Issues: Extreme energy
Essays Mary Wildfire November 1, 2018
Flow-Through Rates
What does it mean that Spain and Italy have low rates of female employment? Does it mean that Spanish and Italian women are oppressed? Or that these cultures value traditional families? More
Essays Mary Wildfire November 1, 2018
Facing Energy Addiction
This piece was written in response to a request from Duane Nichols; it ran in his Frack Check WV and then in the Hur Herald. More
Issues: Extreme energyRenewable energy
Essays Mary Wildfire November 1, 2018
How to Get Through the Worst Day of Your Life
This has not been published. It’s hard to get editors interested in this “unpleasant subject”–but the information here is so important! More
Essays Mary Wildfire November 1, 2018
Montana de Oro
A memory of a favorite place, used for awhile by a friend as a meditation… More
Essays Mary Wildfire November 1, 2018
Another World is Possible
The world is in terrible shape. But it doesn’t have to be like this! We could have a world of peace and prosperity, a world marked by cooperation instead of conflict; a world where cultural differences are seen as richness, instead of a reason to fight. The world will spend over a trillion dollars this […] More
Issues: MediaRenewable energy
Essays Mary Wildfire November 1, 2018
Parasites Are Bad for Your Health
While my dog was being spayed at the animal clinic, the vet also took a look at the swelling under her foreleg and removed a warble, which is the larval form of a fly. They put the fat, black thing in a little jar so we could admire it. Ugh! More
Issues: Health
Essays Mary Wildfire November 1, 2018
Fast Track Fight
This op-ed ran in the Charleston Gazette; it’s dated now, and refers to a fight we won, against the FTAA (Free Trade Area of the Americas). But it all applies to the latest fight, now against the TPP. More
Issues: TPP
Essays Mary Wildfire January 31, 2001
On Public Space
This spring I went across the border into Mexico with a fund raising group from the American Friends Service Committee. For me, the most striking images of the trip derive from our crossing back into the United States. More