“The Diné know what it means to be driven from land, to adapt, to survive from one epoch to the next, even though things are not okay.” Alliance partner Nikki Cooley shares her unique perspective on our future with climate change, and how adaptation is nothing new, in a recent Washington Post article.
(Washington Post Staff Illustration)
“The wind feels wrong in Arizona, and Nikki Cooley listens to the elders. The Diné know what it means to be driven from land, to adapt, to survive from one epoch to the next, even though things are not okay.”
Early this year, the Washington Post published an article exploring the multitude of ways that “Everything is not going to be okay” under climate change — how people from different walks of life are living with this reality, and what they are doing in spite of it.
Nikki Cooley, Co-Manager of Climate Change Programs at the Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals (ITEP) and integral partner of the Climate Science Alliance, was interviewed by WP reporter Dan Zak for his article featuring her unique perspective on climate change. “It does take an emotional toll,” [Cooley] says, “but I have to remember that these people keep going, and have been going since the colonial settlers stepped foot on this land.”
Read the full article ‘Everything is not going to be okay’: How to live with constant reminders that the Earth is in trouble by Dan Zek here.
The Climate Science Alliance is honored to work with Nikki Cooley, the ITEP team, and the amazing network of Tribal partners within our research, educational, and community projects. Learn more about how we collaborate to build Tribal resilience in the face of climate change here.