The Green Flame

This episode is a cross-post from CELDF's Truth and Reckoning podcast. On this episode we speak with Denzel Caldwell and Jassim Guila The interview with Denzel Caldwell was conducted by Kai Huschke, CELDF's Executive Director. Caldwell is part of the Black Nashville Assembly and is Program Manager for Economics and Governance at the Highlander Research & Education Center in Tennessee. The second interview is conducted by Max Wilbert, and is with Jassim Guila. Guila lives in the Philippines and is part of various grassroots networks of resistance, environmental protection, and mutual aid. He is also the Organizing Director of Blue Earth Defense, an international radical environmental organization. Our conversations focus on the topic of state repression, vigilante violence, and other forms of authoritarianism facing our movements and our communities. We're bringing their voices to you now as a preview for our upcoming special event, scheduled for Monday, July 21st at 6pm Pacific Time - that's 7pm Mountain, 8pm Central, and 9pm eastern. We're holding the event at that time because for this event, Denzel, Jassim, Kai, and myself will be joined by several other speakers from the Philippine archipelago. The title of the event is "Solidarity Against Tyranny: Frontline Resistance Insights from the Philippines and Appalachian South", and it's free and open to the public. There are three ways to watch. You can tune in on the CELDF YouTube channel You can find the event on our Facebook page And you can watch directly through Zoom. The advantage of joining via Zoom is that you'll be able to submit questions for the Q&A Please register and help us spread the word. Thank you! About the Truth and Reckoning Podcast In this show, we learn from frontline organizers and communities fighting against environmental destruction. We explore different perspectives and innovative strategies for movement building, the potency and potential of rights of nature, and effective action in defense of our communities. And, we share inspiring stories of people working towards right relationship with the land and each other. The show is hosted by CELDF Community Resistance and Resilience Program Co-Director Max Wilbert. This show can be found on the following platforms: Apple Podcasts Spotify Pocketcasts YouTube (video and audio) And anywhere else you get your podcasts About CELDF — Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund CELDF is a nationwide community of organizers, lawyers, and partners who educate, agitate, and organize to confront systemic injustice and restore humanity's reciprocal relationship with the Earth. For over 30 years, we've helped communities resist corporate exploitation, reject regulatory false promises, and assert their right to self-govern through systems grounded in ecological balance and collective power.

This is the reading of an article originally published here: https://maxwilbert.substack.com/p/how-to-stop-worrying-and-love-the

This is the reading of an article originally published here: https://maxwilbert.substack.com/p/action-101-anatomy-of-a-campaign

Attorney Terry Lodge on the increasing attacks against the First Amendment Right to free speech This is a repost of a new podcast I'm hosting with the Community Environmental Legal Defense fund. If you'd like to subscribe, you can find the show on Substack here (https://celdf.substack.com/t/truth-and-reckoning), or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, etc. I'll be republishing episodes of this show on The Green Flame podcast. "First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me." —Martin Niemöller Niemöller was a Lutheran Pastor who at first supported the Nazi regime, but then came to oppose the party after Hitler's rise to power. He was held in Nazi concentration camps and prisons from 1937 - 1945, and came to believe that Germans had been complicit through their silence in the rise of Nazi ideology, the establishment of authoritarian rule, crackdowns on political and ethnic targets, and eventually, genocide. Welcome to Truth and Reckoning, a podcast from CELDF — the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund. On this episode we speak with CELDF legal director Terry Lodge Lodge has been a movement attorney for more than 40 years, litigating cases ranging from environmental (rights of nature, NEPA, Tribal sacred sites, mining, pipelines, criminal and civil defense, etc.) to anti-war (nuclear power, nuclear weapons, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, etc.). Lately, he's been active in the movement to stop the genocide in Palestine. Our conversation in this episode focuses on repression, authoritarianism, and the rapid erosion of civil liberties and basic freedoms in the United States under the Trump Administration, especially in relation to the ongoing genocide in Palestine, and on the relationship between this and the destruction of the planet. This topic is close to our hearts here at CELDF, not least because we and our community have been targeted with lawsuits, gag orders, SLAPPs, harassment, and other forms of intimidation for our political speech for many years. Recently, CELDF offered support and solidarity to students at Columbia University who we have been connected to via rights of nature work, and who are now facing repression due to their stances on Palestine (see below for more on this). "What's happening is phenomenal," Lodge says. "It hasn't always been this way. But the tendency [towards severe repression] is very deep rooted, and the arc of our history has been in the direction of what we're seeing today." In our discussion, we touch on: The suppression of dissent, especially regarding criticism of the Israeli occupying entity and the U.S. foreign policy supporting it with weapons, intelligence, and even by waging undeclared war in Yemen to defend the genocide. What Lodge calls "the jingoistic invocation of antisemitism" being "hypocritically mobilized as a means of shutting down dissent" in a method "akin to red-baiting during the McCarthy-era and the anti-Vietnam war era, where terrorism is the new communism." The bi-partisan nature of repression and expansion of authoritarian and executive power in the United States in what Terry calls "the early stage of a dramatic shifting in the nature of the corporate state" — away from inverted totalitarianism and towards open authoritarianism. How all of this is not actually an anomaly in U.S. history. While this is an extreme moment, there have been other times similar to this in the past in this country, where we've seen this combination of foreign adventurism, imperialism, genocide, and internal repression all happening concurrently. See, for example, Stephen Carr Hampton's recent piece on parallels between U.S. responses to the Trails of Tears in the late 1830's, and public responses to the ongoing genocide in Palestine. And finally, we conclude by discussing the necessity and urgency of action — radical, effective, and committed action — against all of this. Read the letter sent by the Veterans for Peace to the Department of State, drafted by Lodge, outlining how the U.S. supplying weapons to Israel violates multiple existing laws including the Conventional Arms Transfer Policy, Foreign Assistance Act, Arms Export Control Act, War Crimes Act, and Genocide Convention Implementation Act. On May 9th of this year, CELDF's director of education wrote to NYU's More than Human Rights (MOTH) principles to share concern for the Law School's disciplinary actions against student protestors. From the letter: "The recent disciplinary actions against student protestors. . . raise the specter of authoritarian intolerance flooding into higher education. . . When we try to answer the Lorax's question, 'who speaks for the trees?' an institution that tolerates or enforces political suppression of free speech rights cannot credibly advocate for the expression of other-than-human rights. Nature depends on the ability of human members of local natural communities to speak freely on its behalf. CELDF urges you to use the platform of the MOTH program to stand for the defense of students and their right to protest without draconian and irrational harassment from the school of law and the NYU administration. . . CELDF stands ready to meet and consult with you anytime over legal and administrative strategy and to help organize the [rights of nature] movement to come to your aid. Please feel free to contact me if you'd like our help. We also intend to contact MOTH law students to explore the prospect of building resistance to the disciplinary campaign.

This is a repost of a new podcast I'm hosting with the Community Environmental Legal Defense fund. If you'd like to subscribe, you can find the show on Substack here (https://celdf.substack.com/p/patch-by-patch-the-habitat-is-being), or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, etc. I'll be republishing episodes of this show on The Green Flame podcast. On this episode, we explore the greenwashed destruction of the last remaining Diamondback Terrapin nesting habitat in Virginia Beach, VA We speak with Dr. John Aquiar, a lifelong resident of the Virginia Beach area, who reached out to CELDF for help in February 2025. We're used to getting requests from community members facing threats to the human community where they live, but this request was about protecting the Diamondback Terrapin from a supposed "restoration" project. This story is one of a growing number of examples — from forest thinning to spraying invasive species with herbicides — where "restoration" has been co-opted and used as a greenwashing technique. This isn't an indictment of restoration as a whole, but it is a warning that there are active attempts to use the language emerging from this field to justify more destruction of our planet. In this podcast, Dr. Aquiar speaks for the terrapins because no one else is doing so, and explains the situation at a place called Pleasure House Point Natural Area. At Pleasure House Point, the city of Virginia Beach is currently clearcutting a mature native forest and destroying critical nesting habitat for the Diamondback Terrapin. It's part of what they call a "restoration" project, and is happening as part of a wetlands-credit scheme whereby wetlands habitat elsewhere which is being destroyed for a flood-mitigation project is supposedly being "offset" by the creation of new wetlands at Pleasure House Point. In both cases, nature is losing. Many of the issues Dr. Aguiar raises are the same as we hear from other communities. Why is the community just learning of the project even though the city and the NGO's in favor of it have supposedly known for years? Why were the only public meetings on the project held one week before Christmas and then the vote was the meeting right after New Year's? What is the rush and why can't more information from unbiased sources be collected and presented to the residents of the community to assess and then have a voice in making the decision? Who are the experts advising destroying this habitat? Why is it that nature always has to be destroyed? Why not bulldoze the golf course or the luxury homes instead and turn that land into salt marsh? Is there a profit motive involved here for various contractors and others? Rarely do we find people who are so concerned about a non-human species' welfare and potential for survival into the future. That's why we felt it was important to give Dr. Aquiar the chance to speak for the terrapins and see if there are others out there who are also concerned. Status of and Threats to Diamondback Terrapins The main threat to the Diamondback Terrapin is habitat loss, and this project is part of that. As we researched the background for this show, we found lots of people and organizations using the Terrapin's image for promotion and fundraising purposes, yet mostly these groups don't seem to mention them much other than that. According to the IUCN: Malaclemys terrapin [Diamondback Terrapin] is assessed as Vulnerable due to observed threats documented in the past and projected into the future with ≥35% population declines of monitored populations resulting from overexploitation, accidental mortality as bycatch in commercial Blue Crab fisheries, coastal habitat loss due to development, principally the loss of limited nesting habitat, in addition to extensive estuarine saltmarsh loss, and ongoing subsidized nest predation by mesopredators (threats reviewed in Roosenburg 2004; Butler et al. 2018; Chambers and Maerz 2018; Roosenburg and Kennedy 2018). Overall, it is our assessment that M. terrapin has sustained range-wide population declines over the last 30 years (two generations) of 25-30% and that the rate of decline is predicted to continue at the same rate for another 15 years (one generation), or about a 10-15% further decline, for a total decline over three generations (45 years) of 35-45%. How to support Diamondback Terrapins need every bit of their remaining habitat to be protected. That means that anyone living along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts is likely near to some terrapin habitat which is under immanent threat from development, aka destruction. If you live in the Virginia Beach area, want to get in touch with Dr. Aquiar, or discuss this issue with us, please reach out to CELDF's Consulting Director Tish O'Dell (contact information here). If you want to support this podcast, Truth and Reckoning, here's a few ways you can do so. First, subscribe via your favorite podcast app, like Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Then, share this broadcast with your friends and family. Leave a positive review via your podcast app. Visit the Truth and Reckoning YouTube channel and leave a thumbs up and comment. The full scope of the work of CELDF, including this show, comes with a financial cost, so if you can donate, go to CELDF.org. But most importantly, our goal for this show is to empower you to act, so the best way you can show support is to get involved with your community and protect where you live. Thank you very much. See you on the front lines.  

This is a repost of a new podcast I'm hosting with the Community Environmental Legal Defense fund. If you'd like to subscribe, you can find the show on Substack here (https://celdf.substack.com/p/truth-and-reckoning-episode-1-the), or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, etc. I'll also be republishing episodes of this show on The Green Flame podcast. ------------ On this show: Rights of Nature for the waters of New York State We speak to CELDF Education Director Ben Price, one of the organizers behind the 2006 Tamaqua, Pennsylvania passage of the first rights of nature law anywhere on Earth (at least in the western legal system. Of course, indigenous communities have recognized various forms of rights of nature for a long time). And, we speak with Tish O'Dell, Consulting Director from CELDF, and longtime community activist for the rights of nature. Both Tish and Ben have played a key role in the introduction into the New York State legislature of the Great Lakes and State Waters Bill of Rights (New York Assembly Bill AO5156A), which Assemblyman Patrick Burke introduced on March 19th. If passed, it would be the first-ever state rights of nature law in the United States. In our conversation, we discuss: The history of how, despite significant pushback, the rights of nature movement as a means for communities to assert their rights against corporate interests has gained traction across the U.S. How local laws aimed at protecting the environment often face anti-democratic legal challenges from corporations and the state. The truly revolutionary and transformative potential of rights of nature, especially in the current political climate — if people are prepared to face down power to enforce these new laws. The path towards a legal and philosophical re-evaluation of human interaction with "the environment" to foster sustainability and collective rights. Rolling Stone recently covered this story: https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/climate-crisis-environment-rights-of-nature-movement-1235321655/ How to support A wide range of community members has already begun to speak out in favor of the bill. Individuals, organizations, businesses, and experts are being asked to sign on to a list of supporters. To learn more about how you can support the rights of The Great Lakes, or to create a similar bill in your own community, please reach out to CELDF's Consulting Director Tish O'Dell or Education Director Ben Price (contact information here). You can also donate to CELDF to support this effort. For those considering a contribution, Executive Director Kai Huschke can be reached here. If you want to support this podcast, Truth and Reckoning, here's a few ways you can do so. First, subscribe via your favorite podcast app, like Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Then, share this broadcast with your friends and family. Leave a positive review via your podcast app. Visit the Truth and Reckoning YouTube channel and leave a thumbs up and comment. The full scope of the work of CELDF, including this show, comes with a financial cost, so if you can donate, go to CELDF.org. But most importantly, our goal for this show is to empower you to act, so the best way you can show support is to get involved with your community and protect where you live. Thank you very much. See you on the front lines.

This is an audio recording of an article that can be found here: https://maxwilbert.substack.com/p/a-love-letter-to-my-old-home I recently moved away from my home for the last decade, a wooden cabin on the edge of an oak savanna. It was heartbreaking to leave that land, despite it being the right decision to make. So, I wrote a love letter to that place. Here's that piece, and a few of the beautiful moments from my time there.

This is an audio recording of an article that can be found here: https://maxwilbert.substack.com/p/meet-the-native-american-mother-being This is the second in a series of articles introducing the Thacker Pass Six, a group of traditional indigenous people and grassroots activists — including myself — who are being sued by a Canadian mining company called Lithium Nevada Corporation. This article focuses on Bhie-Cie Zahn Nahtzu.

This episode is the audio recording of an article published at https://maxwilbert.substack.com/p/this-poet-and-tribal-attorney-is. It is the third in a series of articles introducing the Thacker Pass Six, a group of traditional indigenous people and grassroots activists — including Green Flame host Max Wilbert — who are being sued by a Canadian mining company called Lithium Nevada Corporation. It was published on January 15th, 2025 — the four-year anniversary of the day that Will and Max set up a tent on the mountainside and launched the Protect Thacker Pass land defense campaign in 2021.

This episode is the audio recording of an article published at https://maxwilbert.substack.com/p/your-tesla-is-killing-the-planet. In it, I write about Tesla's climate change impacts, which amount to more than 50 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions per year. According to one study, this quantity of emissions will cause 50,000 future human deaths from climate change, per year. So, according to their own data, Tesla is responsible for human deaths equivalent to the 2023-25 Palestinian genocide or the atomic bombing of Nagasaki every 16 months or so.

This episode is the audio recording of an article published at https://maxwilbert.substack.com/p/remembering-the-lost-giants.  In it, I reflect on shifting baseline syndrome and the fact that redwoods aren't the tallest trees on Earth: they're the tallest which haven't been logged. 

This episode is the audio recording of an article published at https://maxwilbert.substack.com/p/this-native-elder-is-being-sued-by. In it, I introduce Dean Barlese, a traditional knowledge-holder from the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe, an elder who was raised on old stories told by his father and grandparents. He's the leader of the Pyramid Lake Spiritual Healing Center, and his ancestors fought in Snake War (1864-68) to protect Northern Paiute homelands from settler-colonial incursions. Dean is one of a group of land defenders and water protectors being sued by mining company Lithium Nevada Corporation after prayer actions took place at Thacker Pass in 2023.

The Wildlife Rescue was formed in 2010 to provide quality health care, often on an emergency basis, to native wildlife. Located in Delhi, India the NGO was founded by brothers Nadeem Shehzad and Muhammad Saud. This interview is a conversation with Nadeem and Saud. Their work was the focus of a 2022 documentary film, All That Breathes, which won Best Documentary at both the Sundance and Cannes film festivals (the first documentary to ever win both), and was nominated for the Academy Award for best documentary feature film. The film won at least 37 other major awards. On average, about 2,500 sick, injured and orphaned birds are treated and cared for annually by the Wildlife Rescue. The center is run by staff trained in emergency aid, with specialized avian veterinary care. The hospital treats a wide variety of injuries and illnesses that include broken bones, infections, diseases and malnutrition. It also cares for babies and juveniles that have been left orphaned. For whatever reason a bird is brought into the hospital, the aim of the center is to rehabilitate that bird back into the wild. Help raise funds for their work in India: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-all-that-breathes-protagonists-save-birds-in-india Their website: https://www.raptorrescue.org/  

A massive copper mine is planned 100 feet from the edge of Lake Superior (and may actually mine underneath the lake), adjacent to "the most beautiful State Park in the country" in the Upper Peninsula (UP) of Michigan. Sound like a bad idea? It gets worse: Tom Grotewohl says this should be called a "toxic waste mine" because 98.55% of what is produced will be toxic waste, not copper. At stake is wolves, fish, forests, endangered species, and a full 10% of the freshwater on the surface of our planet. Tom is organizing with other individuals and allies to oppose this mine. To learn more, donate, and sign their petition, visit their website at: https://protecttheporkies.com/

Roger Hallam is the co-founder of Extinction Rebellion, Radical Routes, Burning Pink, and Just Stop Oil. On today's show, we discuss strategy for the climate and ecological movements, the role of mass street protests and public assemblies, violence vs. nonviolence, revolutions throughout history, the collapse of industrial civilization, the dangers of fascism, practical organizing tips, and more. While we don't agree with Roger on everything, we're always thrilled to discuss these topics with passionate and hardworking people. Roger's website is https://rogerhallam.com/. The Green Flame podcast could use your support! JOIN the email list for the new confederation: https://mailchi.mp/4b63d232c6ee/soft-launch DONATE to The Green Flame: https://gofund.me/514f19bb Leaving us a positive review or rating helps us reach a larger audience. You can also share these shows with your friends. And finally, the goal of this show is to activate people. So if you really want to support this show, start organizing in your own community. Thank you again for listening.

For episode 100 of The Green Flame, we hosted a special live conversation between hosts Jennifer Murnan and Saba Malik, Saba Malik, Renee Gerlich, Carl Van Warmerdam, and Rebecca Wildbear. We announced that the show has separated from Deep Green Resistance, reflected on the origins of the Green Flame, discussed our favorite and most impactful episodes, and discussed our organizing projects. This episode is a celebration. JOIN the email list for the new confederation: https://mailchi.mp/4b63d232c6ee/soft-launch DONATE to The Green Flame: https://gofund.me/514f19bb READ Max's reflections on leaving DGR: https://maxwilbert.substack.com/p/grieving-change-celebrating-rebirth Leaving us a positive review or rating helps us reach a larger audience. You can also share these shows with your friends. And finally, the goal of this show is to activate people. So if you really want to support this show, start organizing in your own community. Thank you again for listening.

Episode 99 is an interview with Carl Van Warmerdam.  Carl delves into on the impact listening to the Ahjamu Umi Green Flame episode had on his life and activism.  We asked Carl three primary questions: How has the GF informed and inspired you?  What is your favorite episode?  What would you like to hear more of on the GF?  Please email contact@deepgreenresistance.org with your written, audio or video recorded responses to these questions so we can include your reflections in our Episode 100! Live Event, April 14th 2024, 4 - 7 PM Pacific Time.  You can find this live event on DGR's facebook and X accounts. As always, a BIG THANK YOU to you, our GF listeners.

The Tongass Rainforest in Southeast Alaska is the last great expanse of temperate old growth forest left in the United States, and it has been partially protected since the "Roadless Rule" halted most logging there in 2001.  Now, the "biggest threat to the west coast rainforest this century" is here: Bill S.1889/H.R. 4748, which would permanently privatize 115,200 acres (including 60,000 acres of old-growth) of Tongass National Forest into the hands of Sealaska Corporation — which has already logged massive swathes of the region. This conversation with Tlingit elder and forest defender Wanda Culp and filmmaker and activist Joshua Wright — who has been on the show before to discuss Fairy Creek — dives into "indigi-washing," one of the divide and conquer strategies used defeat public opposition to the destruction of the land. Wanda and Joshua are looking for allies: organizations and individuals willing to fight this project and defend the Tongass. For more information, visit https://www.notongassprivatization.org/

Dr Nzinga Dalilia, Saba Malik, and Max Wilbert join in conversation offering their unique perspectives on trauma, trauma community, addiction, "environmental justice", othering, the necessity of feeling safe in the process of seeing and being seen, healing spaces, falling back in love with ourselves and with all of life and coming into our individual and collective power in the process and much more. Watch for part two of this heartfelt compassionate and expansive exploration of Black People for the Natural World.   Dr. Dalila's book can be found here: https://nzinghadalila.gumroad.com/l/nxrbq

Before listening to this episode, stop. For the first time Lierre Keith's presentation on non-violent direct action is publicly available!  Go here and absorb this information: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMk1eltyuek Next, listen this GF episode, Lierre's account of ten courageous women's experiences as they organized and practiced NVDA brilliantly in November 2023 in Portland, Oregon. Here's the link to listen to the women's speeches that the mob failed to silence:  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgCCULqQ1mqE7kDS3JOS7H6ZQeUjAhpkg