I started my writing career in poetry. When I turned to prose, I was advised I couldn’t try to make every word perfect, as poems do; there are simply too many words in essays, articles, and stories. That didn’t sit right with me, and even now, I am still thinking about the sentence level, about the music of words as well as their meaning.

Details matter, and in this week’s Climate Justice newsletter, we are examining the nitty gritty. First, students are deeply concerned with the climate crisis, but in many educational settings—including programs training fashion designers—those concerns aren’t being addressed. Next, six months after Hurricane Helene devastated parts of North Carolina, a community-based conference considered how to build for its future. Then, why does it matter that wildfire smoke and heat, which kill more people than any other climate event, are still not labeled disasters? Finally, in honor of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month, the NPQ team is sharing a collection of stories we’ve published celebrating the contributions of generations of AANHPI people to US history, society, and culture.

Dr. Alison Stine
Climate Justice Senior Editor