Cathye Williams | Author

Let Them Lead

June 5, 2021

While 2020 likely won’t go down as anyone’s favorite year, there have been some bright spots. One for me is the rising environmental awareness and activism I see all around northern Michigan. Maybe our fragility in the face of the pandemic spurred our need to heal and restore.... Read More >>

The World Beneath our Feet

April 10, 2021

We tend to think big when it comes to fixing environmental problems — towering turbines, expansive solar arrays, or giant facilities to recycle waste. And we should strive for big ideas. We need them if we’re going to create cleaner ways to make and move things and to feed and... Read More >>

Escape the Echo Chamber

Feb. 6, 2021

Trying to cut down on some clutter, I found myself leafing through years worth of back issues of a local magazine, one always full of stories and images that highlight the best our region has to offer.  Instead of eliminating piles, however, I found myself staring out my frosty windo... Read More >>

The Year of Possibility

Dec. 12, 2020

 

If 2020 were a movie, the trailer alone would have most of us heading for the exits. The pandemic brought death, isolation, and financial hardship.

The murder of George Floyd et al, brought a reckoning: that our ideals of freedom and justice are only that — an... Read More >>

Hope and Vote

Oct. 24, 2020

With mail-in voting well underway for many, and a trip to the polls just days away for many more, the gravity of the outcome of this election is lost on no one.

Rhetoric abounds, some of which I’d like to see go. At the top of my list for expungement are the words &ldquo... Read More >>

Tunnel Vision

Aug. 22, 2020

What is it about Northern Michigan? If you didn’t know better, you’d look at the abundant sunshine and blue water and shady forests and think we’re having a glorious time. Maybe Mother Nature has decided her alarm bells don’t work here and has opted to send poignan... Read More >>

No Justice, No Earth

June 20, 2020

I’m often casting about for environmental writing inspiration. This month, I thought of Northern Michigan exploding into its summer colors, themselves accompanied by the calls of birds, frogs, and coyotes. Working in my garden, I worried about farmers facing uncertainty in the midst... Read More >>

Earth Day Interrupted

April 18, 2020

At any other time, I would be using this April column to write about spring, renewal, and hope. But this year, Earth Day, like everything else, will be a virtual event. Our ritual tree plantings and neighborhood cleanups will be sidelined, as we wait for pandemic cases to peak and subside... Read More >>

Who’s Schooling Who?

Feb. 1, 2020

Full disclosure. I’m a Greta Thunberg fan. The calm determination and clear-eyed vision of the 16-year-old climate activist gets me through moments of frustration and despair. I’m grateful for Greta and all of the other youth marching into the new decade tirelessly insisting t... Read More >>

Thank a Farmer

Nov. 16, 2019

November is a favorite month for me. Just past the blazing glory of September and October, and before the frigid plunge into December, November sits unassuming, and I believe, slightly underrated. It’s amazing to me that somehow this month still delivers us sustaining foods — ... Read More >>

Take Action, Take Heart

Sept. 21, 2019

The folks I have met volunteering for environmental causes come from all walks of life. There’s some who spend their days looking through microscopes, some crunching numbers, some wiping noses. Some are retired, while others are still figuring out what they want to be when they grow... Read More >>

Reason for Hope

July 13, 2019

Since joining Citizens Climate Lobby 6 years ago, I’ve sometimes felt like I’m on autopilot. My concern about the climate crisis and my activism have changed little. Thus I found myself taken aback recently when a new volunteer asked a sincere and troubling question — wh... Read More >>

Learning to Listen

May 18, 2019

On May 6, the United Nations shared findings from the most comprehensive assessment ever conducted on the impact of human development on the natural world. The landmark study from the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) involved hu... Read More >>