Environmental Witness Network

About the Project

SkyTruth is harnessing Web 2.0 technology to generate new information and catalyze citizen action on critical environmental justice issues. The Environmental Witness Network (EWN) will integrate advanced imaging and virtual globe technology with dynamic, web-based mapping and local search capability to bring people together and spur them to action. Via EWN's map interface, people will act as citizen journalists by uploading photos, video and text to demonstrate impacts and to engage with others in a global community of activists. EWN will allow stakeholders to describe the issues they face and to share the story of their own environment and experience. Maps provide a visual and a concrete tie to the tangible world where a viewer can experience many narratives at once.

EWN's suite of tools will be built to apply to any environmental justice issue, particularly those with a strong geographic component. SkyTruth will launch the Network focusing on the massive impacts of natural gas and oil development, in coalition with citizens organizations nationwide. Far from being a clean energy alternative, natural gas has 21 times carbon dioxide's global warming impact. Toxic chemicals used in extraction and production pollute the air and groundwater. Roads and industrial traffic destroy wildlife habitat.

And the pressure to extract more natural gas - as a bridge to lower-carbon fuels, as a means of promoting national energy "independence," and as a way to provide short-term local jobs - is threatening the fabric of our rural communities. While these goals have debatable merits, policymakers need to be made aware that drilling has its downside.

EWN's innovative participatory platform will allow citizen groups to reach a broader public, recruit new members and activate existing members. The Network offers a powerful new way to connect people affected by energy corporations' impacts on the ground with people everywhere and work collectively to change policies at all levels that allow rampant development to continue unchecked.

The Fledgling Fund Impact

The Fledgling Fund is pleased to support this innovative and unique web platform. We believe that the EWN will not only stand alone as a significant added value to the environmental movement, but also support the work of so many other media projects who are reaching out to their followers to become actively engaged in the movement. The EWN has an unprecedented opportunity to move people from passively aware of a problem, to actively engaged in the solution.