> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.possibilities.news/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Reforest Your Mind - URL: https://www.possibilities.news/coachella-owner-climate-denial/ - Published: 2025-04-24T12:00:15.000Z - Updated: 2025-05-30T21:44:58.000Z - Description: Let's rethink our relationship to each other β€” and music festivals like Coachella. - Author: Yessenia Funes **This edition is available to all subscribers (except the paid exclusives). Support my work and upgrade to paid** [**here**](https://www.possibilities.news/data-privacy-security/#/portal/signup) **for as little as $3 a month.** --- **LISTENING:** *to airport chatter* **FEELING:** *grateful for airport lounge food* **SEEING:** *an empty bowl of gummy bears* "Reforest your mind." Artist and cultural strategist [Favianna Rodriguez](https://favianna.com/?ref=possibilities.news) shared those words during a panel discussion I moderated Tuesday. I immediately wrote them down. Reforest your mind β€” it's about reimagining, rewriting the stories we tell ourselves, reshifting our approach to the work we do. We know what's wrong, but how do we build something better? I'm leaving [SF Climate Week](https://www.sfclimateweek.org/?ref=possibilities.news), specifically the Earth Summit Commons put together, and heading to the [Society of Environmental Journalists](https://www.sej.org/?ref=possibilities.news) conference next. There's always so much work to do: voices to uplift and minds to train. I'm thinking a lot about how I need to reforest my mind in regards to my work. How do I learn new skills to do the work I want to do? How do I refocus my reporting to prioritize the stories I'm itching to tell? How can you reforest your mind? What new seeds can you plant? How high can the trunks soar into the sky? How far can the branches reach? What new organisms will sprout and take root in the understory? [Support an independent journalist](#/portal/account/plans) At Tuesday's panel, another panelist, [Hike Clerb](https://www.hikeclerb.org/?ref=possibilities.news) founder and executive director Evelynn Escobar, urged attendees to take "inspired actions." If we put our energy into one or two things that truly inspire us, then the actions come much easier. I loved that idea. I'm always inspired by stories and hard-hitting journalism. My inspired action these days is about improving my own skill sets and narrowing my reporting focus. I signed up for an investigative online course starting in May that I hope makes me a better journalist. I've got a lot to learn when it comes to investigations, but my research for one more investigative project I've been working on for seemingly ever led me to a discovery I wanted to share. In the California desert, Coachella just wrapped up. Big names like Charli XCX and Lady Gaga took to the stage. I've always longed to go, and many climate influencers attend every year. Well, maybe they should rethink their attendance. The owner of Coachella has [donated](https://www.billboard.com/pro/aeg-owner-phil-anschutz-anti-lgbtq-conservative-donations/?ref=possibilities.news) to right-wing conservative causes, including anti-LGBTQ+ and climate denial organizations and candidates. More recently, billionaire Philip Anschutz [donated](https://www.okayplayer.com/culture/coachella-owner-elton-john-aids-foundation.html?ref=possibilities.news) to Elton John's AIDS foundation, but that doesn't absolve him of his past. After all, his billions came from fossil fuels. He's since begun to invest in some renewable energy (namely, a [wind farm in Wyoming](https://www.forbes.com/sites/christopherhelman/2019/10/02/the-oil-money-fueling-americas-biggest-and-costliest-wind-farm/?ref=possibilities.news)), but let's not greenwash his story. So here's some information that can help reforest the mind β€” one idea for an inspired action. Let's stop giving our money to these evil billionaires. Climate activists have [launched a boycott](https://www.reuters.com/pictures/targeting-tesla-anti-musk-protests-around-world-2025-04-10/?ref=possibilities.news) of Elon Musk and Tesla, and it's [working](https://apnews.com/article/tesla-deliveries-trump-musk-protests-boycott-67da667cd1267789fecf68376f2b5d14?ref=possibilities.news)! In 2019, [calls for a Coachella boycott rang](https://popculture.com/music/news/coachella-boycott-owner-controversial-politics/?ref=possibilities.news), including from actor and model Cara Delevingne. Musk can't be the only one taking the heat. What about Anschutz? I'm burning my dreams of ever attending Coachella. And I hope by next year, I've got the investigative chops to write a big story about where Anschutz's money will be then. I hope that there's a brighter story to write then. Not of another billionaire donating to efforts to erode human rights β€” but of people who took inspired action. Musicians and music lovers and influencers who stopped feeding the damn beast. This is how we reforest the mind. By standing up in mass. By putting thought into where we send our dollars. I'm not perfect, but we've got to start somewhere. πŸŒ€ *I chose my five raffle winners for the reader survey from last month. Please check your inbox (and spam) to see if you won! I will begin analyzing survey data next week, so stay tuned.* --- πŸ—žοΈ ****C L A S S I F I E D S** < Your short ad could go here. 200 characters or less. > ***Don't think too hard. Buy an ad** [***here**](https://www.yessfun.com/store/p/possibilities-classifieds?ref=possibilities.news)***.** --- *The below extras are visible to paid subscribers only.* #### Subscription FYIs You can always adjust your subscription [here](#/portal/account/plans). The newsletter has several tiers, so if you're able to give more or need to give less, please adjust it as you see fit. I'm also giving paid subscribers a first look into my children's book. I [wrote](https://www.possibilities.news/a-year-of-possibilities/) about this last year, but here is the [landing page](https://www.possibilities.news/childrens-book/) where I'm keeping track of all the editions where you can find what I've shared so far. Send agents my way! ## Rest in Power **While we can't say for certain that climate change led to these specific weather events (we need attribution studies for that), we do know that the Earth's rising temperatures are already creating more frequent and/or stronger disasters like these.** Over Easter weekend, a number of states faced deadly storms. In Oklahoma, at least five people [died](https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/20/weather/storms-south-oklahoma-flood-deaths/index.html?ref=possibilities.news), including a 12-year-old boy. *This section has been a little quiet lately. Prepare yourself. Summertime is the worst.* ## Currently Reading Remember when I [wrote](https://www.possibilities.news/indigenous-land-back-kentucky-prison/) about the Indigenous-led effort to stop a prison in Kentucky here? Well, I finally wrote a longer feature on it for Atmos. Check it out [here](https://atmos.earth/indigenous-leaders-thwart-prison-plans-with-a-sacred-bison-revival/?ref=possibilities.news). Naveena Sadasivam and Lylla Younes got a [wild ass investigation](https://grist.org/health/ethylene-oxide-el-paso-texas-unregulated-toxic-warehouse/?ref=possibilities.news) for Grist about a little-known chemical that's harming workers and community health. Bill McKibben [writes](https://billmckibben.substack.com/p/a-chill-falls-on-the-climate-community) about the rumored Trump administration's attacks on climate nonprofits: "It was perhaps inevitable that Trump and his team would target us; together we’ve been making life harder for his clients in the fossil fuel industry. And in the new America, if you don’t knuckle under you get a knuckle sandwich. Figuratively speaking. One hopes." ## Poetry all seeds need water but what kind? fresh rain from the clouds? or salty tears from my eyes? we garden with what we have a drought sucks the land dry not a drop from the sky but I have many tears they fall when there's no light all seeds need water I pour what I have \-ylf- ****What are you reading and seeing? Share in a comment.** **This is the 100th issue of Possibilities. This newsletter wouldn't exist without all of you. Sending you so much love. xx** \- Yessenia