joni mitchell

Green Grammys

My incomplete list of notable environmental songs. Prepare to be guilt-tripped.

From John Prine to Childish Gambino, here are some of the most notable environmental songs of the past few decades (please excuse the heavy 1970's bias — these were my formative years, and an era when protest songs ran amok).


Bo Diddley: "Pollution"

Bo Diddley, he of the smokin' 1950's guitar, sang that he wore a cobra snake for a necktie. By 1971, he had trend-spotted an awful song called "Pollution," which warned "pretty soon we all goin' die."

Asylum Street Spankers: “Whatever”

This raunchy Austin bar band tells the story of a desperate young man who will do anything, including recycling, to impress a young woman.

Tower of Power: “There is Only So Much Oil in the Ground” 

The blistering horn-based band from Oakland released this in 1975.

Percy Mayfield: "Danger Zone" & "Please Send Me Someone to Love"

Percy Mayfield was a 1950's bluesman and prolific songwriter who wrote two songs about finding romance before the Cold War did us all in. Danger Zone and Please Send Me Someone to Love never topped the charts, but can you think of anything bluesier than global thermonuclear war?

Tracy Chapman: “Rape of the World” 

This song leverages the singer's sometimes angry, morose delivery on a song whose title says it all.

Childish Gambino:  “Feels like Summer”

"Every day gets hotter than the one before/Running out of water, it's about to go down."

Johnny Cash (and the Beach Boys!): “Don’t Go Near the Water” 

How about two very different songs with the same title? Johnny Cash's 1974 "Don't Go Near the Water" warns "see the fish all dead upon the shore."

Three years earlier, the Beach Boys dropped the most un-Beach Boys song imaginable. "Don't go near the water. "Oceans, rivers, lakes and streams/Have all been touched by man/The poison floating out to sea/Now threatens life on land."

Randy Newman: “Burn On”

The laconic singer/songwriter was impressed by Cleveland's chronically flammable stream. "The Cuyahoga River goes smokin' through my dreams/Burn on, big river, burn on."

Also, Newman's "Political Science" is a jaunty tribute to nuclear war.

John Prine: “Paradise”

"Paradise" laments the abandonment of the Kentucky town where his parents grew up in the shadow of a massive coal-fired plant. "Mr Peabody's Coal Train has hauled it away."

Within the past few years, the plant closed, Peabody Energy fell into bankruptcy, and Prine died of COVID.

Joni Mitchell: “Big Yellow Taxi” 

Mitchell's oft-covered "Big Yellow Taxi" contained the plea "Hey farmer, farmer, put away your DDT now/Give me spots on my apples, but leave me the birds and the bees." A year later, DDT was outlawed.

Bob Dylan:  “A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall”

"A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall" predicts a ravaged world. (But I like Leon Russell's cover version better).

Neil Young: “After The Gold Rush”

"After The Gold Rush" contains the mournful catchphrase "Look at Mother Nature on the run in the 1970's," followed by an equally mournful french horn.

Stephen Stills: “Ecology Song”

"Ecology Song" features the Memphis Horns. It dates from the peak of the protest song era, and Mr. Stills is a tad upset: "All of this crying, while the Earth is dying. It's a shock they won't stop because of the money."

David Crosby and Graham Nash: “To the Last Whale”

Crosby and Nash offered up "To the Last Whale," which happily hasn't come to pass. Yet.

Marvin Gaye: "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)” 

I recently wrote about Marvin Gaye's classic "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)." and its 50th anniversary. It may be the best ever. Unless….

Don McLean: "Tapestry"

Before "American Pie," Don McLean wrote a lyrical guilt trip called "Tapestry:."

"If man is allowed to destroy all we need, he will soon have to pay with his life for his greed."

Peter Dykstra is our weekend editor and columnist. What are your favorite (or least favorite!) environmental songs? Send them in to Peter at pdykstra@ehn.org or @pdykstra.

His views do not necessarily represent those of Environmental Health News, The Daily Climate, or publisher, Environmental Health Sciences.

Banner photo: Conrad Bakker/flickr

Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro speaks with the state flag and American flag behind him.
Credit: Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs/Flickr

Two years into his term, has Gov. Shapiro kept his promises to regulate Pennsylvania’s fracking industry?

A new report assesses the administration’s progress and makes new recommendations

PITTSBURGH — Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro ran on a promise to regulate Pennsylvania’s oil and gas industry more stringently. Two years into his term, the Environmental Health Project, a public health advocacy nonprofit focused on fracking, has published a report that assesses the Shapiro administration’s progress.

Keep reading...Show less
Senator Whitehouse & climate change

Senator Whitehouse puts climate change on budget committee’s agenda

For more than a decade, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse gave daily warnings about the mounting threat of climate change. Now he has a powerful new perch.
An NOAA truck with a weather satellite on the back.

Trump’s government cuts disrupt NOAA forecasts and data collection

President Trump’s efforts to shrink the federal workforce have triggered firings, operational cuts, and email security problems at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Oliver Milman reports for The Guardian.

Keep reading...Show less
Courtroom with a jury box and judge's bench.
Credit: Pixabay

Trump EPA’s fraud claims stall in court as green bank funding freeze drags on

Federal court documents reveal the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under President Trump has yet to produce evidence of fraud in a $20 billion climate grant program it moved to freeze earlier this year.

Lisa Friedman and Claire Brown report for The New York Times.

Keep reading...Show less
Wind turbines in grass field during golden hour.

Texas lawmakers move to restrict growth of wind and solar power

Texas and other Republican-led states are advancing legislation that could slow or block new renewable energy projects, as political momentum shifts back toward fossil fuels.

David Montgomery reports for Stateline.

Keep reading...Show less
Person wearing green jacket with the word Greenpeace on the back.

Greenpeace verdict over pipeline protest defamation could spell problems for environmental activism and speech

A North Dakota jury found Greenpeace defamed pipeline builder Energy Transfer during protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline, awarding $250 million in defamation damages. What does it mean for environmental activism and free speech?

Karen Zraick reports for The New York Times.

Keep reading...Show less
A petrochemical plant on the water at nighttime.

Petrochemical industry struggles with overcapacity, rising costs, and shaky green investments

Executives at a Houston conference warned that global overbuilding, slow economic growth, and policy uncertainty are shaking the foundation of the petrochemical industry as it faces pressure to go greener.

Alexander Tullo reports for Chemical & Engineering News.

Keep reading...Show less
The word plastic spelled out in multicolored letters.

Plastic ban in Bangladesh struggles as eco-friendly bags face high costs

Government raids in Dhaka reveal the ongoing failure of Bangladesh’s plastic bag ban, as consumers and businesses continue to rely on cheap, single-use polythene bags.

Mohammad Al-Masum Molla reports for Mongabay.

Keep reading...Show less
From our Newsroom
silhouette of people holding hands by a lake at sunset

An open letter from EPA staff to the American public

“We cannot stand by and allow this to happen. We need to hold this administration accountable.”

wildfire retardants being sprayed by plane

New evidence links heavy metal pollution with wildfire retardants

“The chemical black box” that blankets wildfire-impacted areas is increasingly under scrutiny.

People  sitting in an outdoors table working on a big sign.

Op-ed: Why funding for the environmental justice movement must be anti-racist

We must prioritize minority-serving institutions, BIPOC-led organizations and researchers to lead environmental justice efforts.

joe biden

Biden finalizes long-awaited hydrogen tax credits ahead of Trump presidency

Responses to the new rules have been mixed, and environmental advocates worry that Trump could undermine them.

Op-ed: Toxic prisons teach us that environmental justice needs abolition

Op-ed: Toxic prisons teach us that environmental justice needs abolition

Prisons, jails and detention centers are placed in locations where environmental hazards such as toxic landfills, floods and extreme heat are the norm.

Agents of Change in Environmental Justice logo

LISTEN: Reflections on the first five years of the Agents of Change program

The leadership team talks about what they’ve learned — and what lies ahead.

Stay informed: sign up for The Daily Climate newsletter
Top news on climate impacts, solutions, politics, drivers. Delivered to your inbox week days.