2021 Earth Day Songs for Climate Justice

Climate justice in 2021 calls for songs that hold governments and corporations accountable for climate pollution. As of today, global ambitions to reduce climate pollution are dangerously low. Added up, the world’s current pledges are only at one percent of where we need to be. It’s time for the Biden administration to step up and listen to the diverse grassroots voices who say it’s time to #BuildBackFossilFree.

Fossil fuel pollution bears disproportionate impacts on Indigenous, Black, and Brown communities of color. In poor states like West Virginia, 50 percent of the population lives within one mile of polluting oil and gas wells, and transitioning coal communities still have polluted water and poor health.

In the U.S., Gulf Coast communities in Texas and Louisiana are especially hard hit with fossil fuel processing and export pollution. That’s why – this week – organizers and community members in DC with Defend the Gulf – are making the case that we cannot curb climate change in the U.S. without swift climate action in the Gulf and the reinstatement of the crude oil export ban.

Environmental songs for Earth Day help uplift these movements for climate justice. Many of these artists have been performing in communities for decades. Some are well known, some not so well known.

This is by no means your average “top ten” Earth Day song list – but a diverse collection of topics and genres by diverse artists.

See our song list by topics (Energy and Climate) for a more complete ecosong list. Suggestions are welcome.

To hear a sample of songs and artists, enjoy our playlist 2021 Earth Week Songs for Climate Justice

More Energy & Climate Songs

• Oak Tree, by Ann Feeney & Friends
• Brown Air, by Banana Slug String Band
• What’cha Gonna Do, by Béla Fleck & Abigail Washburn
• They Lied, by Bev Grant
• All Go Together, by Big Country
• Progress and Problems, by Bill Oliver
• Cleaning Up the Oil, by Bob Bossin
• Radium Rain, by Bruce Cockburn
• Erie Canal, by Bruce Springsteen
• Crazy Dream, by Brumley & Gardner
• Wind’s Dominion, by Butch Hancock
• Black Fields, by Capercailllie
• They’re Building a Pipeline, by Carol Denney
• PG&E Song, by Carol Denney
• Eye Water, by Cassius (featuring Pharrell Williams)
• Filter It Out, by Cathy Winters
• James Bay, by Cathy Winters
• Power Song, by Cecelia Ostrow
• Dinner at Five, by Chris McCarter
• Heal! — A Battle Poem for the Climate and Its Defenders Composed by Peter Godart, Text by Tiandra Ray
• Climate Change, by Cooper Alan
• This is My Prairie, by Corb Lund
• Gettin’ Down on the Mountain, Corb Lund
• Power Plant Blues, by Country Joe MacDonald
• 2187, by Dakota Sid
• Belle of Ole Perdido, by Dale and Linda Crider
• Black Years, by Dale Crider
• Air Mail Pollution, by Dan Berggren
• Blind to the Truth, by Dan Fogelberg
• Petroleum People, by Dana Hubbard
• Our State is a Dumpsite, by Dana Lyons
• We’re All Dead Ducks, by Darryl Cherney
• What the Frack, by Dave Lippman
• Diggin in the Deep Blue Sea, by David Bromberg
• Warner Valley Swan Song, by David Charles
• Gasoline, by David Dodson
• Dark as a Dungeon, by Davisson Brothers Band
• Wise Men in White Lab Coats, by Dean Stevens
• Industrial Twilight, by Devonsquare
• Industrial Disease, by Dire Straits
• Too Darned Hot, by Donna Dufresne
• Shantyman’s Hail, by Double Trouble
• Business As Usual, by Doug Adamz
• Uncle Frank, by Drive-by Truckers
• S.U.V.s, by DuBoise and Kimball
• Earth, by Dweezil Zappa
• Energy, by Earth Mama – Joyce Johnson Rouse
• Just a Kid, by Edgar Winter
• Bless this Place, by Eileen Motok & Intuit
• Help Somebody, by Elles Bailey
• Dancing the Animal, by Esperanza Spalding
• Life is Sacred, by Essra Mohawk
• Leave Heaven Alone, by Exene Cervenka
• Apathy, by Falling South
• Yucca Mountain, by Fashionably Late
• Nature’s Way, by Firefall
• B.I.A. (Bureau of Indian Affairs) BLUES, by Floyd Westerman
• They Didn’t Listen, by Floyd Westerman
• Run Rabbit Run, by Flying Fish
• Hot Frogs on the Loose, by Fred Small
• Warlords, by Fred Small
• Spit into the Fire, by Fury in the Slaughterhouse
• Hurricane (No Nukes), by Gene LaFond
• My Kingdom for a Car (Phil Ochs), by Gene Parsons
• Wreck of the Exxon Valdez, by Geoff Bartley
• Starting Place, by Geoff Kaufman
• It Really Isn’t Garbage, by Geoff Kaufman
• Save the World, by George Harrison
• Greed, by Georgie Jessup
• Nuclear Waste Blues, Greg Keeler
• Kinder Gentler Song, by Greg Keeler
• Bad Science-Fiction, by Greg Keeler
• Brave New World, by Greta Van Fleet
• Oil Age, by Happy Savage
• Ghost Town, by Huns & Dr. Beeker
• Wasteland of the Free, by Iris Dement
• Accidents, by Janet Russell
• To Live Here, by Jeff Falconer
• Have You Seen the Saucer? by Jefferson Starship
• Big Mountain, by Jim Beer & the River
• Service Station, blues by Jim Booth
• Three Mile Island, byJim Duke, Les Alstatt and the Maryland Boys
• Valdez, by Jim Page
• Trouble On the Horizon, by Jimmy Buffett
• California’s Burning, by Joanne Rand
• Honor the Atmosphere, Joanne Steele
• Evacuation Plan Blues, byJohn Cary
• Power, by John Hall
• Wounded Knee, by John Lefebvre
• Plan It, by John Lefebvre
• Go Go Green, by John Lefebvre
• Paradise, by John Prine
• Emotional Allegiance (Stand by Me), by Johnny Clegg
• Solar Kills, by Jon Sirkis
• Working Offshore, by Jonathan Byrd
• Bury my Bones, by Josie Kuhn
• The Greenhouse Effect (The American Response), by Kelly Cranston
• Words from Earth, by Ken Briegleb
• Conviction of the Heart, by Kenny Loggins
• Dirty Dollar, by Kev Carmody
• Eighteen Miles Per Gallon, by Kim Forehand
• Greenhouse Effect, by Kim Forehand
• The Solar Energy, by Song Kim Wallach
• Wall of Fire, by Kinks
• Everything Glows, by Les Barker
• Earth, by Lil Dicky
• Change the Weather, by Loud Sugar
• No Ozone, by Loud Sugar
• Hard Day on the Planet Loudon, by Wainwright III
• Rays of Hope, by Louise Falkoff
• Time’s Running Out for Garbage, by Lydia Adams Davis
• Power of the Wind, by Magpie
• Power Plant Reggae, by Malvina Reynolds
• I’ll Be Gone, by Marc Black
• No Fracking Way, by Marc Black
• It’s Too Hot, by Maria Sangiolo
• Two Wheel Tang, by Marie-Lynn Hammond
• We Live Here, by Marienne Krietlow
• Song for the Gwich’in, by Marienne Krietlow
• Mercy, Mercy Me the Ecology, by Marvin Gaye
• McHappiness, by Matt Keating
• Where Do the Children Play, by (Cat Stevens) Michael Monroe
• Trash this Planet, by Mike Delaney
• Buffalo Creek, by Mike Morningstar
• Wake Up America, by Miley Cirus
• First They Came, by Mimi Baczewska
• Dear Old Sun, by Miranda Lampert
• New World Water, by Mos Def
• Fuel Line, by Neil Young
• Roses, by Nik Kershaw
• How the Weary World Wears Away, by Norman Blake, Nancy Blake
• The Almighty Dollar, by Ozzy Osbourne
• Mother Earth, by Pam Minor
• Mama Nature, by Pato Banton
• Big Sky, by Pete Bardens
• Harry Simms, by Pete Seeger
• Maple Syrup Time, by Pete Seeger
• Here’s to Mother Nature, by Peter & Lou Berryman
• In My Back Yard, by Phil Teumim
• Eyes of the Squirrels, by Primus
• Don’t Give up the Fight, by Public Enemy
• Circle: For the Mountains, by Public Outcry
• Long Croft Fairwell, by Railroad Earth
• Love of the Land (South Dakota), by Rhiannon
• 500 years, by Richard Cyr
• James Bay, by Richard Cyr
• Tears of Mother, by Earth Richard Cyr
• Resilient, by Rising Appalachia
• Ballad for the Gulf of Mexico, by Rita Hosking
• In My SUV, by Rob Bodle
• Green is Hot!, by Rob Tobias and the Northwest Express
• Planetary Blues, by Rob Tobias and the Northwest Express
• Let’s Save Our Mother Earth, by Robby Bee and the Boys from the Rez
• Apple Pie, by Robert Hoyt
• Network News, by Robert Plant
• The Unearthly Fire, by Rod MacDonald
• Days of Rain, by Rod MacDonald
• Mother Earth Blues, by Ron Sowell
• The Only Green World, by Rumors of the Big Wave
• Save the Whales, by Save the Whales
• Solar Carol, by Seattle Labor Chorus
• Change in the Climate, by Sharon Abreu
• Comfortable, by Sharon Cordara
• Global Warming Christmas, by Shirwin Linton
• The Dakota Access Pipeline Dirty River Blues, by Silent Bear
• Nuclear Ghost Dance, by Silent Bear
• Humatomic Energy, by Slickaphonics
• Motel Notell, by Soul Asylum
• Black Gold, by Soul Asylum
• Sea Voices, by Stanley Greenthal
• World Gone Mad, by Steel Pulse
• Green City, by Stephen Longfellow Fiske
• Devil Put the Coal in the Ground, by Steve Earle
• The Mountain, by Steve Earle, The Del McCoury Band
• Too Much Taken Not Enough Given, by Steve Howe
• Where Will We Go?, by Steve Schuch
• Save Some Trees, by Susie Burke
• Sago Mine, by T. Mitchell Bell
• Acid Rain, by T.E.Kellison Warren
• Deaf Smith Disaster, by T.E.Kellison Warren
• The Poly Sisters, by Terri Mastrobuono
• Gas Man, by The Burns Sisters
• My BrokenCountry (Wyoming Memories), by The Coyote Angel Band
• Take it Back, by The Kids’ Earth Chorus
• Sunshine Song, The Kids’ Earth Chorus
• Music is the Food of Thought, by The Mighty Groundhogs
• The 7 Deadly Plastics, by The Prince of Serendip
• Shacks and Chalets, by The Short Sisters
• Rains Come, by The Steel Wheels
• Touch Reckoning, by Timothy Hull
• Green Church, by Tom Mank & Sera Smolen
• Solstice Morning, by Tom Nielson
• The Rape of the World, by Tracy Chapman
• Oil, Arms, and Drugs, by Ulali
• Trouble in the Water, by Various Artists (Malik Yusef, Kumasi, Aaron Fresh, Choklate, Laci Kay)
• Spaceship Odessy, by Various Artists (Malik Yusef, Laci Kay, Auggie Del Ray, Mandy Rain, by Sirena Legend, Juaquin Evans)
• I’m Going Solar, by Victoria Parks
• Alaska’s Worth More, by Waterbound
• No Mousse is Good Mousee, by Waterbound
• We All Live Downwind-She is the One, by Waterbound
• The Big Green Box, by We’re about 9
• Kentucky Gold, by Whiskey Myers
• S.O.S. (Mother Nature), by will.i.am
• Garbage Land, by World Entertainment War
• The Little Things, by World Patrol Kids