Why Read This? Grassroots efforts to protect the environment in China rely heavily on independently printed or electronically transmitted words. But when the voice of an environmental activist such as Liu Futang rubs authorities the wrong way, silence can be quickly enforced. The sudden shutdown of Liu’s microblog, his arrest on charges tied to self-published books, and his recent trial follow a pattern of occasional yet often harsh, authoritarian action against environmentalists involved in locally specific campaigns across the country. The good news is that even small-town environmental conflicts are becoming increasingly visible to the general public nationwide—through printed and microblogged words.