Last week's Earth Day celebration reminded me of the first one. As a college kid responding to the passionate calls to action punctuated by pounding music, I came away thinking that if I hadn't already decided to work for women's rights, I would choose to work on environmental causes as a career.

This came to mind recently as I bumped along a dusty road in Northern Ethiopia. I was distressed by the lack of trees and by the many young women trudging along the road bent under the weight of huge piles of branches tied to their backs. Many of them never attended school or had dropped out because of the time required to travel long distances in search of wood that their families need for cooking and heat in the winter.

Read more of Amy Coen's blog at The Huffington Post.