Much of the coverage of environmental policy focuses on the actions of countries, states or major cities like New York or Paris. But a community doesn’t have to be large to make a difference for the planet or their local ecosystems. Here are seven of the U.S.’s greenest small towns and cities. Ithaca, New York […]
Every thirty minutes, a Norfolk Southern train passes through East Palestine. Three months ago, no one in this northeastern Ohio village of just under 5,000 people would have batted an eye at the sight of the long trains passing through. No one would have turned a head at the sound of the train’s whistle as […]
What could a city like New York achieve if it repurposed some of its 3 million curbside parking spots?
It could get rid of rats by moving trash off the sidewalks and into containers. It could create safe, cool play spaces for the more than 1 million New Yorkers without easy park access. It could build bioswales to collect rainwater and prevent flooding during heavy storms.
For hundreds, possibly thousands, of years humans have lived inside a relatively comfortable “climate niche” wherein a large portion of the world’s population have mostly enjoyed liveable temperatures and infrequent extreme weather events. Conditions that have not only been within a healthy temperature range for humans, but for the plants, animals and ecosystems of our […]
The biggest fossil fuel companies in the world owe at least $209 billion in yearly climate reparations to communities that suffered the brunt of the calamities caused by the climate crisis, a new study has concluded. While substantial, the researchers consider theirs to be a conservative cost estimate, as it did not put a price […]
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released a wide-ranging new proposal for limits on greenhouse gas emissions from coal– and gas-fired power plants. If finalized, the new rule will be the first time the federal government has restricted carbon dioxide emissions from existing power plants, which generate about a quarter of the country’s emissions. […]
Quick Key Facts What Is Environmental Justice? Environmental justice is a facet of broader social justice movements. It considers how individual communities can be overburdened with a disproportionate amount of environmentally negative facilities or activities in their area compared to other, less vulnerable communities. Achieving environmental justice looks like “the fair treatment and meaningful involvement […]
In keeping with mid-20th century segregationist federal guidance, West Oakland, California officials in the 1940s deliberately put the most polluting industries and biggest highways in Black neighborhoods – saddling them with cancer, asthma, and other health impacts. In white neighborhoods, diesel-powered trucks were banned from operating, as planners chose to divide Black communities with highways instead.
Toxic polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) “forever chemicals” have been found in everything from products like cleaners, cosmetics and grease-resistant food packaging to air, water and soil — even in remote locations — as well as human blood. Now, some of the most commonly used food pesticides in the U.S. have been found to be contaminated with […]
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