Politics & Policy
America’s War in Afghanistan Devastated the Country’s Environment in Ways That May Never Be Cleaned Up
This investigation was co-produced with New Lines Magazine and supported in part by a grant from The Fund for Investigative Journalism. Birds dip between low branches that hang over glittering brooks along the drive from Jalalabad heading south toward the Achin district of Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province. Then, the landscape changes, as lush fields give way […]
Read MoreU.S. Housing Crisis Thwarts Recruitment for Nature-Based Infrastructure Projects
Northern Wisconsin’s landscape is defined as much by the stunning shores of Lake Superior or the Bad River as the region’s seemingly endless winters. But as climate change accelerates, attention is shifting to ways of controlling a steep increase in stormwater, which means doubling down on existing management practices and turning to nature for inspiration. […]
Read MoreEPA Approves Permit for Controversial Fracking Disposal Well in Pennsylvania
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) this week approved a permit for a toxic fracking wastewater disposal well named Sedat 4A, a highly controversial project in Plum Borough, Pennsylvania, rejecting residents’ concerns that leaks from the well could migrate and pollute other wells and groundwater. The decision comes as Pennsylvania faces a fracking disposal reckoning. Historically, […]
Read MoreIllinois’ Signature Climate Law Has Been Slow to Fulfill Promises for Clean Energy and Jobs
This article is published in partnership with the Chicago Sun-Times. Two years ago, Illinois legislators passed a law that made big promises to fight climate change. It would reduce air pollution by phasing out electricity created by burning fossil fuels and lead to the creation of thousands of new jobs in clean-energy industries, especially for Black […]
Read MoreThe Era of Climate Migration Is Here, Leaders of Vulnerable Nations Say
As world leaders gathered Wednesday at the United Nations in New York to rally for more aggressive climate action, the heads of some of the most vulnerable nations met on the sidelines to highlight the daunting challenges they face as extreme weather forces millions of people to flee their homes. The problem is here already, […]
Read MoreBiden Finds Funds to Launch an ‘American Climate Corps’ With Existing Authority Congress Has Given to Agencies
On a week when tens of thousands of people took to the streets ahead of the United Nations General Assembly to renew calls for climate action, President Joe Biden revived one of the most popular platforms of his original plan for tackling the crisis. The White House announced Wednesday it was launching the American Climate […]
Read MoreMore Than 100 Protesters Arrested in New York City While Calling on the Federal Reserve to End Fossil Fuel Financing
NEW YORK — In one of the largest acts of civil disobedience to protest climate change in New York in a decade, more than 100 climate protesters were arrested on Monday after blockading the entrances to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, where they called on financial regulators to curb fossil fuel financing. Undeterred […]
Read MoreMidwesterners Lament Lack of Transparency as Coalition Seeks Federal Aid for Proposed Hydrogen Hub
Midwesterners know Lake Michigan for its crystal-clear water, distinctive sand dunes and stunning views. But the lake has a legacy of pollution, too: Steel mills, oil refineries and other heavy industrial facilities dot its southwestern shoreline from Chicago through Indiana to the Michigan border. Now, a burgeoning industry is hoping to accelerate the clean energy […]
Read MoreErrors In a Federal Carbon Capture Analysis Are a Warning for Clean Energy Spending, Former Official Says
A former Energy Department official is warning that the government may not be prepared to assess the effectiveness of new clean energy projects, pointing to what she called serious errors in a recent analysis of a major carbon capture and storage proposal in North Dakota. The errors came in what’s called a life cycle assessment, […]
Read MoreProtecting Margaritaville: Jimmy Buffett, Bama and the Fight to Save the Manatee
MOBILE, Ala.—The second line started at four, but it was five o’clock somewhere. Hundreds of people gathered here on a September Sunday—their Hawaiian shirts and flip-flops brightening the city streets—to participate in a walking parade in remembrance of Jimmy Buffett, who spent much of his childhood in this Gulf Coast city. Buffett, a poet of […]
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