For Low-Income Pittsburgh, Clean Air Remains an Elusive Goal
For well over a century, the Pittsburgh region was infamous for its industrial air pollution. Belching chimneys from coal and steel plants dimmed the light of the sun at times,…
As Enforcement Lags, Toxic Coal Ash Keeps Polluting U.S. Water
A few months ago, the New Castle Generating Station, an hour northwest of Pittsburgh, was named one of the most contaminated coal-fired power plant sites in the country. Polluted with…
Glasgow Disappointed, But It Inched the World Forward on Climate
The movie version of the final hours of the UN climate conference in Glasgow is surely already in storyboard. As India’s Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav prepares to use his veto…
As Climate Talks Near, Calls Mount for a ‘Phaseout’ of Fossil Fuels
It is boom time in the deserts of New Mexico and West Texas, where vast oil reserves buried in the Permian geological basin are getting a second life, thanks to…
In Pandemic Recovery Efforts, Polluting Industries Are Winning Big
While the world has been preoccupied by the Covid-19 pandemic, polluting industries have been pushing to turn the crisis to their advantage, lobbying governments — often successfully — for lucrative…
How China Became the World’s Leader on Renewable Energy
Last November, Chinese climate envoy Xie Zhenhua and U.S. climate envoy John Kerry shook hands on a pledge to triple renewable energy globally by 2030. It was hailed as a…
Unequal Impact: The Deep Links Between Racism and Climate Change
The killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police and the disproportionate impact of Covid-19 on African Americans, Latinos, and Native Americans have cast stark new light on the racism that…
Connecting the Dots Between Environmental Injustice and the Coronavirus
While cities and towns across the United States are wrestling with the devastating impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, none have been hit harder than low-income and minority communities. Places like…
Can the World’s Most Polluting Heavy Industries Decarbonize?
We know how to decarbonize energy production with renewable fuels and land transportation with electric vehicles. Blueprints for greening shipping and aircraft are being drawn up. But what about the…
On U.S. Public Lands, Can Biden Undo What Trump Has Wrought?
Early in the Trump presidency, Representative Jason Chaffetz of Utah introduced a bill to sell off more than 3 million acres of Western public land. The outcry from conservation groups,…