environment

If a Biotech Firm Can Revive the Woolly Mammoth, There's No Law Stopping Them

Governments are entirely unprepared to respond to the potential of private companies to produce de-extinction of wildlife. 

A Loss for Bolsonaro is a Win for the Amazon and the Planet

by Alon Ben-Meir

Much work remains to preserve the Amazon, but the defeat of Jair Bolsonaro's regime was a precondition to any progress on this key aspect of the climate crisis. 

Lula's Defeat of Bolsonaro is a Victory for Brazil and the Planet

by Juan Cole

A second Bolsonaro term would have promised more of the dangerous combination of resource extraction and anti-indigenous racism that have guided accelerated deforestation of the Amazon. 

Radioactive Pollution from WWII-Era Atomic Bomb Projects Contaminates St. Louis Elementary School

Waste from weapons production was dumped into streams near an airport and still contaminates a suburban elementary school. 

Southwest Florida's Overdevelopment Made Ian Worse

by Zeke Baker

Massive hydrological projects undertaken to make Southwest Florida's wetlands into developable agricultural land and then high-priced real estate removed the key buffers for coastal floods. Storms like Ian are a rebuke to the idea that humanity and commerce can bend nature to their will. 

Shirley Temple Black's Second Act as a Diplomat

An unpublished memoir of her late life, recently released to the Smithsonian, shows how Shirley Temple Black worked to thwart pervasive sexism in the diplomatic arena while advocating for a global environmental awareness.

The Environmental and Humanistic Sensibility of Pasternak and Lessons from Dr. Zhivago for Today

by Walter G. Moss

Boris Pasternak's masterwork exhibited a profound awareness of the onenness of creation – human and natural alike – that should guide the projects of peace and environmental protection.

Putin's Ukrainian War and Ecocide

by Walter G. Moss

The Russian invasion of Ukraine shows us how gravely the environment is harmed by war and militarism. 

Will the War in Ukraine Doom International Climate Action?

by Michael Klare

The international tension provoked by Russia's invasion of Ukraine couldn't come at a worse moment for efforts to advance action to fight climate change.

Despite Decades of Warnings, Lead Still Poisons Kids in the Midwest

Residual lead from paint and industry remains present in and around enough homes to make chronic, low-level poisoning an ongoing concern. 

The US Military is an Obstacle to Climate Action

by Michael Franczak

The Kyoto protocols are inherently undermined by negotiated pledges that preserve the ability of the Pentagon to burn fossil fuels around the globe. 

Thanatos Triumphant

by Mike Davis

Russian's invasion of Ukraine has revealed the nihilism of the world's leaders from Moscow to Washington, and the failure of the American left to develop a meaningful alternative to a global death-wish led by oligarchs.

There are No Human Rights Without Human Survival

by Alfred McCoy

The political struggles of the current international order will be rendered meaningless by climate change unless that nation-based order can learn to cooperate. 

Lithium, Cobalt, and Rare Earths: The Post-Petroleum Resource Race and What to Make of It

by Michael Klare

Renewable energy may close the door on the era of oil war, but it's imperative that industrial nations not allow a new global conflict over access to the materials needed to build a renewable energy infrastructure. 

Why Texas Republicans Fear the Green New Deal

by Naomi Klein

The Texas blackouts show the political and social dead ends of the market revolution and the fossil fuel economy, says Naomi Klein. Politicians and industries wedded to the status quo are attacking the idea of a "Green New Deal" because it's encouraging people to imagine alternatives. 

Texas’s Power Grid Failing Shows why Biden Needs to Go Big on Infrastructure

by Teal Arcadi

The lesson of the Interstate Highway system is that when it comes to large and necessary infrastructure programs, opportunistic partisanship is better than laboriously building a bipartisan coalition.

"A Life on Our Planet" Provides Environmental Hope

by Walter G. Moss

Although the recent Netflix documentary on the global environment describes a grim present, it explains a path forward that is simple (if the political will can be found). 

Viral Consequences

by David Marks

The indifferent response of the Trump administration to the COVID-19 pandemic and the repressive police response to protests are a signal that we need a political and social transformation to address the ongoing global climate crisis. 

Greening the Old New Deal

National service and a green new deal, with lessons from the old new deal, could be the first step in “civilianizing” our nation, and beyond recovery, enhancing the world’s prospects for health, justice, and sustainability.

Honor the Work of Brazil's Villas-Bôas Brothers by Protecting the Amazon's Indigenous

by John Hemming

The Villas-Bôas brothers worked with Brazil's indigenous people to balance the preservation of their Amazonian lands with inclusion in modernizing society. The policies of Jair Bolsonaro are a dire threat to their work, the survival of indigenous peoples, and the planet.