Activism Archives - Inside Climate News

Texas Quietly Moves to Formalize Acceptable Cancer Risk From Industrial Air Pollution. Public Health Officials Say it’s not Strict Enough.

By Dylan Baddour — Fri, 13 Oct 2023 10:00:00 +0000

Without public hearings, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality is proposing to adopt its 17-year-old standard that scientists and public health officials say fails to account for cumulative air pollution.

By Dylan Baddour

State of Denial: Third in a series about Texas’ environmental regulators.

As Alabama Judge Orders a Takeover of a Failing Water System, Frustrated Residents Demand Federal Intervention

By Lee Hedgepeth — Thu, 12 Oct 2023 20:02:41 +0000

The majority Black city of Prichard loses much of its purchased drinking water to leaking pipes, with water pressure so low firefighters have sometimes watched homes burn.

By Lee Hedgepeth

An Alabama judge on Wednesday ordered that the municipal water utility in Prichard, a Mobile suburb, be placed under receivership after witnesses described crisis conditions in the majority Black city due to failing water infrastructure that loses nearly 60 percent of its capacity each month to leakage.

Q&A: A Reporter Joins Scientists as They Work to Stop the Killing of Cougars

Interview by Aynsley O’Neill, “Living on Earth” — Sat, 07 Oct 2023 09:00:00 +0000

Inside Climate News’ Liza Gross had her own thrilling brush with a cougar kitten in a den discovered deep in the forest on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington state.

Interview by Aynsley O’Neill, “Living on Earth”

From our collaborating partner “Living on Earth,” public radio’s environmental news magazine, an interview by Producer Aynsley O’Neill with Liza Gross of Inside Climate News.

The Danger Upstream: In Disposing Coal Ash, One of These States is Not Like the Others

By Lee Hedgepeth — Fri, 06 Oct 2023 09:30:00 +0000

Toxic coal ash has polluted Alabama’s waters for years. Is the state doing enough to stop it?

By Lee Hedgepeth

MONTGOMERY, Ala.—At an EPA meeting in Montgomery, a cup of water took center stage.

Pope Francis: ‘Irresponsible’ Western Lifestyles Push the World to ‘the Breaking Point’ on Climate

By James Bruggers — Thu, 05 Oct 2023 09:15:00 +0000

The 86-year-old leader of the 1.3 billion-member Catholic Church bluntly urges more aggressive action to curb emissions at the next U.N. climate meeting in eight weeks.

By James Bruggers

Taking aim at the United States and an “irresponsible lifestyle” with some of the world’s highest carbon emissions per capita, Pope Francis on Wednesday doubled down on his earlier call for urgent action to tackle climate change, while also criticizing a failing global response to the crisis.

Apple Goes a Step Too Far in Claiming a Carbon Neutral Product, a New Report Concludes

By Phil McKenna — Tue, 03 Oct 2023 09:00:00 +0000

The maker of the iPhone is a leader in efforts to reduce the climate impact of its products, but a recent claim about its new line of Apple Watches may be “climate-wash,” a Chinese environmental research organization says.

By Phil McKenna

Apple’s recent announcement of its first-ever “carbon neutral” product was questioned in a new report by a Chinese environmental research organization that gathers and tracks data on greenhouse gas emissions from China’s manufacturing sector, which makes the majority of Apple products.

At a ‘Climate Convergence,’ Pennsylvania Environmental Activists Urge Gov. Shapiro and State Lawmakers to Do More to Curb Emissions

By Jon Hurdle — Tue, 03 Oct 2023 08:55:00 +0000

Democratic state Sen. Katie Muth, one of only a few lawmakers in attendance, said strong action isn’t likely, given the state’s “bipartisan love affair with gas and oil.” But two Republicans have introduced legislation banning injection wells for toxic wastewater from fracking.

By Jon Hurdle

HARRISBURG, Pa.—Barbara Brandom fought back tears as she contemplated the destruction of nature and a lost environment she fears her grandchildren will never experience as a result of climate change.

In the Ambitious Bid to Reinvent South Baltimore, Justice Concerns Remain

By Aman Azhar — Mon, 02 Oct 2023 09:00:00 +0000

Parks, trails, housing, commercial development, flood resiliency efforts and new community amenities are supposed to turn the Middle Branch of the Patapsco River into the next Inner Harbor. But some activists worry about gentrification and more injustice.

By Aman Azhar

Harm City: Fourth in a series about environmental justice and climate adaptation in Baltimore’s neighborhoods.

Why New York’s Curbside Composting Program Will Yield Hardly Any Compost

By Jake Bolster — Sun, 01 Oct 2023 09:00:00 +0000

This week, New York City’s curbside organics collection effort debuts in Brooklyn, where tons of food scraps will be processed to help deliver un-fracked natural gas to local residences. Is this the best use of the city’s food waste?

By Jake Bolster

Moving to New York can be a culture shock. When Liz French decamped from Indiana to Long Island City, Queens, in 1989—well before it was a trendy place to live—she was sad to learn she’d lost access to a beloved childhood ritual: composting. Her parents, “kind of hippies,” had introduced her to the practice growing up in Bloomfield, Indiana, but, in the Big Apple, there was no gardening “or any sort of composting,” she said. Back then Long Island City was, even for New York, very much an industrial environment.

Biden Creates the American Climate Corps, 90 Years After FDR Put 3 Million to Work in National Parks

Interview by Aynsley O’Neill, “Living on Earth” — Sat, 30 Sep 2023 09:00:00 +0000

The new workers will remove wildfire fuel in forests, install EV chargers in cities, retrofit thermostats in low-income homes and, it is hoped, move on to union jobs in the clean energy economy.

Interview by Aynsley O’Neill, “Living on Earth”