Are all people entitled to live in a clean and healthy environment? A legal scholar says yes, and argues for using this principle to address damage from polluting industries in Appalachia.
Environmentalists are not fans of EPA chief Scott Pruitt.
Reuters/Mike Theiler
Green groups fighting Trump's anti-environmental agenda should heed precedents from the Reagan and George W. Bush administrations. They can also learn from the Australian experience.
Snow geese settle on a wetland in North Dakota. If the Trump administration successfully rescinds the Clean Water Rule, many wetlands might lose federal protection.
Krista Lundgren USFWS/Flickr
The Clean Water Rule spells out which streams, wetlands and other water bodies receive federal protection. The Trump administration wants to repeal it, but will face high hurdles in court.
The Whanganui River, seen here, is now a person under New Zealand law.
AlexIndigo/Flickr
New Zealand just conferred personhood upon the Whanganui River, giving it standing to legally defend its rights. Can this novel strategy save the environment?
In Montana and Idaho, endangered gray wolves are no longer safe outside national parks.
Ronnie Howard/Shutterstock.com
Legislation designed to protect wildlife is being rolled back or ignored in all sorts of ways in all sorts of places, according to a new global database of attacks on green tape.
Hog feeding operation near Tribune, Kansas.
AP Photo/Charlie Riedel
Large livestock farms, known as CAFOs, have polluted air and water in many communities. A recent court decision will force CAFOs to report their air emissions from manure and other sources.
The Great Barrier Reef is currently experiencing a second wave of bleaching.
AAP Image/WWF AUSTRALIA, BIOPIXEL
The Great Barrier Reef is in crisis, as a second wave of coral bleaching hits. But the system of bodies and laws that protect it are getting more complicated – and less productive.
After decades of sustainability initiatives, key environmental indicators keep getting worse.
The Capital Wind Farm, REUTERS/Jason Reed/File Photo
Why, after decades of international agreements, are we still damaging the environment? New research, looking at dozens of unsuccessful policies, has uncovered the basic elements of failure.
Dartford warbler in Chobham Common, a protected area in Surrey Heath.
Phil Fiddes
New Zealand's Whanganui River and the Ganga and Yamuna Rivers in India have been given the right to 'sue' over issues like pollution. The challenge now is to ensure these legal rights are enforced.
President Trump has ordered federal agencies to cut two regulations for every new one they enact – ignoring the fact that many regulations produce large social benefits.
Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt gestures as he answers a question during a news conference in Oklahoma City, Thursday, June 13, 2013.
AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki
Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt has sued the federal government repeatedly. If he becomes head of EPA and tries to weaken environmental laws, opponents are likely to do the same to him.
Environmental activists rallied at Queensland’s state parliament in April.
AAP Image/Nathan Paull
Queensland's Supreme Court has backed the state government's decision to approve the proposed Carmichael coal mine. But environmental groups have scored some key legal points on climate considerations.
Ecological sustainability is at the core of Australia’s Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.
EPA/BARBARA WALTON
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's proposed changes to Australia's national environment act will significantly reduce judicial oversight on environmental decisions. Here's why that matters.
Indigenous activists confront Queensland politician Peter Wellington in 2015.
AAP Image/Dan Peled
The world has global authorities for trade and security, but not for threats to the environment. It's time the natural world got its own version of the World Trade Organisation or UN Security Council.
Many of Australia’s mines haven’t been cleaned up as thoroughly as they should have been.
CSIRO/Wikimedia Commons
Rehabilitating old mines is a crucial responsibility for the industry. But many Australian mine sites have been simply left alone or left for the taxpayer to fix.
Ministers considering new coal mines need to take a step back and look at the bigger picture.
AAP Image/Dave Hunt
The granting of a mining lease to the Carmichael coal project, despite the huge potential greenhouse emissions, shows that ministers need to consider the wider consequences of their approvals.
Fertilizer runoff and other activities have 60 percent of Chesapeake Bay in a virtual dead zone.
Chesapeake Bay Program
In its first environmental case post-Scalia, the Supreme Court rebuffs farm and ranching interests that opposed the EPA's multistate plan to restore Chesapeake Bay using the Clean Water Act.
