Practices such as redlining left marginalized groups in more disaster-prone areas with poorer quality infrastructure − and more likely to experience prolonged power outages.
One of many trucks that move Target goods nationwide.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
For decades, big-box retailers have evaded federal regulation of the pollution their operations generate. But a new air emission rule in Southern California could become a model for state controls.
The Fort Randall hydropower dam in South Dakota flooded thousands of acres of Native American land when it was built in 1952.
Harry Weddington, USACE/Wikipedia
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission recently ruled that it won’t approve energy projects on Native lands without tribal consent. But many more applications are pending.
Traffic entering and leaving midtown Manhattan via the Queensboro Bridge over the East River.
AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews
One more reason not to drive into midtown Manhattan: Soon it will cost an extra $15 as New York City launches its long-debated congestion pricing system.
People walk on the snowless streets of Place Jacques Cartier in Old Montréal on Jan. 3, 2024. February 2024 was the warmest February in human history.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz
Climate change is often seen as solely a technical problem. This is a misguided belief. Understanding how to build a better world begins, and ends, with understanding the societies which inhabit it.
Large industrial facilities like this oil refinery outside Houston are major sources of fine particulate air pollution.
AP Photo/David J. Phillip
On Feb. 7, 2024, the EPA strengthened the federal limit for annual levels of fine particulate air pollution, or PM2.5. Many serious health effects have been linked to PM2.5 exposure.
A heat exchanger and transfer pipes at Dominion Energy’s Cove Point LNG Terminal in Lusby, Md.
AP Photo/Cliff Owen
The US, a minor liquefied natural gas supplier a decade ago, now is the world’s top source. That’s good for energy security, but bad for Earth’s climate. An energy scholar explains the trade-offs.
A lead pipe in the kitchen ceiling of a home in Newark, N.J.
AP Photo/Julio Cortez
An analysis by scholars at the University of California, Davis showed that just a small number of cities in California actively consider racism when developing their plans.
A microscopic image of a hookworm egg that can cause intestinal problems in humans.
Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images
Theresa E. Gildner, Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis
Though many Americans believe that parasitic infections exist in poorer countries, research shows that the problem exists in the US and has a higher impact in communities of color.
The James H. Miller coal power plant in Alabama emitted as much carbon dioxide in 2021 as 4.6 million cars.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images
After the Supreme Court overturned the Obama administration’s strategy for reducing power plant carbon emissions in 2022, the Biden administration is taking a narrower but still ambitious approach.
EV chargers in Corte Madera, Calif.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
If the EV transition focuses exclusively on drivers in privately owned cars, it won’t meet many Americans’ mobility needs, particularly in underserved communities.
Smokestacks in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Wilmington.
Citizen of the Planet/Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Poor communities of color have spent decades battling US industrial and agricultural pollution. A new EPA office is designed to support their struggle, but history suggests reason for caution.
Extreme flooding in Pakistan in 2022 affected 33 million people.
Akram Shahid/AFP via Getty Images
Routine maintenance is necessary for every homeowner. But for Black women, that burden is complicated by decades of redlining and the impacts of climate change.
Raw sewage bubbles up in the front yard of a home in Jackson, Mississippi, on Oct. 20, 2021.
Rory Doyle/The Washington Post via Getty Images
Congress has approved billions of dollars to fix water and sewer systems across the US. But getting that money to needy communities depends on how states define a key word.
More EV charging hookups in public locations like garages and parking lots would prompt more drivers of color to buy EVs.
Extreme Media via Getty Images
Reducing air pollution from cars and light trucks would pay big health dividends for low-income and minority communities. A new survey shows how to get more drivers of color into electric vehicles.
Some development projects skip environmental impact assessments.
Pius Utomi Ekpei/AFP/Getty images
Nigeria’s Environmental Impact Assessment Act is not protecting the environment enough and citizens need to get involved.
A new EV schoolbus from an all-electric fleet parked beside charging stations at South El Monte High School in California, Aug. 18, 2021.
Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images
They look like conventional school buses, but electric versions are cleaner, quieter and cheaper to maintain. States, utilities and federal agencies are helping school districts make the switch.
Offshore wind farms will assist in the renewable energy transition and offset the effects of climate change.
Abstract Aerial Art/DigitalVision via Getty Images
While a US transition to renewable energy by 2030 is possible, streamlined policies with clear goals and incentives are necessary to get there, says an industrial engineering professor.