San Francisco Bans New Natural Gas Hookups
San Francisco has become the biggest American city yet to ban natural gas in new buildings. Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, who wrote the legislation, says natural gas is responsible for 44%…
Answer a Trivia Question, Help Save the Ocean
The ocean is a powerful force. It covers over 70% of the planet, with marine plants supplying up to 80% of our oxygen, and nearly half of the world depending…
Court Orders Shell to Pay for Nigerian Oil Spills
Between 2004 and 2007, oil spilled out from pipelines owned by a Shell subsidiary, polluting the fields and fish ponds in three Nigerian villages. So four Nigerians teamed up with…
It’s Time to Get Serious About Particulate Pollution
Nobody used to talk much about particulates. Like these guys having a smoke at noon in Pittsburgh in 1940, everyone was swimming in a soup of particulates from cars, from…
Noise Pollution Maps Offer a Nightmare Feast for the Senses
Silence. For more than half the world’s population estimated to be living in urban areas, the manifestation of that word today is likely only possible with some assistance from noise-canceling…
Mars Is Littered With ‘Much More’ Than 16,000 Pounds of Human Trash
If and when human beings take our first steps on the rusty soil of the Red Planet, we will be greeted by something extremely familiar: our own trash. In an…
Tobacco Companies to Pay for Cigarette Butt Pollution in Spain
For many people, the first signs of spring are the sounds of birds and the budding of trees. Where I live in Toronto, the most prominent sign of spring is…
US Considers Gas Stove Regulations as Research Mounts on Indoor Air Pollution Risks
The age of fire is over and it’s time we stop burning things. Activist and author Bill McKibben agrees: “We’ve reached the point in human history where we should stop…
EPA Launches $550 Million Program for Environmental Justice Grants
In August of 2022, President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law, creating the largest investment in environmental and climate justice in U.S. history. As part of that, the…
Sea Spray at California Beach Comes with Aerosolized Raw Sewage
There’s something sublime about sea spray—the salty mist that drifts from breaking waves and gives beachgoers a kiss of the ocean. But unfortunately, that kiss could be tainted with bacteria,…