Fast Company The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) enhanced enforcement efforts this year, doubling financial penalties issued to polluters and issuing the first-ever arrest for a climate change-related crime, the agency said in a report Thursday. The EPA said it concluded more than 1,850 civil cases, a 3.4% increase over 2023, and charged …
Success for local residents as Florida council toppled over sewage plant plan
By Richard Luscombe, The Guardian Entire slate of councilors in Milton defeated after grassroots revolt to proposal for facility close to treasured river. An old railroad bridge over the Blackwater river in Milton, Florida, in 2020. Photograph: Ron Buskirk/Universal Images Group/Getty Images A citizens’ revolt in a small Florida city ousted an entire …
Massachusetts farmers turn cranberry bogs back to wetlands in $6m initiative
By Gloria Oladipo, The Guardian Restoration projects awarded grants to convert defunct bogs to bring environmental benefits and restore wildlife. Workers harvest cranberries at the Rocky Meadow bog in Middleborough, Massachusetts, ahead of Thanksgiving. Photograph: Charles Krupa/AP As millions of cranberries were being harvested for Thursday’s US Thanksgiving holiday, Massachusetts farmers …
Drugs, hormones and excrement: the polluting pig mega-farms supplying pork to the world
By Patricio Eleisegui and Patrick Greenfield, The Guardian Pig mega-farms operated by Kekén in Opichén, in Mexico’s Yucatán region, where locals are concerned about the environmental impact. Photograph: Héctor Vivas/Getty Images Mexico is a leading international pork producer, but Yucatán residents say the waste oozing from hundreds of enormous hog farms …
Everyone dumps their trash in this D.C. forest. One nonprofit wants to clean it up
By Cari Shane, Fast Company D.C.’s poorest neighborhood has a massive urban forest, and yet it’s plagued by a lack of maintenance, illegal dumping, and deforestation. [Photos: courtesy Ward 8 Woods] On a 95-degree day in one of Washington, D.C.’s poorest neighborhoods, Montia Austin makes her way into a wooded …
Why is it still so hard to breathe in India and Pakistan?
By Umair Irfan, Vox The world’s worst air pollution is getting worse, but there are concrete ways to fix it. Commuters step out in a foggy winter morning amid rising air pollution, on November 19, 2024 on the outskirts of Delhi in India. Sunil Ghosh/Hindustan Times via Getty Images India and …
In a Push to Protect Public Lands in Colorado, Outdoor Recreation Gets a Seat at the Table
By Zoe Rom, Inside Climate News Collaboration has become a key strategy for enacting public land protections in a polarized era. A Colorado coalition includes hikers, mountain bikers, hunters and other outdoor enthusiasts. Hikers set up camp for the evening on June 25, 2020 at Lake Irwin near Crested Butte …
Patches of wildflowers in cities can be just as good for insects as natural meadows – study
By Phoebe Weston, The Guardian Researchers found no difference in the diversity of species in urban meadows compared with those in rural settings Wildflowers on College Green in front of Bristol Cathedral, UK. Photograph: Alexander Turner/The Guardian Small patches of wildflowers sown in cities can be a good substitute for a …
2024 will be the hottest on record. Here’s how cities are becoming more climate resilient
By Brian Banks, Corporate Knights As a wave of warm weather breaks November heat records across Canada and around the world, we look at some of the ways that urban designers are fending off extreme heat in cities Al Fay Park in Abu Dhabi. Credit: SLA By the time the …
6 Trends That Bode Well for a Resilient Business Future
Sustainable Brands In a time of ever-growing volatility, 6 themes that emerged from business leaders and innovators at SB’24 San Diego show glimmers of a resilient future for business and society. Right around this time eight years ago, heads of major corporations from the US and around the world banded together and showed that, …