Other writing
February 28, 2020
White Supremacy Goes Green
As an environmental journalist, I’ve been covering the frightening acceleration of climate change for more than a decade. As a person who believes in the tenets of liberal democracy, I’ve watched the rise of white-supremacist, anti-immigrant and nationalistic ideologies with similar dread over the past few years. But I always thought of those two trends — looming ecological dangers and the gathering strength of the far right — as unrelated.
October 29, 2019
For Europe’s Far-Right Parties, Climate Is a New Battleground
As its refugee crisis recedes, Europe’s increasingly powerful nationalist and populist parties have found a new cause — attacking what they view as elitist hysteria over climate change. Will these movements succeed in blunting European action on cutting CO2 emissions?
January 20, 2020
A Surge of New Plastic Is About to Hit the Planet
As public concern about plastic pollution rises, consumers are reaching for canvas bags, metal straws, and reusable water bottles. But while individuals fret over images of oceanic garbage gyres, the fossil fuel and petrochemical industries are pouring billions of dollars into new plants intended to make millions more tons of plastic than they now pump out.
August 13, 2019
How to Reduce Exposure to Air Pollution
While most of us do not have the power to make the air cleaner, there are some ways to protect yourself.
December 10, 2019
Best Book Of 1982: The Years Of Lyndon Johnson
I love a good biography. But even so, when contemplating a multi-volume, 3,000-pages-and-counting study of a US president, I might have been tempted to cheat a bit, and skip straight to the one about the subject’s time in the White House. That’s not really an option with Robert Caro’s epic The Years of Lyndon Johnson series.
March 26, 2019
Kids suffer most in one of Earth's most polluted cities
ULAANBAATAR, MONGOLIA — Coal is everywhere in Mongolia’s frigid capital. It sits beneath the towering smokestacks of power plants in piles as big as football fields. Drivers haul it through town in the open beds of pickup trucks.
