Other writing

Even though the air has been cleaner as a result of the global lockdowns, a more polluted future has been brewing while we weren’t looking.

The short-term prospects for wind and solar power look rocky amid the economic upheaval of the coronavirus. But long term, renewables could emerge stronger than ever, especially if governments integrate support for clean energy into Covid-19 economic-recovery programs.

Activist Elizabeth Yeampierre has long focused on the connections between racial injustice and the environment and climate change. In the wake of George Floyd’s killing and the outsized impact of Covid-19 on communities of color, she hopes people may finally be ready to listen.

As the coronavirus bears down on the world, it is casting brutal light on societies’ biggest weak points and failings, from structural racism and extreme inequality to waning trust and the deterioration of the public sphere. The pandemic may offer the last warning ― and our best opportunity ― to begin repairing those fractures before an even bigger stress hits.

The coronavirus crisis could lead us down the path of authoritarianism or build a greener, more inclusive future.

As the novel coronavirus tears around the world, it’s exploiting our biggest weaknesses, from creaking health care systems to extreme social inequality. Its relationship with one pervasive and neglected problem, however, is more tangled: Air pollution has intensified the pandemic, but the pandemic has—temporarily—cleaned the skies.