Environment and Health

The Planet Is Not a Dumping Ground
Petrochemical companies are racing to make more plastic — and force poor countries to become landfills for it.

Mental Health Care Is Hard to Come By — Especially If You’re Low-Income
Record numbers of Americans are seeking mental health care and struggling to get it. Here’s what it’s like.

Greed Is Prolonging the Pandemic
The longer it takes the world to get vaccinated, the more variants we’ll see.

Sociology Can Help the Climate Crisis
Climate change is caused by people acting in groups, after all, and sociology is the study of people acting in groups.

Wealthy Americans Get Paid Leave. Shouldn’t the Rest?
The fight to guarantee paid sick time and family leave faces an uphill battle, but advocates aren’t giving up.

What a Debate Over Grizzly Bears Shows About Politics
On even the most arcane issues, people talk past each other. But there’s another way.

Making Noise at COP26
These meddlesome young people sure act entitled to a habitable planet.

Emperor Manchin Fiddles…
… while the planet burns.

The Hypocrisy of the Federal Spending Debate
Why is it controversial to spend on social programs but not the Pentagon? Or to subsidize the poor but not the rich?

Public Transit, Built Back Better
The Build Back Better plan’s historic investment in public transit would have a tremendous positive impact.