News & Commentary

After 43 Years, My Parents Finally Have Lead-Free Water

October 23, 2023 PerspectivesChicagoGina Ramirez

In Chicago, an environmental justice advocate recounts what it took to get the lead pipes dug up in her childhood home.

Water Is Life—from Standing Rock to Oaxaca’s Mixtecan Highlands

September 18, 2023 PerspectivesMexico, West, South DakotaElybeth Sofia Alcantar

A geographer sees a familiar pattern of government-backed energy projects devastating Indigenous communities and violating tribal sovereignty.  

From Dams to DAPL, the Army Corps’ Culture of Disdain for Indigenous Communities Must End

September 13, 2023 PerspectivesUnited States, MidwestTroy Pretends Eagle

The prophesied “Seventh Generation” is here—demanding justice for tribes and protecting what they have left. 

Community Science Is Changing How People Can Fight Pollution

May 23, 2023 PerspectivesHouston, Texas, St. Louis, Missouri, Chicago, IllinoisCourtney Lindwall

Grassroots groups are collecting their own pollution data to increase accountability and demand environmental justice.

Reflections of a Chicago Community Organizer: Water Justice and the Need to Act Now

September 14, 2022 PerspectivesChicagoOscar Sanchez

During a trip to a water conference, an environmental justice activist considers what it takes to support his community without letting go of the importance of healing.

Climate Change at the Doctor’s Office

April 11, 2022 PerspectivesUnited StatesPrasanna Vankina, Teniope Adewumi-Gunn

Dr. Cheryl Holder helps her patients and fellow physicians find holistic solutions to coping with the intertwined impacts of sickness and climate change.

Four Poets Honor Chicago’s Hazel M. Johnson, the Mother of Environmental Justice

April 1, 2022 PerspectivesChicago

This National Poetry Month, four writers champion the legendary local activist who launched a movement while they continue to grapple with the work left to be done.

Living Among the Diesel Trucks: My Environmental Injustice Story

September 13, 2021 PerspectivesCaliforniaAndrea Guerra

To a college student who grew up surrounded by heavy truck traffic, warehouses, and commercial hubs in one of California’s most polluted communities, the push to electrify transportation is more than just urgent health policy—it’s personal.

In Chicago, Safe Water Is Still No Guarantee

July 30, 2021 PerspectivesChicagoKeith Mulvihill

“There are so many lead service lines in Chicago, but people aren’t talking about it,” says advocate Cheryl Watson. Now she and other frontline residents are changing the conversation.

From Unemployment to Staff Shortages, This Is What a K-Shaped Recovery Looks Like

July 6, 2021 PerspectivesUnited StatesMaudlyne Ihejirika

In Part Four of our “Pandemic at Work” series, two small-business owners, an office manager, and an undocumented meatpacking employee share where the last 15 months have left them.

Protesting like Your Life Depended on It

June 28, 2021 PerspectivesUnited StatesBrian Zabcik

A former ACT UP organizer explains how his AIDS activism in New York City—and his upbringing on a Texas farm—helped him become a better environmentalist.

These Poets Reckon With Drought, Displacement, and Despair—and Then Make Space for Hope

April 1, 2021 PerspectivesUnited StatesCourtney Lindwall

Four writers explore their place on our troubled planet and treat us to readings of their poems.

When the World Stopped, These Essential Workers Started Their Engines

March 11, 2021 PerspectivesUnited StatesMaudlyne Ihejirika

In Part Three of our “Pandemic at Work” series, a bus driver, airline custodian, and Uber driver reflect on their year “helping to keep the cogs of society rolling.”

The COVID-19 Impacts You May Not See

February 11, 2021 PerspectivesUnited StatesMaudlyne Ihejirika

In Part Two of our “Pandemic at Work” series, three undocumented immigrants share their struggles for a paycheck, a future, and simply, acknowledgment.

In a Segregated Chicago, Art Puts Environmental Racism on Display

December 22, 2020 PerspectivesChicagoZaria Howell

If the General Iron plant is too dirty for the city’s North Side, it’s also too dirty for the Southeast Side.

As a Year of Struggle Ends, One of Fearful Uncertainty Begins

December 21, 2020 PerspectivesUnited StatesMaudlyne Ihejirika

In Part One of our “Pandemic at Work” series, a hotel housekeeper, a fast-food worker/drugstore manager, and an elementary school janitor share their journeys through 2020—and anxieties for 2021.

Happy 50th Birthday, EPA

December 2, 2020 PerspectivesUnited StatesJeff Turrentine

We’ve seen you at your best and, currently, at your absolute worst. But things are looking up for you again—just when we need you the most.

Environmental Justice in Chicago: It’s Been One Battle After Another

October 29, 2020 PerspectivesChicagoKeith Mulvihill

Cheryl Johnson and Peggy Salazar have been speaking out against pollution and environmental injustice for decades, but the city of Chicago sees their South Side neighborhoods as sacrifice zones. They are demanding change.

Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Solar Power After Hurricane María

September 30, 2020 PerspectivesPuerto RicoLaura Virella

We, the colonized of Puerto Rico, declare our inalienable rights to self-determination and survival.

Katrina, Climate, and Justice: A Future in Foreshadow?

August 28, 2020 PerspectivesNew Orleans, LouisianaZaria Howell

After Hurricane Laura hit Louisiana just days before the Katrina remembrance, photojournalism from 15 years ago reminds us that disaster preparation isn’t just about wind and water.