Environmental Politics

How 'Rights of Nature' Is Recasting the Relationship Between Law and the Earth

In 2006, a local government council in Pennsylvania concerned about sewage sludge dumping enacted the Western legal system’s first formal “rights of nature” instrument. Today, numerous countries have laws recognizing specific rights or even legal personhood for nature. As legal expert Alice Bleby explains, this new perspective arises from a wide range of contexts and plays out in many different ways.

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EPA’s FOIA Report Updates Progress on Backlog Reduction

The Freedom of Information Act offers critical access to journalists — that is, when it’s working well. The latest WatchDog Opinion digs into the latest reports from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to see how well it lives up to its FOIA requirements and finds that despite progress, the agency continues to fall short on important measures. Plus, insight into how to work the system.

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Amid Heat Waves, Data on Heat Deaths Deadly Serious

Heat waves, heat domes … heat deaths. The reality of climate change means a grim uptick in fatalities, more so from excess heat than any other kind of extreme weather event. Reporter’s Toolbox points to useful data sources for covering the crisis, with insights on how to go behind the numbers to find the stories of those most vulnerable to heat’s effects.

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"U.S. Monkeypox Response Mirrors Early Coronavirus Missteps, Experts Say"

"Public health experts, including within the Biden administration, are increasingly concerned that the federal government’s handling of the largest-ever U.S. monkeypox outbreak is mirroring its cumbersome response to the coronavirus pandemic 2½ years ago, with potentially dire consequences."

Source: Washington Post, 06/24/2022

"Biden’s Inner Circle Debates Future of Offshore Drilling"

"President Biden’s top aides are weighing whether to ban new oil and gas drilling off America’s coasts, a move that would elate climate activists but could leave the administration vulnerable to Republican accusations that it is exacerbating an energy crunch as gas prices soar."

Source: NYTimes, 06/24/2022

Enviros, Property Owners Sue To Block $2.5-Billion Dam In Santa Clara Co.

"As California endures water restrictions due to widespread drought, a proposed $2.5-billion reservoir expansion project in Santa Clara County promises to increase the amount of freshwater for more than a million people."

Source: LA Times, 06/23/2022

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