Mount Trashmore to Mount Growmore
Mount Trashmore
Wednesday, August 30, 2023

For decades, the East End neighborhood of Bridgeport, Connecticut, has faced the environmental, health and economic ordeal of Mount Trashmore, a three-story abandoned waste dump. In the 1990s, local community members’ advocacy helped clean up the site. Unfortunately, remediation was incomplete. The site became a magnet for illegal dumping, health hazards, disinvestment, and crime.

Global Coalition Awarded the 2023 UN Humans Rights Prize
Planet Earth held by two hands in a green tint
Thursday, July 20, 2023

By formally recognizing the Right to a Clean, Healthy, and Sustainable Environment through two separate resolutions in 2022, the United Nations has set the stage for a more just and inclusive world. Big headlines like this often overlook all the background work necessary to make it happen. That’s what makes the 2023 UN Human Rights Prize incredibly exciting.

Elevating Women’s Leadership for Effective Transboundary Water Cooperation
Elevating Women's Leadership for Effective Transboundary Water Conference
Tuesday, July 11, 2023

Water is life. All living things depend on water; human society depends on water. We need water for drinking, sanitation, food security, biodiversity, sustainable development—truly everything. Even though water is necessary for life, so many of us lack access to water. Water scarcity and water pollution are worsening, all while water demand is increasing.

Reproductive Justice Is Environmental Justice
Lady Justice statue with blindfold and scales
Wednesday, March 8, 2023

Note: This article discusses sexual violence.

The end of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2021-22 session concluded with devastating, but not unexpected, blows to human rights. The end of January 2023 would have been the 50th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, but it was not. In light of this missed anniversary, we’d like to revisit two cases with far-reaching implications that undermine the safety and freedom of individuals under American law, as well as the reputation of the Court.

Now As Then, Rivers Are Crucial to Our Prosperity
Nile River in Cairo Egypt
Monday, February 6, 2023

One of the first civilizations to arise after humankind left Africa was in a nearby region that is in present-day Iraq and parts of neighboring countries stretching to the Mediterranean Sea. It has been dubbed by chroniclers Mesopotamia, Greek for “the land between two rivers.” The Tigris and Euphrates valley was the setting for the biblical Garden of Eden and is aptly named the Fertile Crescent in history books today.

2022 in Review: State Environmental Justice Laws and Policies
2022 on a track
Monday, January 9, 2023

Innovations in U.S. environmental law traditionally occur at the state level, and environmental justice is no exception. Due to the highly polarized environment on Capitol Hill, current efforts to enact a federal EJ law have yet to survive the legislative process. One recent example was the Environmental Justice for All bill that did not even reach the House floor for a vote before the end of the 117th Congress session.