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A herd of caribou walking across a field.
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Denying Science to Drill for Oil is a Decades-long Tradition

What the debate about the Arctic Refuge tells us about science denialism.
Man holding a rare Razorback Sucker fish from the Colorado River.
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At 50 the Endangered Species Act is Worth Celebrating

Before the Endangered Species Act, the federal government had actually encouraged the killing of certain species.
Book cover of "Republican Reversal."

Conservative Ideology and the Environment

“Big money alone does not fully explain the Republican embrace of the gospel of more.”
Photograph of two of the original organizers preparing for the first Earth Day (1970). At left, a woman holds up two advertisements for the event. In front, a man stares into the camera (Denis Hayes) while holding a phone.

The Fate of Earth Day

What has gone wrong with the modern environmental movement and its political organizing.
Collage art of Supreme Court Justices.

Science Historian Naomi Oreskes Schools the Supreme Court on Climate Change

Scientists and lawmakers in the 70s knew more than we think they did about climate change and the impacts of fossil fuel regulations.
Edmund Muskie with a concerned expression, next to a globe.

The Lost History of What Americans Knew About Climate Change in the 1960s

It wasn’t just scientists who were worried, but Congress, the White House, and even Sports Illustrated, newly unearthed documents show.
Day laborer pumping up tire on tractor on large farm near Ralls, Texas, 1939.
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Stories of the Land: Diverse Agricultural Histories in the U.S.

An exhibit featuring public radio and television programs broadcast over 65 years that explore American agricultural life.
U.S. Supreme Court building.
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Why History Supports the EPA's 'Good Neighbor' Rules

The Supreme Court is hearing arguments about the rule, but Congress originally intended to prioritize public health.
San Diego Postcard.

San Diego—A Green(Er) City: Six Decades Of Environmental Activism In A Biodiversity Hotspot

San Diego's city-wide mission to promote sustainability, combat climate change, and reduce environmental health disparities.
Painting of an owl superimposed on a painting of its range around Puget Sound.

The Epic History of the Endangered Species Act

The two-volume ‘Codex of the Endangered Species Act’ takes a long look back — and forward.
Robert D. Bullard

The Father of Environmental Justice Exposes the Geography of Inequity

Robert D. Bullard reflects on the movement he helped to create.
Attendees of the 1908 Conference of Governors.

When American Governors and Moguls Came Together to Prevent Environmental Catastrophe

A historic 1908 conference transcended party and personal interest for the ‘common good.'
Graphic showing a gasoline tank (in green) leaking underground.

The Hidden Cost of Gasoline

Gas stations caused a $20 billion toxic mess — and it’s not going away.
Emissions from Union Carbide’s Ferro-Alloy Plant, Charleston, West Virginia, May 1973

The Lost Promise of Environmental Rights

As environmental rights seem on the verge of a comeback, it’s worth remembering why they once seemed so promising, and why that promise remains unfulfilled.
Polar bear walks across melting ice in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
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Did One Photograph Change the Fate of the Arctic Wildlife Refuge?

What the political fight over a photo teaches us about the power of art, grassroots activism and images.
The outline of a U.S. map with a fire symbol in the middle.

Why the U.S. Is Losing the Fight to Ban Toxic Chemicals

How the U.S. became a global laggard in chemical regulation.
Students paddling rafts on Milwaukee River

Remember When Earth Day Used to Be Cool?

Today, the holiday is just a chance for ExxonMobil to release nonsensical ad campaigns. But once upon a time, it was a radical success story.
Oil refinery

How Polluting Industries Mobilized to Block Climate Action

Since its inception, the IPCC itself has been the target of corporate obstructionism.
Collage of the U.S. Capitol, a factory, and the earth, connected by coins and price tag stickers.

How the Oil Industry Cast Climate Policy as an Economic Burden

For 30 years, the debate has largely ignored the soaring costs of inaction.
Picture of Joe Manchin

Joe Manchin’s Deep Corporate Ties

An underexamined aspect of Manchin’s pro-business positions in the Senate is his early membership in the American Legislative Exchange Council.
Old-time black and white pictures of Theodore Roosevelt and John Muir with a modern city background

How American Environmentalism Failed

Traditional environmentalism has lacked a meaningful, practical democratic vision, rendering it largely marginal to the day-to-day lives of most Americans.
Illustration of Clarence Thomas in front of factory

The Radicalization of Clarence Thomas

His time working for Monsanto and other polluting industries helped make him the fierce conservative he is today.
Woman recycling glass, Wallingford neighborhood, Seattle, Washington, 1990
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You'll Never Believe Who Invented Curbside Recycling

Far from ushering in a zero-waste world, the switch from returnables to recycling provided cover for the creation of ever more packaging trash.
Women heating a kettle on a gas stove

How the Fossil Fuel Industry Convinced Americans to Love Gas Stoves

And why they’re scared we might break up with their favorite appliance.
Aerial view of a mining quarry

The Land Was Ours

Trump, Biden, and public lands.
Motorcycle vest embroidered with the words "Sagebrush Rebel."

Legacies of the Sagebrush Rebellion

A conversation about the roots of organized resistance to federal regulation of public lands in the American West.

A Strange Blight: Rachel Carson’s Forebodings

Reading Silent Spring today, in the hazy reddish glow of climate catastrophe, is both an exhilarating and a melancholy pleasure.

Oral Histories of The 1969 Cuyahoga River Fire

The events of June 1969 have come to define both Cleveland and the river. Some Clevelanders have a different story.
Image of the front cover of "The Republican Reversal: Conservatives and the Environment from Nixon to Trump."

Conservatives Before and After Earth Day

As Republicans denounce climate change as a “hoax” and dismantle the environmental regulatory state they worked to build, we are left to wonder: What happened?

The Most Dangerous Job: The Murder of America's First Bird Warden

His job was to protect the birds. But nobody was there to protect him.

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