Environmental Justice

“We’re talking about a nation that is not only highly repressive but also the second-largest economy globally,” said Sarah Cook, who worked for years for Freedom House, which defends civil liberties around the globe. “This creates an unprecedented situation.”

“I never had to use a medical cream in my life,” says Biren Bhuiyan. Pointing to the skin ailments which he now treats with store-bought medicine, he says, “There used to be abundant medicinal plants around us, but we can’t find them here. We are dependent on hospitals now.” 

Earlier this year, I embarked on a probing trip to a small coastal area in Southeast Asia to see what this ancient wood-eater could offer us: about resilience, and the many ways life endures, adapts, and sustains others.

Momand learned only two days later that it was a nationwide blackout. Momand and his family have lost approximately 350,000 Afghanis (around $5,340 USD) — one of their worst losses in more than a decade.

With the winter chills likely to intensify and spike energy bills, equitable access to clean energy upgrades is more urgent than ever, especially for Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities, who were deprioritized under the Trump administration and remain underserved.

Officers on fishing vessels often subject workers to physical violence, intimidation and fraud. Most of the crew members interviewed by the Environmental Justice Foundation reported being trapped in debt bondage, with substantial recruitment fees and debts forcing them to work for minimal pay. Many recounted shifts exceeding 14 hours, poor food, degrading living conditions, and senior officers confiscating their passports.

A deep dive into Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) shows that the world’s largest container shipping company has a history of accidents and was once fined for illegally dumping bilge waste into the Atlantic Ocean.

Using Google’s Flood Hub, a nonprofit trial program sends early warning and unconditional cash to workers.

Since some chemicals become increasingly concentrated in animal tissues as they move up the food chain, long-lived, top predators like alligators — which may spend 50 years or more swimming and eating fish in potentially polluted water — are exemplary sentinels of lurking health threats.

“Before, it used to be around 40 cases a day, but after the protests, it went over 100 — mostly people who had inhaled tear gas and thick smoke from burning buildings [and] seeking emergency care for respiratory complications,” says Dr. Niraj Bam, associate professor and head,  Department of Pulmonology and Critical Care Medicine, TUTH.