EHN Originals

“Columbus Delano” is a name that’s positively dripping with American history. A two-term Ohio Congressman in the 1860’s, Delano had a reputation for speaking up for the civil rights of recently freed slaves. He seemed a logical choice for President Ulysses S. Grant to appoint as Secretary of the Interior to deal with the burgeoning…

Know More

This year, each of us will throw out, recycle, or shove into a desk drawer an average of 16.8 pounds of old phones, laptops, toasters, and other electronics and appliances, according to the UN — a whopping total of 63.3 million tons of electronic waste worldwide. That waste can end up in massive digital dumps…

Know More

In 2018, a California school groundskeeper took Monsanto Company to court, alleging that Roundup, one of America’s most popular weed killers, caused his Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma cancer. The jury agreed and ordered Monsanto to pay the man $289 million in damages, concluding the world’s first Roundup cancer trial. Since then, more than 100,000 plaintiffs exposed to…

Know More

Studying the relationship between natural disasters and community wellbeing and recovery has been my passion since my time coordinating medical relief efforts throughout Asia as a Navy servicemember in Japan. While doing this work I learned a saying: natural disasters are national events but local crises. Disasters are local because their impacts are unique to…

Know More

Estudiar la relación entre los desastres naturales y el bienestar y la recuperación de las comunidades ha sido mi pasión desde que coordiné las labores de ayuda médica en toda Asia como miembro de la Marina en Japón. Mientras realizaba este trabajo aprendí un dicho: los desastres naturales son acontecimientos nacionales pero crisis locales. Los…

Know More

A new federal bill proposed last week by U.S. Representative Mike Quigley (D-IL), the Reducing Waste in National Parks Act, aims to curb plastic waste and pollution in the U.S. National Park system. If passed, the legislation would reduce the use of disposable plastic products—including single-use beverage bottles, plastic bags, and plastic foodware—in many national…

Know More

This summer, the report from the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned that keeping the increase in global temperature under 2 degrees Celsius would be “beyond reach” without “immediate, rapid and large-scale” reductions in global warming emissions. UN Secretary General António Guterres called it “code red for humanity.” August ended with a UN…

Know More

Editor’s note: This letter to the editor is in response to EHN’s October 4 story, The US falls behind most of the world in plastic pollution legislation. Hannah Seo’s article “US Lags Behind Plastic Pollution Regulation” missed one very important point. In spite of its regulations and goals, the EU is likely to miss its…

Know More

Fires, droughts and extreme heat are forcing Napa and neighboring wine regions to rethink their practices.

Know More

When the Democrats gained their razor-thin control of the Senate, they made Senior Senator Joe Manchin Chair of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Yes, the party that would fix the climate handed the keys over to Captain Coal. Which is why it should not be a surprise to any sentient being that Manchin, not…

Know More