From Tactical Pants to the Green New Deal: The Intercept’s 2018 Environment Coverage

Catastrophic hurricanes, heartless vivisectionists, criminal polluters, and climate supervillains like Scott Pruitt were all on extravagant display in 2018.

Catastrophic hurricanes, heartless vivisectionists, criminal polluters, and climate supervillains like Scott Pruitt were all on extravagant display in 2018. Yet as a new generation of congressional leaders begins to make its mark in Washington, D.C., the prospect of a Green New Deal gives us reason to be cautiously hopeful.

Puerto Ricans and Ultrarich “Puertopians” Are Locked in a Pitched Struggle Over How to Remake the Island

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Still: Getty Images
Six months after Hurricane Maria, Puerto Ricans are designing a recovery that defends their island. Politicians and bitcoin billionaires have other ideas.
By Naomi Klein

The Game-Changing Promise of a Green New Deal

Photo: Sarah Silbiger/Redux
The Green New Deal is not a piecemeal approach that trains a water gun on a blazing fire, but a comprehensive plan to transform society for the better.
By Naomi Klein

3M Knew About the Dangers of PFOA and PFOS Decades Ago, Internal Documents Show

Illustration: Soohee Cho
Internal studies and other documents show that 3M knew by the 1970s that PFOA and PFOS were toxic and accumulating in people’s blood.
By Sharon Lerner

 
 

Capitalism Killed Our Climate Momentum, Not “Human Nature”

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Photo: Saul Loeb/Getty Images
Nathaniel Rich, in his massive New York Times Magazine article, argues “human nature” kept “us” from fixing climate change in the 1980s. He’s dead wrong.
By Naomi Klein

How a Ragtag Group of Oregon Locals Took On the Biggest Chemical Companies in World — and Won

Photo: Beth Nakamura
Internal documents from a chemical industry trade group detail an elaborate plan to defeat a local ordinance banning aerial spraying of pesticides.
By Sharon Lerner

DuPont’s Museum of Disastrous Chemistry Continues to Spread Its Poison

Photo: Hagley Museum
DuPont’s Chambers Works manufacturing site has been ground zero for some of the world’s most environmentally devastating commercial enterprises.
By Sharon Lerner

The FBI Tried to Use the #MeToo Moment to Pressure an Environmental Activist Into Becoming an Informant

Illustration: Hokyoung Kim
An FBI agent claimed she was moved by #MeToo to ask an activist about an alleged sexual assault. An audio recording shows she was interested in much more.
By Alleen Brown, John Knefel

It’s Time to Admit That Half-Measures Can’t Stop Climate Change

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Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images
As climate scientists call for a dramatic transformation of the world’s economy, a new set of deniers is starting to coalesce around something easier.
By Kate Aronoff

With a Green New Deal, Here’s What the World Could Look Like for the Next Generation

Photo: Frank Duenzl/AP
Just what would a Green New Deal entail, exactly?
By Kate Aronoff

The NSA’s Role in a Climate-Changed World: Spying on Nonprofits, Fishing Boats, and the North Pole

Photo: Luo Yunfei/Getty Images
New documents show how U.S. spies gathered intelligence related to environmental conflicts, disasters, and resources
By Alleen Brown, Miriam Pensack

The U.S. and Canada Are Preparing for a New Standing Rock Over the Trans Mountain Tar Sands Pipeline

Photo: Darryl Dyck/AP
Managing the perceived security threat of Indigenous-led anti-pipeline movements has become a priority on both sides of the U.S.-Canada border.
By Alleen Brown, Will Parrish

Inside the Barbaric U.S. Industry of Dog Experimentation

Photo: DxE
An investigation into Ridglan Farms shines a light on a largely hidden industry that breeds and cages dogs for the sole purpose of experimentation.
By Glenn Greenwald, Leighton Akio Woodhouse

Scott Pruitt Has Spent a Total of $4.6 Million on Security, New Disclosures Show — Including $1,500 on “Tactical Pants”

Photo: Sarah Silbiger/AP
A Freedom of Information Act document shows the EPA administrator’s expenses jumped $1.1 million from the last disclosure a month ago.
By Lee Fang, Nick Surgey

 

 

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