I first visited the Grand Canyon in 1967 with two school friends and an elderly teacher who filled his summers by taking young students on long road trips, camping across the country. I mostly remember the color of the sky and the immensity of the chasm, with the Colorado River …
Read More »Rikki Held Fought the Climate Crisis in Court. And Won
T he flash flood rampaged down from the dry hills and over the road in front of Rikki Held’s house in eastern Montana. The rush of water drowned all other sound from the late June afternoon from where Held stood at the top of the driveway watching the torrent with …
Read More »Here's the Plan to Take Montana's Massive Climate Win Nationwide
Are boomer politicians obligated to act on climate change so gen alpha can inherit a livable planet? A state judge in Montana declared that doing so is a constitutional imperative Monday — validating a cutting-edge litigation strategy that could bring court-ordered climate action to states from Hawaii to Virginia, and …
Read More »Montana Youths Win Landmark Climate Crisis Lawsuit
A judge in Montana has ruled in favor of a coalition of young people who claimed the state had violated their constitutional right to a clean and healthy environment. The case, Held vs. Montana, was brought by 16 youths from all over Montana, whose ages range from five to 22. …
Read More »Extreme Heat Will Change the World As We Know It
W hen the babysitter arrived to take care of Miju at around 11 a.m. on Monday, August 16, 2021, she was surprised to find the house empty. Miju was the one‑year‑old daughter of Jonathan Gerrish and Ellen Chung, who had recently fled the Bay Area to start a new life …
Read More »The Climate Crisis Was Always Real. Now It's in Your Lungs
Al Gore once told me, “When it comes to climate change, everyone has an ‘oh shit moment’ — that moment when it gets real, when they realize what is at stake.” East Coasters are having an ‘oh shit moment’ right now. You look up at the sky and it’s orange, …
Read More »Ithaca's Crazy Plan to Be Our First All-Electric City
PICK A COLLEGE town that would be at the forefront of the climate revolution, and Berkeley is probably top of mind. But the real action is happening more than 2,700 miles away, in snowy Ithaca, New York. The city has one of the most aggressive climate plans in the country, …
Read More »Sixteen Kids Are Fighting the Climate Crisis in Court
G race Gibson-Snyder takes a sip of chai from her reusable mug in the crowded coffee shop. She grew up here in Missoula, she says, “with a love of nature untainted by worry.” Every year on her birthday, her family took her to Yellowstone to hike and backpack. She rafted …
Read More »Louisiana's Coastline Is Crumbling. These Tribes Know How to Save it
T his story is part of thePulitzerCenter’s nationwideConnected Coastlinesreporting initiative. ROSINA PHILIPPE EXPERTLY steers a small metal boat through the brackish bayou. It’s a chilly February afternoon in Louisiana, and Philippe, an elder of the Atakapa-Ishak/Chawasha Tribe, is bundled up in a camouflage hoodie. She’s lived here in the Grand …
Read More »Silicon Valley is Spending $925 Million To Suck All the Carbon From the Air
THE TECH INDUSTRY is no stranger to moonshot ideas. But its most consequential climate gambit is aiming a little lower: specifically, the atmosphere. Four major tech companies have partnered to form Frontier, a $925 million fund to pay companies to pull carbon from the sky. The money will be spent …
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