Other writing

When China banned plastic waste imports in 2018, exporters in wealthy countries targeted other developing nations. Faced with an unending stream of unrecyclable waste, Indonesia has tightened its regulations and has begun to make progress in stemming the plastics flow.

The Clean Air Act, now undermined by the Supreme Court, exemplifies how the U.S. government once tackled “major questions”—and could again

Christian Menefee, the first Black person to serve as Harris County Attorney, has deep roots in Houston’s notoriously polluted Fifth Ward. Now, as he pushes oil and gas companies and other industries to clean up their operations, he finds the state of Texas standing in the way.

The rise of fracking in Appalachia has fed visions of turning the Ohio River Valley into a petrochemical and plastics hub. But overproduction of plastic, opposition to natural gas pipelines, and public concern about rampant plastic waste are upending those plans.

For decades, 1960s research for the American Petroleum Institute warning of the risks of burning fossil fuels had been forgotten. But two papers discovered by a crusading lawyer are now playing a key role in lawsuits aimed at holding oil companies accountable for climate change.

A major citizen suit against a giant plastics company resulted in a huge payout and a commitment to do better. The case has set off ripples of change across an industry that often pollutes with impunity.