This article is deemed a must-read by one or more of our expert collaborators. /PRNewswire/ — Allied Talent Partners (ATP), a groundbreaking talent marketplace, officially launched today at the inaugural M300 Summit in Dar es Salaam,…
This article is deemed a must-read by one or more of our expert collaborators. For more than 20 years, WRI has identified annual “stories to watch.” These are the year’s moments, issues and decisions that we believe will shape the future trajectory of the world. In the past, we’ve highlighted things like dangerous heat in cities, major elections and their effects on…
Global Washington published this letter to its membership on January 30, 2025. Dear Global Washington Community We are reaching out at a time of unprecedented uncertainty for the global development…
This article is deemed a must-read by one or more of our expert collaborators. ESG news for industry leaders. Covering sustainability, regulation, governance, risk and compliance, finance, and more.
This article is deemed a must-read by one or more of our expert collaborators. As Los Angeles battled its largest wildfires in history, parts of the southern U.S. faced a very different kind of disaster — record-breaking snowstorms not seen in over 125 years.
Black lung disease diagnoses have been on the rise for two decades, affecting thousands of coal mining families across the country. The disease is incurable and progressive, meaning that it gets worse over time. One reason that it has been increasing, particularly in Appalachia where 20% of tenured miners have some form of the disease, is due to increased silica or rock dust within coal seams. Silica dust is more toxic than coal dust. With cases on the rise, it is more important than ever to preserve and improve the black lung benefits system.
Families across the country rely on these disability benefits to replace lost wages when they can no longer work and assure that they have access to health insurance that pays for the cost of care for their disease. Using data from the Department of Labor, we’ve created a map that hints at the scale of the black lung crisis.
What’s the Black Lung Program?
Congress created the Black Lung Program to provide necessary monetary and medical benefits to coal miners who suffer from the disease. These benefits are either paid for by a coal company or the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund, which steps in when the coal company responsible has gone bankrupt or no longer exists. It’s usually a difficult process to apply for the benefits, and coal companies typically fight tooth and nail in court to deflect responsibility for paying coal miners what they’re owed.
The black lung program pays a monthly disability payment, or stipend, to coal miners that increases depending on the number of dependents in the household. In 2024, the monthly payment was $772.60 for just the miner, but it increases to $1,158.90 if there is one dependent. Unfortunately, the monthly disability payment hasn’t kept up with inflation since it was…
This article is deemed a must-read by one or more of our expert collaborators. Washington, D.C., aims to follow 10 states that have their own bottle bills. Local officials say the legislation would help the district make more direct changes to its recycling system and support environmental justice initiatives in a city where pollution has disproportionately affected communities of color.
D.C. “has a significant litter issue,” but beverage containers are a particular concern, said Brianne Nadeau, a D.C. council member who sponsors the bill. That’s because plastic bottles make up about 60% of all the trash collected from the Anacostia River each year, according to environmental organization Anacostia Riverkeeper.
The pollution is a major reason why D.C. officials introduced a bottle bill instead of something like an extended producer responsibility bill for packaging, she said. “There were a lot of conversations about what made the most sense for the District of Columbia, but our goal is to get bottles and cans out of the river,” she said. Many of the containers end up going to landfill rather than getting recycled, she said.
Trey Sherard, who leads advocacy and outreach work for river protection nonprofit Anacostia Riverkeeper, said in a statement that the bottle bill could cut the amount of river litter in half. The nonprofit has called for D.C. to adopt a bottle bill for several years.
D.C.’s proposed bottle bill takes inspiration from several other states’ programs, including in Oregon and in Nadeau’s home state of Michigan. “Return rates are declining in places where the deposits are lower, so starting with [a 10 cent deposit instead of 5 cents] made a lot of sense in the way we drafted it,” Nadeau said.
The bill calls for a district-wide disposal ban on covered beverage containers on Jan. 1, 2027. The deposit program would start in 2028 with a 10-cent deposit, but that deposit value…
This article is deemed a must-read by one or more of our expert collaborators. Mythology imbued trees with special powers — healing and protecting against evil spirits, transmitting knowledge and magical properties, symbolizing immortality or omens of doom. Supernatural or not, focusing on the preeminence of trees was spot-on. Trees have an outsized impact on our communities — cooling our cities, saving us money and bolstering our health. Yet, not everyone has access to these life-giving plants. Communities of color in the United States have 38 percent less tree cover than predominately white communities. And the extent of leafy canopy in lower-income neighborhoods is over a fourth lower compared to wealthier ones.
Houston — a Texas city with only 18 percent tree cover — has a chance to address this inequality. As one of the U.S. cities with the most intense urban heat islands, Houston aims to plant 4.6 million trees by 2030. Thankfully, there’s a new tool at its disposal: the Houston Tree Equity Score Analyzer. By providing detailed data on tree cover, this platform from American Forests aids urban forestry efforts, prioritizes neighborhoods and estimates the benefits of planting trees. It’s a chance for Houston to go green where it needs it most.
Members of Google, Trees for Houston, American Forests and the local community plant a tree at Shadydale Elementary School in Houston during the launch of the Tree Equity Score Analyzer. (Image: Thomas Koenig, Big Pineapple Productions)
Addressing tree inequity
The newly launched Houston Tree Equity Score Analyzer is an offshoot of American Forests’ Tree Equity Score, which maps tree cover in 2,600 urban areas across the U.S. It is a free application developed in partnership with Google.org, Trees for Houston, the local government, environmental groups and residents. Compared to the nationwide platform, the Houston analyzer provides additional tools and insights for planting, setting targets and tracking progress.
In addition to tree…
The when, where and how of informed disaster giving…
153 Nobel and World Food Prize Laureates emphasized the urgent need for transformational change in food and agriculture systems.
TriplePundit spoke with SAP Chief Sustainability and Commercial Officer Sophia Mendelsohn at the company’s Hudson Yards offices in New York City last month to gain some insight into what lies ahead for the corporate sustainability movement over the next four years.
For most environmentalists, the day that Donald Trump got elected president in November was “a dark day.” But there was one small, overlooked corner of the movement that celebrated. In…