Since the beginning of the Trump administration, there have been many environmental rollbacks on policy and as a result a reversal of federal environmental progress as a whole, especially since the onset of Covid-19. However, the reversal of environmental progress is beginning to occur more and more at the state level as seen in current events in Hartford, CT. Thirteen years ago, the Materials Innovation and Recycling Authority (MIRA) of Connecticut identified and began planning for the redevelopment of an old trash incineration plant into a regional recycling and trash-to-energy plant in Hartford, CT. Lack of state funding is now forcing the MIRA to abandon this plan, forcing an average of over 640,000 tons of garbage a year to be trucked to landfills in other states. Not only is trucking Connecticut’s garbage not sustainable, but it is a step backwards in the environmental progress of the state. Read More
Month: June 2020
By law, the access to public parks and lands is currently universal to all people in the United States. However, many black citizens are deterred from visiting parks and enjoying nature due to racism engrained in society and stereotypes involving the demographic of people engaging in many activities involving nature (e.g., hiking and camping). This phenomenon can be disturbingly seen through the recent harassment of Christian Cooper, a black avid birdwatcher in Central Park, by a white woman who called the police on him on May 26th. The story of Christian Cooper further exposes our society for engrained racism and discrimination, specifically in regards to how different races associate themselves with the natural world. Read More