Center for Health, Environment & Justice
Donate

Urban Heat Island Effect

By: Lauren Maranto Have you ever noticed that when you leave the city, the air feels more fresh and cool? It’s  no surprise these days that the air is filled with pollution; We see cars and trucks everywhere, releasing greenhouse gasses and toxic fumes into the atmosphere, while fuel is burned in factories and residential areas. That being said, what many people don’t think of when they imagine air pollution is a phenomenon called the Urban Heat Island Effect. Urban Heat Islands (UHI) are urban areas that have higher average

Read More »
March 26, 2019

Let’s Be Greener This St. Patrick’s Day

I don’t mean wearing more green clothing or drinking green beer, but rather thinking and acting greener than you have most every other day. It doesn’t need to be Earth Day to raise the important issues that are fundamentally about our own survival. There are things you can do every day including St. Patrick’s Day to protect public health and the environment. For example: You can ask your federal legislators, state elected representatives, your friends and neighbors to support the New Green Deal. Start a conversation about the pro’s and con’s

Read More »
March 13, 2019

A student’s reflection on the EPA, Superfund and CHEJ

Maddelene Karlsson. As a Community Health student, I had the opportunity to go as an intern with Center for Health Environment and Justice to the EPA headquarters for a meeting regarding the Superfund program on March 5. This meeting, although very emotional, was also intellectually rewarding and confirming in many ways. It is one thing to read and learn about public health, community health and the topics under those umbrellas in class, but a whole other thing to see it and experience it in reality. At the meeting, there were

Read More »
March 6, 2019

Necessary Prevention: Toxic Pollution and Natural Disasters

By: Maia Lemman Starting as thunderstorms that travel west across Sub Saharan Africa, these weather systems grow in size and magnitude as they move across the warm waters of the Atlantic Ocean. As the moisture evaporates it rises creating twisting air flows that develop into hurricanes. One such storm developed in the summer of 2017. Harvey was first labeled as a slow-moving tropical storm on August 17th as it made its way towards North America from the Gulf of Mexico. Two days later Harvey was downgraded, only to steadily regain

Read More »
March 1, 2019

PFAS Chemicals: Failing to Protect the American People

Last week the EPA announced its “Action Plan” for a group of chemicals referred to as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances or PFAS chemicals. In its news release, the agency described this effort as “historic” and as the “most comprehensive cross-agency plan to address an emerging chemical of concern ever undertaken by EPA.” However, environmental advocates and people who live in communities contaminated by PFAS chemicals were not impressed by the agency’s plan. Group after group released news statements blasting the plan as inadequate and lacking action, lamenting the agency’s failure

Read More »
February 21, 2019

What is PFAS, where is it, and what is government doing about it in 2019?

By: Daisy Clennon PFAS is short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. It is an umbrella term for manmade chemicals that have a carbon and fluorine atom backbone. PFAS encompasses PFOA (Perfluorooctanoic acid) and PFOS (Perfluorooctanesulfonic acid) as well as hundreds of other compounds. PFAS are used in industrial processes and consumer products such as non-stick cookware, grease resistant paper, fast food wrappers, microwave popcorn bags, stain-resistant carpets and fabrics, cleaning products, and more. PFAS frequently get into groundwater though industrial factories, military bases, and also because they are used in

Read More »
February 13, 2019
Blog Roll
Greenpeace’s The Witness
Grist
Groovy Green
Healthy Child Healthy World
Inside Prevention
It’s Getting Hot in Here
Moms Rising
Pharos
Safe Mama
Safer Chemicals Healthy Families
The Soft Landing
Treehugger
Zero Waste World