By Sharon Franklin. As climate change drastically increases the frequency and severity of wildfires, utility companies say they’re facing growing risk for payouts that could bankrupt them or require massive rate hikes on customers.  Across the West, electrical utilities are pushing state lawmakers to grant them legal immunity or limit damage payouts if their equipment sparks a blaze.  State legislators in at least eight states over the past few years have passed legislation or have proposed legislation, that would require the utility companies to follow plans to limit their risks

Every day, people facing threats to their health and environment call CHEJ for help. They are looking for proof that all landfills leak, health studies linking incinerators to cancer, or the environmental record of a company that wants to build a plant in their community. CHEJ tries to provide those facts. But we also help people through the terrible realization that simply speaking the truth about landfills, incinerators, or previous violations won’t stop the poisoning. The truth is only a start. In order for things to change, the truth has

By Leila Waid. A recently published systematic review article analyzed effective methods for increasing heat literacy. A systematic review summarizes the current scientific literature by synthesizing multiple studies and providing the lessons learned. In this case, the authors focused on analyzing community-based health adaptation programs – defined as “interventions focus[ed] on local engagement, offering culturally tailored resources and information designed to enhance individual knowledge and adaptive behaviors related to heat-related illness prevention.” Instead of utilizing a top-down approach to address climate change, these programs focus on empowering communities by affecting

By Juliet Porter. At the start of April, devastating storms swept across parts of the Midwest and Southeastern United States, bringing tornadoes, violent winds, and catastrophic flooding. Millions of Americans were affected as rivers overflowed, homes were damaged or destroyed, and lives were lost. The National Weather Service warned early on that this would be a “multi-day catastrophic and potentially historic” event, with a “barrage of life-threatening” conditions, including powerful tornadoes and widespread flash flooding. The Kentucky, Ohio, and Mississippi Rivers rose to historic levels, inundating communities and dismantling local

By Ken Grossinger. Strongmen all want the same thing. They want us to feel powerless. When we feel we don’t make a difference, that’s when they win. But long before Trump, Musk, and their sycophants began to demean and attack environmental justice activists in order to chill our protest, and long before they acted to shred anything that runs counter to their toxic environmental policies, the EJ community – along with many others – was re-evaluating its strategies and tactics for building power. Our often hide-bound approach to social change

By Ben Chisam. On January 16, 2025, a fire broke out in Moss Landing, California at the world’s largest lithium-ion battery storage facility. The fire burned for several days, and 1,200 residents were temporarily evacuated. While this was the fourth fire at the facility since 2019, this event was “much more significant” according to professor Dustin Mulvaney at San José State University. The photos are just devastating. Shortly after the fire, community members began to complain of symptoms like headaches, nosebleeds, and a metallic taste in the mouth. Many have