Blog
June 10, 2020 | Why COVID-19 Is Hitting Some Communities HarderCOVID-19’s unequal impact on our communities has laid bare stark realities about health, wealth, and housing. As our Healthy Neighborhoods Study has shown – and as the map of COVID-19 infections bears out – low-income and people of color face community-level stressors resulting from public health inequities and environmental injustices. These stressors result directly from decades of discriminatory housing policy. | ![]() |
June 10, 2020 | Should You Ditch Your Reusable Bags? No.The plastic industry has been trying to take advantage of the pandemic to maximize profits. But fueling fear during a public health crisis is outrageous and must be called out. To truly protect public health and the environment long-term, we need full-scale reuse systems. | ![]() |
June 9, 2020 | Connecticut’s Bottle Bill is Back After Services Were ReducedAt the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, staffing concerns caused many New England states with bottle return programs to temporarily stop enforcing collection requirements at grocery stores, supermarkets, and liquor shops. Connecticut was among the states pressing pause on bottle bill enforcement. But as of May 20, the state’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) has reinstated bottle collection requirements at these retail sites. | ![]() |
June 5, 2020 | Trump Guts Protections for Atlantic Marine Monument – That’s IllegalAs the nation grapples with the pandemics of racism and COVID-19, President Trump decimated protections for the Atlantic’s only marine national monument, the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts. That’s illegal — and CLF and our partners will fight this rollback. | ![]() |
May 28, 2020 | The Real Fishwives of Cashes LedgeA key step to saving Atlantic cod is protecting the mother fish that lay exponentially more eggs than their smaller, younger counterparts. Protecting area where these BOFFFFs, or Big Old Fat Fertile Female Fish, live and spawn is crucial to a healthy cod population. | ![]() |
May 21, 2020 | How to Make Transportation Safer During the PandemicIn the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, authorities are not doing enough to protect public transit workers or their passengers. Stronger safety measures, including providing personal protective equipment and more frequent service on busy routes, must be implemented immediately – especially with stay-at-home directives beginning to ease. | ![]() |
May 20, 2020 | Why We Need Monitoring on All New England Groundfish TripsRight now, our regional fishery managers have the opportunity to collect more accurate data by improving the at-sea monitoring program in New England’s groundfish fishery. This management action, called Amendment 23, can help put Atlantic cod on a path to recovery. | ![]() |
May 14, 2020 | Building Stronger Communities and a Healthier Climate in the Wake of COVID-19Even as we mourn the lives lost to COVID-19 and absorb the heavy toll it has taken on our economy, we must recognize that the old “normal” left too many communities unhealthy and especially vulnerable to the pandemic. Replicating that old “normal” will squander an opportunity to reduce climate danger while building healthier and more just communities for all. | ![]() |
May 12, 2020 | Waste Industry Exploits Pandemic as Cover for RollbacksUnder cover of the pandemic, the waste industry is trying to demolish critical environmental protections. In April, the waste industry and Vermont’s Department of Environmental Conservation asked the legislature to delay Vermont’s food scrap ban and trash recyclables, all under the guise of protecting the health of workers amid the COVID-19 pandemic. But they appear to be part of a push from waste industry groups to use the crisis to advance their own agenda in several New England states. | ![]() |
May 5, 2020 | World Asthma Day: Why Environmental Justice Communities Are Hit Hardest by Asthma and COVID-19In anticipation of World Asthma Day, I connected with María Belén Power from GreenRoots, Andrea Nyamekye of Neighbor to Neighbor, and my CLF colleague Staci Rubin. The four of us spoke about air quality, public health, and what it means to live in an environmental justice community during a pandemic. | ![]() |