Aerial view of a mangrove forest, a natural carbon sink

Should Environmental Policy Commodify Nature?

The White House is calling for the integration of natural capital accounting frameworks into land-use decisions, putting nature on the balance sheet.
Cadets of the 3rd Regiment approach their objective as a simulated mortar shell explodes in the distance in Training Area 9 during Army ROTC Cadet Summer Training on July 1, 2021 in Fort Knox, Kentucky

From Weapons to Wildlife?

While war is an environmental as well as human disaster, readiness and preparation for armed conflict is more ambiguous ecologically.
Illustration of a city with lots of green space as seen from above

Lawn and Order: Green Spaces for a Better Society

A growing topic in policy focuses on improving public access to green, open spaces. How important is greenery for health and happiness?
Demonstrators from from over 30 environmental organizations rally supporters for transit and environmental justice during the 2022 Earth Day Strike organized by the Sunrise Movement of Pittsburgh and Pittsburghers for Transit Justice at the City County Building on April 22, 2022 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Toward Environmental Justice: Key Concepts

Environmental justice results from the equitable distribution of environmental benefits and harms through the restructuring of systems of oppression.
Eight-port air sampler head by Glass Developments Ltd., London, 1971-1980

Object Lessons from the Modern Environmental Movement

This Earth Day, we're looking at the ominous slash beautiful material culture of the modern environmental movement.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry addresses delegates before he signed the COP21 Climate Change Agreement on Earth Day, April 22, 2016, at the United Nations General Assembly Hall in New York, N.Y.

The Paris Agreement: Annotated

Adopted by almost 200 parties at the 2015 UN Climate Change Conference, the Paris Agreement captures international ambitions for cooperative climate action.
Watercolor painting of the earth by Martin Eklund

On Earth Day

Celebrate Earth Day with stories from JSTOR Daily.
Watercolor painting of the earth by Martin Eklund

Planetary Health: Foundations and Key Concepts

The groundwork for the field of planetary health was laid by a range of disciplines and movements, including medicine, ecology, health, and feminism.
A still from Molly Moo Cow and the Butterflies, 1935

The Pre-Captain Planet Eco-Heroes of Animation

Environmentally oriented films from the classical era of Hollywood animation delivered powerful messages about the negative consequences of technological progress.
Factory chimneys pumping out pollution in the Ruhr, Germany, 1970

A Precautionary Tale

West Germany’s “do no harm” approach to environmental protection—which became known as the precautionary principle—was revolutionary in its time.