Truthout
Environment & Health
![Activists hold up torches and portraits of slain Indigenous peoples and environmental defenders during a rally on November 10, 2022, in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2024/09/2024_0910-activists-800x600.jpg)
Nearly 200 Environmental Defenders Were Killed in 2023
These killings are often carried out alongside acts of intimidation, smear campaigns and criminalization by governments.
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California Drinking Water Regulations Are Putting Cost Over People’s Safety
Polluters and utility groups have repeatedly stymied efforts to impose stricter limits on contaminants.
![A lone medical worker walks towards a hospital](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2024/09/2024_0909-hospital-covid-400x300.jpg)
As COVID Emergency Funding Sunsets, Public Health Faces Budget Cuts and Layoffs
In some places, that pandemic cash did little more than keep small health departments afloat.
![Thousands marched for action to prevent climate catastrophe and stop fracking on the eve of the Democratic National Convention on July 24, 2016, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2024/09/GettyImages-1229096910-400x300.jpg)
As Harris Rejects Fracking Ban, Will Anyone Listen to What Pennsylvanians Want?
Pundits and politicians act like boosting fracking is key to winning votes in Pennsylvania, but polls suggest otherwise.
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Israel Is Hindering the Delivery of Polio Vaccines, Gaza’s Health Ministry Says
Meanwhile, much of Gaza hasn’t been able to access soap, which would reduce communicable diseases by about 40 percent.
![College graduation caps and oil slick](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2024/09/2024_0906-grad-oil-400x300.jpg)
Here’s How the Fossil Fuel Industry Infiltrates and Influences Higher Education
There are dozens of programs and even entire schools across the country funded by the fossil fuel industry.
![Free food is distributed to residents in need at a weekly food bank at Our Lady of Refuge Church in Brooklyn on February 28, 2024, in New York City.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2024/09/2024_0905-food-pantry-400x300.jpg)
Advocates Urge Action as US Food Insecurity Reaches Its Highest Levels in Years
A new USDA report reveals that about 13.5 percent of US households struggled to access enough food in 2023.
![Residents on boats collect recyclable plastics from the heavily polluted Citarum River in Batujajar, Bandung, West Java, Indonesia, on June 12, 2024.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2024/09/2024_0905-pollution-400x300.jpg)
US Finally Agrees to Back Limits on Plastic Production. Here’s Why That Matters.
International caps on plastic production are key to ending “waste colonialism.”
![A health care worker gives her patient a COVID-19 vaccine during a flu and COVID-19 vaccination clinic at Kaiser Permanente Pasadena on October 12, 2023, in Pasadena, California.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2024/09/2024_0903-vaccine-400x300.jpg)
COVID Vaccines May Cost $200 for Uninsured People Due to Federal Funding Cuts
The cost of the latest version of the vaccine may no longer be covered for roughly 25 million Americans.
![People watch the flames as firefighters respond to wildfires in Ankara, Turkiye, on August 21, 2024.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2024/09/2024_0903-wildfires-turkiye-400x300.jpg)
Broken Temperature Records Are Alarming, But More Are Not Inevitable
Although a breach of the 1.5°C target is likely, we can certainly get below it by aggressive emission reduction.
![Solar panels with sun at horizon](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2024/09/2024_0903-solar-400x300.jpg)
Solar Development in Mississippi Faces Resistance From State Regulators
State utility regulators have increasingly obstructed solar development in one of the sunniest states in the US.
![Culex pipiens, a common mosquito species, is seen through the microscope of Matthew Vanderpool, environmental health specialist and entomologist for the Louisville Metro Department of Public Health and Wellness on August 25, 2021, in Louisville, Kentucky.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2024/08/GettyImages-1234866907-400x300.jpg)
How Climate Change Spread This Deadly Mosquito-Borne Illness to the US Northeast
Eastern equine encephalitis, a rare mosquito-borne disease, has been spreading as temperatures rise.
![Close-up of a person's hand holding a pill bottle pouring medication into the other hand.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2024/08/GettyImages-1635084121.jpg)
It’s Not Just Big Pharma: Meet the Middlemen Blocking Access to Medication
Pharmacy benefit managers have massive control over people’s medications, but a growing movement is pushing for reform.