State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

MS in Sustainability Management News2

  • Questioning Mayor Adams’ Commitment to Protecting NYC’s Environment

    Questioning Mayor Adams’ Commitment to Protecting NYC’s Environment

    Mayor Adams is a superb advocate for environmental quality and environmental justice, but the city government he runs doesn’t always seem to follow through: New York City’s water infrastructure, decarbonization, and parks need additional staffing and funding if the promises made are to be fulfilled.

  • Congestion Pricing is Nearly Here

    Congestion Pricing is Nearly Here

    It is indeed ironic that Democratic New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, Republican Representative Nicole Malliotakis from Staten Island, and Democratic Representative Josh Gottheimer from New Jersey all share intense opposition to congestion pricing south of 60th street in Manhattan.

  • From Fission to Fusion: A Sustainability Student’s Quest for a Greener Future

    From Fission to Fusion: A Sustainability Student’s Quest for a Greener Future

    Brian Kim, a health physicist at Columbia University, witnessed many natural disasters living in Oregon and New York City. As a current student in the Sustainability Management program, he wants to help solve the climate crisis.

  • Environmental Sustainability and Consumption

    Environmental Sustainability and Consumption

    The best way to achieve environmental sustainability is to develop a circular economy with services and products that have the least possible impact on the environment. Attacking consumption is futile and a waste of effort.

  • Regulating Air Toxics from Petrochemical Plants

    Regulating Air Toxics from Petrochemical Plants

    We need to end performative and ideological regulatory debates and strive for effective regulation that protects the public while encouraging innovation.

  • Garbage, Product Design, and the Circular Economy

    Garbage, Product Design, and the Circular Economy

    The key to building the circular economy is not consumer guilt or changed behavior but new business models and technologies that enable the economy to transform waste into a resource.

  • Electric Vehicle Adoption Requires More Effective Public and Private Management

    Electric Vehicle Adoption Requires More Effective Public and Private Management

    Regulation can help accelerate the adoption of EVs, but more effective public and private management is needed to build better EVs and ensure that charging them is easy and convenient.

  • The Emerging Field of Sustainable Agriculture

    The Emerging Field of Sustainable Agriculture

    In the United States—and throughout the world—there is potential for a transformation of agricultural practices to make them more efficient and less polluting.

  • The Endless Shame of Louisiana’s Cancer Alley

    The Endless Shame of Louisiana’s Cancer Alley

    In a nation that invented national environmental policy over half a century ago we now see the spectacle of part of America being investigated by an international NGO seeking to protect the human rights of victims of toxic pollution.

Banner with images representing environmental issues and text "You Asked: Our Scientists and Experts Answer Your Burning Questions."

You Asked invites you to share your most pressing questions about climate, science, and sustainability. Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and Columbia Climate School experts will respond with clear, evidence-based answers. Pose your questions and story ideas!

  • Questioning Mayor Adams’ Commitment to Protecting NYC’s Environment

    Questioning Mayor Adams’ Commitment to Protecting NYC’s Environment

    Mayor Adams is a superb advocate for environmental quality and environmental justice, but the city government he runs doesn’t always seem to follow through: New York City’s water infrastructure, decarbonization, and parks need additional staffing and funding if the promises made are to be fulfilled.

  • Congestion Pricing is Nearly Here

    Congestion Pricing is Nearly Here

    It is indeed ironic that Democratic New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, Republican Representative Nicole Malliotakis from Staten Island, and Democratic Representative Josh Gottheimer from New Jersey all share intense opposition to congestion pricing south of 60th street in Manhattan.

  • From Fission to Fusion: A Sustainability Student’s Quest for a Greener Future

    From Fission to Fusion: A Sustainability Student’s Quest for a Greener Future

    Brian Kim, a health physicist at Columbia University, witnessed many natural disasters living in Oregon and New York City. As a current student in the Sustainability Management program, he wants to help solve the climate crisis.

  • Environmental Sustainability and Consumption

    Environmental Sustainability and Consumption

    The best way to achieve environmental sustainability is to develop a circular economy with services and products that have the least possible impact on the environment. Attacking consumption is futile and a waste of effort.

  • Regulating Air Toxics from Petrochemical Plants

    Regulating Air Toxics from Petrochemical Plants

    We need to end performative and ideological regulatory debates and strive for effective regulation that protects the public while encouraging innovation.

  • Garbage, Product Design, and the Circular Economy

    Garbage, Product Design, and the Circular Economy

    The key to building the circular economy is not consumer guilt or changed behavior but new business models and technologies that enable the economy to transform waste into a resource.

  • Electric Vehicle Adoption Requires More Effective Public and Private Management

    Electric Vehicle Adoption Requires More Effective Public and Private Management

    Regulation can help accelerate the adoption of EVs, but more effective public and private management is needed to build better EVs and ensure that charging them is easy and convenient.

  • The Emerging Field of Sustainable Agriculture

    The Emerging Field of Sustainable Agriculture

    In the United States—and throughout the world—there is potential for a transformation of agricultural practices to make them more efficient and less polluting.

  • The Endless Shame of Louisiana’s Cancer Alley

    The Endless Shame of Louisiana’s Cancer Alley

    In a nation that invented national environmental policy over half a century ago we now see the spectacle of part of America being investigated by an international NGO seeking to protect the human rights of victims of toxic pollution.