State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

Pollution2

  • Global Environment Report Card Sees Dirty Air, Failing Fisheries

    Global Environment Report Card Sees Dirty Air, Failing Fisheries

    Many countries are making progress on improving water sanitation and protecting marine ecosystems. But air pollution continues as a leading health problem in many nations, and fisheries are deteriorating almost everywhere.

  • Columbia Environmental Law Clinic Challenges EPA’s Scott Pruitt on Behalf of Scientists

    Columbia Environmental Law Clinic Challenges EPA’s Scott Pruitt on Behalf of Scientists

    The lawsuit filed today asserts that Scott Pruitt’s ban on EPA-funded scientists on EPA advisory boards is illegal, undermines the integrity of science, and threatens public health.

  • The Human and Financial Cost of Pollution

    The Human and Financial Cost of Pollution

    We need to ensure that our air, water and soil is free of poisons and to do that we need to take pollution control more seriously than we do today. Many industries have found that environmental regulation is compatible with long term production and profits.

  • High Levels of Lead Contaminate Many Backyards in Brooklyn Neighborhood

    High Levels of Lead Contaminate Many Backyards in Brooklyn Neighborhood

    An ongoing study finds that 92 percent of private yards in Greenpoint may have unsafe levels of lead in their soil.

  • Resisting the Deregulation of Environmental Protection

    Resisting the Deregulation of Environmental Protection

    Today we have an EPA Administrator who is willfully and aggressively deregulating elements of environmental protection. We need to resist federal cutbacks in environmental protection policies and programs, while also continuing to keep our eye on the daily, operational tasks of creating sustainable economy.

  • Save EPA

    Save EPA

    Until now, Administrator Pruitt has been an enemy of EPA, but he has a chance to change the narrative and demonstrate that his conservative principles are consistent with the goals of environmental protection. I hope he decides to save EPA and serve the American people.

  • The Importance of Regulating Lead in Drinking Water

    The Importance of Regulating Lead in Drinking Water

    Many schools are being tested for lead in their water. But what about the libraries, hospitals, offices and old apartment buildings? As I observe the new president and his EPA designee, I worry about the adverse effect deregulating environmental protection would have on our families. There is more work to do if we are to…

  • Ideology and Environmental Protection

    Ideology and Environmental Protection

    With the phrase “climate change” disappearing from U.S. federal government websites and increased talk of regulatory overreach, it is obvious that protecting the environment will continue to be a fault line in American political ideology. However, though ideology will shape the nature and speed of response, the environmental problem is real and cannot be ignored.

  • Environmental Science and Speaking Truth to Power

    Environmental Science and Speaking Truth to Power

    Denying the science of global warming is absurd, but accepting the science of climate change does not require decision-makers to accept the policy prescriptions of climate scientists.

Columbia Climate School Giving Day on October 28, 2026, featuring students and renewable energy imagery

October 28, 2026 is Columbia Giving Day! Your gift to Columbia Climate School helps advance interdisciplinary research, educate the next generation of leaders, and transform bold ideas into real-world solutions for climate, Earth, and society.

  • Global Environment Report Card Sees Dirty Air, Failing Fisheries

    Global Environment Report Card Sees Dirty Air, Failing Fisheries

    Many countries are making progress on improving water sanitation and protecting marine ecosystems. But air pollution continues as a leading health problem in many nations, and fisheries are deteriorating almost everywhere.

  • Columbia Environmental Law Clinic Challenges EPA’s Scott Pruitt on Behalf of Scientists

    Columbia Environmental Law Clinic Challenges EPA’s Scott Pruitt on Behalf of Scientists

    The lawsuit filed today asserts that Scott Pruitt’s ban on EPA-funded scientists on EPA advisory boards is illegal, undermines the integrity of science, and threatens public health.

  • The Human and Financial Cost of Pollution

    The Human and Financial Cost of Pollution

    We need to ensure that our air, water and soil is free of poisons and to do that we need to take pollution control more seriously than we do today. Many industries have found that environmental regulation is compatible with long term production and profits.

  • High Levels of Lead Contaminate Many Backyards in Brooklyn Neighborhood

    High Levels of Lead Contaminate Many Backyards in Brooklyn Neighborhood

    An ongoing study finds that 92 percent of private yards in Greenpoint may have unsafe levels of lead in their soil.

  • Resisting the Deregulation of Environmental Protection

    Resisting the Deregulation of Environmental Protection

    Today we have an EPA Administrator who is willfully and aggressively deregulating elements of environmental protection. We need to resist federal cutbacks in environmental protection policies and programs, while also continuing to keep our eye on the daily, operational tasks of creating sustainable economy.

  • Save EPA

    Save EPA

    Until now, Administrator Pruitt has been an enemy of EPA, but he has a chance to change the narrative and demonstrate that his conservative principles are consistent with the goals of environmental protection. I hope he decides to save EPA and serve the American people.

  • The Importance of Regulating Lead in Drinking Water

    The Importance of Regulating Lead in Drinking Water

    Many schools are being tested for lead in their water. But what about the libraries, hospitals, offices and old apartment buildings? As I observe the new president and his EPA designee, I worry about the adverse effect deregulating environmental protection would have on our families. There is more work to do if we are to…

  • Ideology and Environmental Protection

    Ideology and Environmental Protection

    With the phrase “climate change” disappearing from U.S. federal government websites and increased talk of regulatory overreach, it is obvious that protecting the environment will continue to be a fault line in American political ideology. However, though ideology will shape the nature and speed of response, the environmental problem is real and cannot be ignored.

  • Environmental Science and Speaking Truth to Power

    Environmental Science and Speaking Truth to Power

    Denying the science of global warming is absurd, but accepting the science of climate change does not require decision-makers to accept the policy prescriptions of climate scientists.