The Environmental Forum

COURT REPORT Not just a response to President Trump, suits by state attorneys general against federal rules and policies, once a rare event, have become increasingly common in this century, involving these officials in promoting or confining national programs and priorities.

FIELD STUDY Modern legal and governance models are failing to solve the entwined climate and biodiversity crises. Policymakers are already looking at traditional communities who have been sustaining their peoples by stewarding their local ecosystems for millennia.

COVER STORY President Trump has declared an “energy emergency,” requiring an increase in fossil fuel production—particularly the use of natural gas. U.S. gas production has already been at record levels. Meanwhile, the industry is gearing up to export it in liquid form.

PROFILE Louise Yeung of the New York City Comptroller’s Office is alerting citizens and officials alike to ensure that the five boroughs respond to the multiple threats of climate change

THE DEBATE A global crisis of plastic waste is well understood to be threatening ecosystems around the world, with roughly 400 million metric tons generated annually, much of which ends up in the biosphere. But far less understood are a suite of technologies and processes that break down plastics into molecules that can be remade into new plastics or other products. Critics argue that facilities engaging in such “chemical recycling” are not in fact recycling—and through their processes are generating hazardous waste and air pollution.