Toward an Environmental History of American Prisons
On a warm night in June 1845, two inmates recently escaped from the newly opened…
Browsing: Commentary
For-Profit Colleges in American History
Donald Trump can claim many firsts as president. He’s the first billionaire president to have…
Labor History and Passenger Outrage in the U.S. Airline Industry
During the Spring of 2017, the U.S. airline industry became the target of widespread public…
Where Infrastructure Takes Us
Infrastructure is both one of our most important political issues, and also one of the…
Reflections on the Great Pacific Garbage Patch
In February 2009, Captain Charles Moore of the Al-ga-lita Marine Research Foundation spoke at TED…
Bureaucrats as Activists: A Revisionist Take on Conservation
It is easy to think of bureaucrats and activists as inherently opposed to one another.…
How Land Use Contributed to Risk and Disaster during Hurricane Katrina
On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina made landfall near the mouth of the Pearl River…
Toxic Legacy: New Boom Highlights Oil’s Hundred-Year Environmental History in West Texas
West Texas is synonymous with big hats, big boots, and staunch “don’t tread on me”…
Archiving Weather Data
It was mid-summer and excruciatingly hot in Washington, D.C. It wasn’t just me––July 2014 would…
Paul Revere Recycled: How More Than Two Centuries of Material Reuse Informs the Future Success and Failure of Environmental Services in Industrial Society
In the popular imagination, recycling arose out of the modern environmental movement. Some associate recycling…