In Marfa, Texas, prior to 2017, a house made of adobe bricks was appraised in the same way as any other house made of any other material. Now, following an update by the county tax assessors, inhabitants of adobe structures pay 57% more in taxes than other homeowners. Let’s …
All over the world, from Mexico to Pakistan to right here in the United States, millions of people in the coming decades will be forced to leave their homes as their communities become uninhabitable. Why? Because of climate change. Up to 200 million people will be displaced by 2050 due …
Kingston, New York, like many other cities across the country (and across the world), is facing a housing crisis of ever-increasing proportions. This year, a Housing Action Plan generated by Ulster County, the NY county in which Kingston is located, revealed that nearly one-third of the County’s homeowners and half …
Our ability to address climate change depends on a convergence of multiple disciplines and actors. Effective collaboration on an interdisciplinary level requires leadership. But what makes an influential leader? On the topic of what makes a great leader in the environmental sector, Trey Taylor of Verdant Power shared a series …
A peculiar term… The first time I heard the term fiduciary responsibility was when I was duking it out with the Board of Trustees at Vassar College, attempting to convince them to divest the institution’s sizable 1 billion dollar endowment from fossil fuels. Their jargony, finance-focused counter arguments always centered …
When your home suddenly becomes too hot to live in, your only options are to move or die. Sounds dramatic, but that’s the situation facing many fish species as ocean temperatures rise in response to climate change. The uneven rate of ocean warming around the world, however, means that there …
It’s a rainy day and you find yourself staring out the window. The rain hits ground and forms a puddle. The next day is sunny and warm and you forget that there was ever a puddle just outside your window. But what happened to the water from that puddle? To …
Do you know what’s in your drinking water? It may be more than you realize. We disinfect our drinking water to protect us from organisms we can’t see. From boiling water to sand filters, water treatment dates back to the 18th century, and treating drinking water has saved countless lives. …
After a year of intensive graduate school coursework at Bard’s Center for Environmental Policy (CEP), I interned with ManTech International Corporation, a technology and innovation company that does contract consulting work primarily for the U.S. military. I worked in the environmental department and assisted project managers write and research for …
With the midterms approaching, it seems that New York political ads are focused on the corruption and graft in Albany. Yet just an hour south, five municipalities in Northern Dutchess County are working together on issues with global implications. Last year, the Village and Town of Rhinebeck, the Village and …
