Truthout
Environment & Health
![Environmental activists attend Fire Drill Fridays to call attention to the growing climate crisis and demand that President Biden declare a climate emergency at a rally in Freedom Plaza, on December 2, 2022, in Washington, D.C.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2022/12/2022_2612-Climate-Protest-400x300.jpg)
Markets and Technology Won’t Solve Climate Crisis. We Must End Capitalism.
It’s the accumulation of capital that’s destroying the Earth System as a place of human habitability.
![A farmer holds out a tray with five vertical rows of bee-encrusted honeycomb](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2022/12/2022_1222-honeycomb-400x300.jpg)
Climate Crisis Is Ratcheting Up Pressure on Bee Populations
Amplified by climate change, extreme rainfall, wildfires and pests are disrupting the natural patterns of bees.
![Children playing amid plastic waste on the side of the highly polluted Burigonga river in Bangladesh on November 14, 2022.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2022/12/GettyImages-1244782671-400x300.jpg)
Lawsuits Against Plastic Industry Could Exceed $20 Billion in Damages by 2030
A new study shows that the societal impact already costs around $100 billion per year.
![Doctor in a dark room lit by tablet he is looking at](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2022/12/2022_1222-doctor-tablet-400x300.jpg)
Koch-Funded Legal Group Fights to Protect COVID Misinformation
The group is suing California to protect the medical licenses of doctors who promote phony cures for COVID-19.
![Patient in hospital bed checks phone](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2022/12/2022_1222-patient-400x300.jpg)
Hundreds of US Hospitals Sue Patients or Threaten Their Credit
A new report suggests most US hospitals have policies to use legal action or other aggressive tactics against patients.
![Two bottles labeled "DIMOCK, PA" and filled with brown and green liquid sit on a table](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2022/12/2022_1221-dimock-pa-400x300.jpg)
Pennsylvania Lets Polluter Resume Drilling in Protected Zone After Plea Deal
The new consent order represents a jarring about-face for residents savoring a long-sought resolution to their plight.
![Aitkin County sheriffs arrest Water Protectors during a protest at the construction site of the Line 3 oil pipeline near Palisade, Minnesota, on January 9, 2021.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2022/12/2022_1220-water-protector-arrest-400x300.jpg)
Water Protector Defense Attorneys Warn of “Breakdown in Separation of Powers”
Prosecutions of Water Protectors in Aitkin County are seven times more likely to remain unresolved than other cases.
![UN Secretary General AntĂłnio Guterres speaks to the press at the United Nations headquarters on October 17, 2022, in New York City.](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2022/12/2022_1220-united-nations-400x300.jpg)
UN Chief Announces a 2023 “No-Nonsense” Special Summit on Climate Crisis
The move comes amid mounting frustration with world leaders' refusal to phase out fossil fuels.
![A red metal container labeled with the biohazard symbol and verbiage stating that it's to be used for sharps disposal sits in a vacant parking lot](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2022/12/2022_1219-sharps-disposal-400x300.jpg)
West Virginia Officials Hamper Public Health Measures Amid Local HIV Outbreak
Harm reduction advocates have criticized officials for impeding access to clean syringes for people who use IV drugs.
![A delegate from the Democratic Republic of Congo speaks into a microphone](https://truthout.org/app/uploads/2022/12/2022_1219-cop15-400x300.jpg)
Global Biodiversity Pact Draft Is an “Open Invitation to Greenwash,” Critics Say
Several African nations and environmental groups criticized the agreement's funding arrangements and targets.