The River Reporter

Plastic never biodegrades—it just keeps breaking down into increasingly smaller pieces called microplastics that absorb a range of chemical pollutants, travel up the food chain to our plates and our drinking water, and accumulate in our bodies.

By now, most New Yorkers are aware that a ban on single-use plastic bags will go into effect on Sunday, March 1. While there has been some criticism of the bill’s numerous exemptions, … more

By CAROL ROIG | 2/12/20

Seeing the light

As one of its last and perhaps most irrational deregulatory actions of 2019, the U.S. Department of Energy announced last month that it would not proceed with implementation of efficiency standards … more

By CAROL ROIG | 1/8/20

Take a deep breath

From the hilltop of Thanksgiving we toboggan through the wintry finale of the year—Hanukkah, Christmas, New Year’s. It’s an exhilarating journey for some, but for others it can … more

By CAROL ROIG | 12/11/19

No place like home

Every autumn, we button up the house in preparation for winter, trading out screens for storm-door inserts, checking for new drafts and leaky weather stripping and giving the woodstove its annual … more

By CAROL ROIG | 11/14/19

Girl power

Last year, an eight-year-old girl made headlines in Mexico for inventing a simple solar device to heat water. Her name is Xóchitl Guadalupe Cruz Lopez and she lives in Chiapas, the southern … more

By CAROL ROIG | 10/9/19

Pulling up stakes

Thirty million people live in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta and the surrounding metropolitan area. Their city has served for decades as a financial and diplomatic hub of Southeast Asia as well as … more

By CAROL ROIG | 9/11/19

Off the charts

It’s shaping up to be the hottest summer ever, according to the World Meteorological Organization, which released data last week showing that June and July 2019 set new heat records. The … more

By CAROL ROIG | 8/7/19

In good company

My Fourth of July included dinner with a gathering of 10 friends, some of long acquaintance and some new to each other. As we settled around the table, one guest asked our hostess whether political … more

By CAROL ROIG | 7/10/19

Capable of sustaining human life

In “Juliana versus United States,” 21 young people sued the federal government, alleging that their constitutional rights of life, liberty and property are being violated by the … more

CAROL ROIG | 6/12/19

What’s in the bag?

Last month, New York enacted a new law that bans those single-use plastic-carryout bags we use to get our groceries and other purchases home from the store. Smaller plastic bags will still be … more

CAROL ROIG | 5/8/19

What's fair? Support for Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act and more

Support for the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act Columnist Carol Roig recently noted that in 2014, the Council of Economic Advisors “concluded that we can save money by adopting … more

4/24/19

Highland becomes Clean Energy Community

ELDRED, NY — The Town of Highland has been added to the state’s list of Clean Energy Communities by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). The … more

FRITZ MAYER | 4/10/19

The tipping point and the cost of delay

Time is of the essence for climate action. The 2018 Special Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) makes clear that we have a limited window of opportunity—about 12 … more

CAROL ROIG | 4/10/19

What's not to like

The small but noisy cohort of climate reactionaries responding to the Green New Deal has reached new heights of apocalyptic fear-mongering. But, while the “usual suspects” have annoyed me … more

CAROL ROIG | 3/13/19

‘Where are the snows of yesteryear?’

As I await our next snowfall along the Delaware, that poetic invocation of inevitable change drifts through my mind. I am thinking of another great American river 2,000 miles away, where life and … more

CAROL ROIG | 2/14/19

View of the&nbsp;Delaware River Viaduct, a reinforced concrete railroad bridge across the Delaware River about 2 miles (3.2 km) south of the Delaware Water Gap. Built in 1908-10 by the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad. Photo via Wikimedia Commons/&nbsp;Chuck Walsh

'Where are the snows of yesteryear?'

As I await our next snowfall along the Delaware, that poetic invocation of inevitable change drifts through my mind. I am thinking of another great American river 2,000 miles away, where life and … more

Carol Roig | 2/13/19

Our biophilic impulse

It’s official: I have now lived in Sullivan County longer than I have lived anywhere else. Celebrating this happy milestone, I remember how forlorn but full of promise our derelict little house … more

CAROL ROIG | 1/23/19

Visions of sugarplums

Remember the marshmallow test? In a landmark 1960s study, Stanford psychologist Walter Mischel presented each of his three-year old participants with a marshmallow, telling them they could have a … more

CAROL ROIG | 12/12/18

Roots, branches and leaves

Working through my anger and sadness about the obscene attack at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, I couldn’t help being struck and even comforted by the constant invocation of the … more

CAROL ROIG | 11/6/18

The hand over their mouths

The Kavanaugh controversy has unleashed a tsunami of memories—the tearful revelations of a college friend, the baby-faced preppie neighbor who beat his girlfriend, the employer who used … more

CAROL ROIG | 10/10/18