Last week, Scott Pruitt, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, traveled to Sycamore, Pennsylvania and, speaking before the coal miners at Harvey Mine, announced that the EPA would be advancing a “Back-to-Basics” agenda in the new administration. But what does that really mean?

The Tar Heel State is the scene for an impending class action lawsuit focused on feces swamps, sparking a discussion about the extent to which agricultural waste disproportionately affects people of color, and who may be held liable for its environmental and economic effects.

During his Presidency, Jimmy Carter made a number of moves to nudge the federal government towards environmental friendly practices. One of these was a request that all executive agencies and departments begin recycling paper in accordance with EPA guidelines. For the CIA, and presumably other intelligence agencies, this posed some unexpected problems - as well as a valuable opportunity.

Between 1967 and 1973, almost 2,000 natives of the Chagos Archipelago were kicked out of their home to make room for an American military base. After decades of lobbying for the right to return, the Chagossians were formally denied last year after the American and British governments started raising questions about the environmental impact of resettlement.

In the 1970s, various government agencies were asked to look into the feasibility of using recycled paper. When the request was received at the CIA, the Agency responded with a list of reasons why that wasn’t such a great idea.