The Fix Archives

Could Managed Consumption Be a Better Form of Treatment for Alcoholism?

Managed alcohol programs, which provide homeless alcoholics with housing and small amounts of booze, may seem counterintuitive, but they fit squarely within a philosophy of addiction treatment known as harm reduction—and they're working.

Sasha Chapin

The Turtle Liberation in El Salvador

The Mangrove Association and its allies in El Salvador are showing that conservation works best if it has grassroots organizing behind it.

Jimmy Tobias

The Lucrative Art of Chicken Sexing

The poultry industry's secret weapon? Uniquely skilled workers who can identify a chick's gender in the blink of an eye.

James McWilliams

Chinese street vendors at a market outside a state-owned coal-fired power plant near the site of a large floating solar farm construction project on June 14th, 2017, in Huainan, Anhui province, China.

Environment

Global CO2 Emissions From Fossil Fuels Held Steady in 2016

Global carbon emissions from fossil fuels held steady in 2016. But we still need big cuts to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement.

Bob Berwyn

A fireman puts out a fire at a home in the Anaheim Hills neighborhood in Anaheim, California, on October 9th, 2017.

Environment

Three Underrated Ideas for Preventing Wildfire Devastation

Some advice from Californians who have lived through and studied the state's wildfires.

Francie Diep

Mountain researcher Chris Landry, former director of the Colorado Center for Snow and Avalanche Studies, checks climate measuring instruments at a research station at 11,000 feet elevation in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado.

Environment

Why the IPCC’s New Focus on Mountain Climate Change Is a Big Deal

Better science coordination will help mountain communities prepare for global warming.

Bob Berwyn

Environment

What One Tiny California Island Can Teach Us About Dealing With Climate Change

It turns out Californians have long relied on innovative techniques to get their water.

Francie Diep

Senator John McCain (R-Arizona) talks to reporters as he walks to the Senate chamber for a series of roll call votes regarding the 2018 budget on October 18th, 2017, in Washington, D.C.

Economics

How Expanding the EITC Would Benefit Working-Class Americans

A new report finds that expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit by 10 percent would lead to increases in after-tax income for middle-class Americans.

Dwyer Gunn

Senator Lindsey Graham and Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin attend a press conference about the Dream Act on July 20th, 2017, in Washington, D.C.

Social Justice

Democrats Should Stop Chasing the ‘Sensible Centrists’

They don't exist. Voter suppression, on the other hand, is very real.

Noah Berlatsky

How to Undrain an Actual Swamp

Why big, boring bureaucracy is the best tool for restoring wetlands around the Bay Area.

Eric Simons