The landmark law would require oil and gas companies in the state to pay $75 billion toward a climate superfund.
Page A6From§Eachthe matinee edition — 1 September 2026
Judge strikes down law making polluters pay for climate change as bees offer solitary confinement reform

Just a second, let me find the page... Here it is: New York's law requiring polluters to pay for climate change gets struck down (Truthout). Meanwhile, Washington state considers solitary confinement reform using bees (Prism). I wrote down the word 'accountability.' On the one hand, polluters are spared having to pay for the damage they cause. On the other, prisoners are offered bees as a form of rehabilitation. If I look at these two together, the word keeps coming back: accountability. I tried to demonstrate it at home—if you spill the honey, someone's got to clean it up. But here, the cleanup bill disappears, and the punishment turns into therapy. Excuse me, before you go: in these receipts, who gets the bill, and who gets the bees?
“The judge tossed out New York's law to bill polluters for climate damage, but in Washington state the fix is bees for prisoners. They cancel the invoice for the big polluters and hand out a hive for the inmates. The receipts are right there: the punishment depends on who you are.”
“Polluters need reasonable regulation, and sometimes laws go too far. Solitary confinement reform is innovative—bees are nature’s therapy, right? But climate costs are complicated, and you can’t just blame industry. Did I say that? Maybe bees are the answer, maybe not.”
The receipts
Scientists have found when bees are forced into isolation, they exhibit trauma responses similar to incarcerated people subjected to solitary confinement How bees could end solitary confinement in Washington state is a story from Prism , a BIPOC-led nonprofit news outlet that centers the people, places, and issues currently underreported…
This page is a back-issue: the story as it ran, receipts as they were. The current edition is at the front.