Standing on the shoulders of those before them, community members of rural Mason, Tennessee, gathered this past Juneteenth at Cedar Grove Missionary Baptist Church. They were there to publicly announce a list of demands for their new neighbor, a multibillion-dollar Ford electric vehicle plant. Set to open next year, the facility promises billions to the […]
Environmental Justice
Posted inClimate Change, Environmental Justice, Extreme Weather
‘We Can’t Wait’: How Black Neighborhoods Are Preparing for the Summer Heat
After closing out May with four days of triple-digit temperatures and New Orleans’ first heat advisory of the season, the group of mainly Black elders welcomed the “dip” in temperature on June 1. Still, it swelled to 96 degrees that morning as roughly 35 people huddled in a community center in the city’s Upper Ninth […]
Posted inClimate Change, Extreme Weather
NOAA Predicts a Record Hurricane Season. Will Black Communities Be Protected?
Edward Buckles was 13 when Hurricane Katrina hit his hometown in 2005. In the aftermath, 1,400 — mainly Black — New Orleans residents died. That spring, researchers predicted the 2005 season to be the most intense in U.S. history, but a 2007 study concluded that confusing directions from authorities, religious faith, and financial barriers led […]
Posted inClimate Change, Extreme Weather, Health, Maternal Health, Partner Content
‘How Did We Miss This for So Long?’: The Link Between Extreme Heat and Preterm Birth
This story was originally published by Grist. This story is part of the series “Expecting Worse: Giving Birth on a Planet in Crisis,” a collaboration between Grist, Vox, and The 19th that investigates how climate change impacts reproductive health — from menstruation to conception to birth. Sign up for Grist’s weekly newsletter here. When Rupa Basu was […]
Posted inEnvironmental Justice, Partner Content, Unsafe Water
A Pot of Unspent Federal Money Could Have Prevented Jackson’s Water Crisis
This story was originally published by Grist. Sign up for Grist’s weekly newsletter here. Late in the summer of 2022, the Environmental Protection Agency sent the Mississippi state government a routine report assessing its use of federal funding for water infrastructure. The agency concluded with the words “no findings” — that is, the EPA found […]
Posted inEnvironmental Justice, Water Quality
Jackson’s Water Is Still Brown. The EPA Says That’s Not Discrimination.
As a child, Brooke Floyd wondered why her grandmother cooked all her food and washed all her dishes with bottled water. As an adult living in Jackson, Mississippi, it became clear. After a storm damaged a water treatment plant in 2022, leaving most of the majority-Black city without water flowing through their faucets for weeks, […]
Posted inEnvironmental Justice, Infrastructure, Partner Content, Rural Issues
How Alabama Turned to Restrictive Deed Covenants to Ward Off Flooding Claims From Black Residents
This story was originally published by Inside Climate News. SHILOH COMMUNITY, Ala.—Their land is bound forever. The deeds of three homeowners — Pastor Timothy Williams, Aretha Wright, and Page Jones — all living in the historically Black Shiloh community of south Alabama, tell the tale. Restrictive covenants attached to their deeds limit the ability of current and […]
Posted inAir Pollution, Environmental Justice, Partner Content
Republican Lawmakers Take Aim at Community Air Monitoring in Louisiana
Originally published by Floodlight. In 2022, decades of advocacy by the Louisiana Environmental Action Network to address poor air quality near industrial facilities took a significant leap forward. That’s when the Biden administration awarded more than $50 million through the Inflation Reduction Act to increase air quality monitoring in some U.S. communities historically overburdened by […]
Posted inAir Pollution, Environmental Justice, Land Pollution
This Environmental Victory May Reinforce Injustices in Black Communities
While virtually every environmental group across the nation celebrated the Biden administration’s historic steps to lower pollution last month, John Beard sat patiently. After years of advocacy and hundreds of scientific studies, the federal government designated two “forever chemicals” as hazardous substances. This move makes it easier to mandate the removal of these man-made compounds […]
Posted inAir Pollution, Health, Partner Content
More Than a Third of All Americans Live in Communities with ‘Hazardous’ Air
This story was originally published by Inside Climate News. Within 5 miles of Kim Gaddy’s home in the South Ward of Newark, New Jersey, lies the nation’s third-busiest shipping port, 13th-busiest airport, and roughly a half dozen major roadways. All told, transportation experts say, the area where Gaddy and her neighbors live sees an average […]