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 […]
Adam Mahoney
Adam Mahoney is the climate and environment reporter at Capital B. He can be reached by email at adam.mahoney@capitalbnews.org, on Bluesky, and on X at @AdamLMahoney.
Posted inBlack Farmers, Economy, Food Access
A New Road Threatens to Displace a ‘Safe Haven’ for New Orleans’ Black Youth
NEW ORLEANS — As the youth group sat in its warm-up circle, Kennedy Turner, half-jokingly, scoffed at his peers. “Why didn’t y’all react to my prom photos in the group chat?” Quickly, Cionne Chase, 19, jumped in to explain that she did, in fact, react to the photos and most definitely did not deserve to […]
Posted inEnvironmental Justice, Water Quality
Flint’s Warning to America
FLINT, Mich. — At the edge of Saginaw Street, a hand-painted sign is etched into a deserted storefront. “Please help, God. Clean-up Flint.” Behind it, the block tells the story of a city 10 years removed from the start of one of the nation’s largest environmental crises. Empty lot. Charred two-story home. Empty lot. Abandoned […]
Posted inEnvironmental Justice, Health, Unsafe Water, Water Quality
Federal Mandate Targets ‘Forever Chemicals’ Driving Black Communities’ Water Woes
Belinda Joyner, a former schoolteacher in North Carolina, a state where cancer clusters born from water contamination have formed, wonders if it is enough to regulate future contamination without working to repair communities that have lived with the pollution for generations. “We’ve been saying this for so many years,” Joyner said, “and it ticks me […]
Posted inEconomy, Science
Eclipse Fever Is Gripping Black Texans
The word “eclipse” comes from a Greek word meaning “abandonment,” but in Texas, this week’s total solar eclipse has had the polar opposite effect. An estimated 4 million tourists are expected to have flocked to the Lone Star state to see the once-in-a-generation event, which starts in the Dallas area around 1:30 p.m. CT on […]
Posted inPublic Safety
East Coast Earthquake Reveals Holes in Disaster Preparedness
In New York, a city of 8 million people, daily exposure to a cacophony of sounds and shakes is the norm. So, sitting in her apartment in Brooklyn, Nichole Jenkins thought it was just a big truck driving down her street. Elsewhere in Brooklyn, roommates Sannah Boyd and Imiyah Weatherspoon swore construction work was being […]
Posted inEconomy, Money
How ‘Bidenomics’ May Not Be Adding Up for Some Black Americans
Tyler McFadden hoped a college degree would help her land a well-paying career in politics, but the 31-year-old didn’t expect it would come with hefty debt, poor credit, job instability, and anxiety, she says. After earning a bachelor’s degree in American Studies from George Washington University in 2014, McFadden became a bartender. With limited income, […]
Posted inEnvironmental Justice, Transportation
Will the Electric Vehicle Push Bring Black Americans Along on the Ride?
Americans love their cars more than practically anyone — only New Zealand has more cars per capita. So, when President Joe Biden announced in 2021 that he wanted to speed up the transition from gas-guzzling vehicles to electric ones, the push drove debate among state leaders, city planners, and everyday people alike. Over the past […]
Posted inEnvironmental Justice, Infrastructure, Transportation
The Port of Baltimore Tore This Community Apart Long Before the Key Bridge Collapse
Around 10 p.m., Eric Johnson left his church service in Turner Station and drove across the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore County. He didn’t know it’d be his last trip across the 47-year-old bridge that had defined much of his adult life, but he was certainly glad it was. Just over three hours later, […]
Posted inAir Pollution, Environmental Justice
How Biden’s Infrastructure Plan Created a ‘Climate Time Bomb’ in Black Neighborhoods
Nearly 45 years ago, the Acres Homes area north of Houston was the largest unincorporated Black community in the South, a thriving 9-square mile area where homeownership was the norm. That was until the city of Houston annexed it, and the Interstate 45 highway was built through its heart. In the aftermath, the community’s poverty […]