About 45 minutes from New Orleans, cities founded by formerly enslaved people make up St. John the Baptist Parish. As the regional economy has shifted from chains and plantation slavery to smokestacks and petrochemical plants, their descendants still make up most of the people who live there. Those original deadly threats have not disappeared. Today, parts […]
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 inPolitics & Policy, Wealth Gap
‘As Goes California, Goes The Rest Of The Country,’ Except On Black Reparations
Through a series of films in the 1990s, from Boyz n the Hood to Menace II Society and Friday, the perception of Black Los Angeles became ingrained in the minds of people of all backgrounds across the nation. Palm trees and hood politics became synonymous with the neighborhoods. But in a rarity, the films also […]
Posted inAir Pollution, Environmental Justice
Biden’s $150M Cancer Pledge Clashes with Reality in Louisiana’s Cancer Alley
NEW ORLEANS — In one of President Joe Biden’s first public appearances since ending his reelection campaign, he spoke on something very personal to him — cancer. But Louisiana’s Black activists say he still missed the point. Over the past decade, Biden has not shied from explaining how the life of his son, Beau Biden, […]
Posted inHousing
In Brooklyn, a New Homeless Shelter Reignites Decades of Racism
Thirty-five years ago this month, 16-year-old Yusef Hawkins hopped off the 20th Avenue subway in Bensonhurst, a neighborhood in Brooklyn, to view a used car for sale. He would never make it back home. At the time, the neighborhood was primarily Italian and known for being a place where Black people were not welcomed. Shortly […]
Posted inEnvironmental Justice
A Solution to Alabama’s Sewage Problem Is in Danger
When it rains in Alabama’s Black Belt, poop gurgles up from the earth. A new federal grant program wants to stop it from happening. It is a crisis that has long roots dating back to slavery, and has been the focus of Black Alabama activists for generations. Last year, the Justice Department determined that the […]
Posted inAir Pollution, Environmental Justice, Extreme Weather
More Than Half of Houstonians Say They Might Move. Here’s Why.
After learning that forecasters predicted a record-breaking hurricane season this year, Marilyn Rayon and her husband, Leo, spent thousands of dollars to trim trees and shrubbery around their home so a storm wouldn’t throw them into their house. They took a practical precaution, heeding the warnings of elected officials and weather experts. Their utility company, […]
Posted inPolicing, Politics & Policy
Police Shooting Near RNC Alarms Milwaukee’s Black Community
On Tuesday, Daquan woke up at 8 a.m. to beat the heat and play basketball with his friend at a park in Milwaukee’s King Park neighborhood, the heart of Black life in the city for nearly a century. But now the 17-year-old doesn’t know if he’ll ever step on that court again. There at the […]
Posted inEnvironmental Justice, Extreme Weather, Technology
Crypto-Mining Creates New Environmental Injustices for Black Texans
Bitcoin is more than just a shiny new way to lose money. It’s also fueling Texas’ energy struggles as the state prepares for another year of record-breaking heat. And Black communities are caught in the crosswires of climate change, those booming data centers, and the power plants needed to meet both demands. Last year, during […]
Posted inEnvironmental Justice, Politics & Policy
SCOTUS Allows ‘Big Business’ to Have Greater Say in Federal Regulations
Last week, in a monumental decision, the conservative U.S. Supreme Court made it harder for the federal government to regulate virtually everything that impact’s Americans’ daily lives. Arguably the most damning impact of the SCOTUS decisions will be on how the country faces the mounting impacts of pollution and climate change. While the ruling’s impacts […]
Posted inClimate Change, Criminal Justice, Environmental Justice, Incarceration
The Growing Crisis of Heatwave Deaths in America’s Prisons
Last September, at his graduation from Northwestern University, Michael Broadway reconnected with his mother, Elizabeth, for the first time in two decades. Due to her ailing health, she couldn’t visit him. As an incarcerated man, he didn’t have the option to travel to her, either. For those two decades, Broadway was held inside Stateville Correctional […]
