NEW ORLEANS — From the porch of his family’s home in Uptown New Orleans, Gerard “Little Bo” Dollis remembers being small enough to see only feathers — plumes of red and gold that blocked out the morning sun and the party bus idling behind his father. “You couldn’t even see the bus,” said Dollis, also […]
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 inAir Pollution, Environmental Justice, Health Equity
The U.S. Government Now Says Climate Change Doesn’t Harm Human Health
In one sweeping move, President Donald Trump on Thursday erased the scientific and legal foundation of America’s clean air protections and modern climate policies. For the first time in a generation, the U.S. government no longer officially recognizes carbon pollution as a danger to public health. Black people are exposed to more pollution, on average, […]
Posted inEnvironmental Justice
Black Residents Win Key Ruling in ‘Cancer Alley’ Environmental Racism Case
In a pocket of Louisiana known as “Cancer Alley,” Black residents bear the generational toll of “plantation country” becoming “pollution country.” Now, a federal district court has given those residents something they almost never get: a chance to put the whole system on trial. On Feb. 9, a judge in New Orleans ruled that groups […]
Posted inEnvironmental Justice
A Rural S.C. County Quietly Approved a $2B Data Center During the Winter Storm
As a rare winter storm bore down on South Carolina, bringing conditions that historically paralyze the state for days, local officials in a rural county quietly pushed through a massive $2.4 billion data center without most residents knowing it was even on the table. “There was a public meeting, which most were unaware of,” Jessie […]
Posted inExtreme Weather
For Rural Black Communities, Winter Storm Fern Hits Where Recovery Never Finished
The storm came, and just as Monica Coleman predicted, it hit places least equipped to handle it. On Monday morning, she was one of roughly 1 million Americans without power because of Winter Storm Fern. Officials in Lafayette County, Mississippi, where she lives, are warning residents that they could be without power for multiple days. […]
Posted inClimate Change, Extreme Weather, Public Safety
A Storm Is Coming for the South’s Most Vulnerable Black Communities
For millions in the South, an impending storm could become unforgettable. “I can’t stop watching the forecasts,” said Shemekia Stringer, speaking by phone Thursday afternoon as she moved through near-empty aisles at a Walmart in Southaven, Mississippi, just outside of Memphis, Tennessee. “I’m trying to make sure we’re fully prepared. In my area, the map […]
Posted inAir Pollution, Environmental Justice, Politics & Policy
Trump Rollbacks Put Children’s Health at Risk as Pollution Increases
On the morning of Jan. 10, when the federal government said it would stop prioritizing how many lives are saved by cutting air pollution, Sonya Sanders flashed back seven years to when a fossil fuel facility near her South Philadelphia home exploded. The 2019 blast rattled windows across the city and could have killed thousands […]
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Ghana Helped U.S. Deport Migrants, and Now Its Own Citizens Are Shut Out
“America is a bully that is never satisfied,” Oliver Barker-Vormawor said from Ghana. The Trump administration’s new freeze on immigrant visas from 75 nations is the latest example, he added. African nations make up a striking share of the 75 countries swept into the Trump administration’s new freeze on immigrant visas, a move officials say […]
Posted inBlack Migration, Environmental Justice, Extreme Weather
As Altadena’s Trees Fell, So Did the Roots of a Black LA Neighborhood
Photos by Grace Mahoney This story was published in partnership with High Country News. Altadena used to disappear under the trees. Adonis Jones’ neighborhood was once defined by thick oaks and pines, their canopy guarding winding trails where Black cowboys rode, shaping his childhood memories. Now, standing on the bare site of his future master […]
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Why Afro-Venezuelans Oppose U.S. Intervention in Venezuela
Interviews in Spanish were conducted and transcribed by Annika Hom. The first blast rattled Christian Pich Ortiz’s bedroom before sunrise, sending his mother and siblings into tears as detonations boomed over their community in Miranda, a state along Venezuela’s central coast. To protect themselves, they dragged their mattresses off the beds and hid beneath them. […]