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 […]
Air Pollution
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 […]
Posted inAir Pollution, Environmental Justice, Partner Content
23 States Ask EPA to Halt Civil Rights Rules Regulating Pollution
Echoing arguments similar to those used by the conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court striking down affirmative action, Republican attorneys general from 23 states petitioned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency this week to stop taking race into account when regulating pollution. The petition, authored by the office of Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, was filed […]
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 […]
Posted inAir Pollution, Environmental Justice, Partner Content
Detroit Residents Battle Against Neighborhood Concrete Crusher
Detroit building officials are waging a court fight to shut down a concrete crushing operation on the city’s west side that has been covering a majority Black neighborhood in dust. The city issued nearly 300 blight tickets to Grand Rapids-based Green Valley Properties over two years, according to a BridgeDetroit analysis of online city records. […]
Posted inAir Pollution, Environmental Justice, Partner Content
Public outcry against carbon capture in Louisiana growing
Communities across south Louisiana want to protect themselves from what they consider to be a risky and possibly dangerous prospect of having tons of carbon dioxide injected underground to reduce the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions. Carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) — capturing the planet-warming gas from industry and storing it permanently underground — has become […]
Posted inAir Pollution, Climate Change, Environmental Justice
At COP28, a Growing Sense of Alarm Over Air Pollution Crisis
This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, independent news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. It is republished with permission. Sign up for their newsletter here. In one home video, Ella Adoo-Kissi-Debrah bops to a choreographed Beyoncé dance. In another, she looks at the camera, and her mom, and plants a big […]
Posted inAir Pollution, Environmental Justice
A Detroit Community Fights to Survive as Its Industrial Neighbor Grows
DETROIT— For decades, Detroit has been a poster child for the economic drain of decreased manufacturing across the Midwest. The city has lost hundreds of thousands of mostly Black residents and experienced bankruptcy. Its East Canfield neighborhood hasn’t been spared — but in a rarity, its demise has been caused by industrial growth, not decline. […]
Posted inAir Pollution, Environmental Justice
The Ways Pollution and Climate Change are Linked to Policing and Incarceration
Hurricane Ida was the second strongest storm to hit Louisiana over the last three centuries, dwarfing the beast that was Katrina. As virtually every Gulf Coast city was put under evacuation orders, thousands of incarcerated people were forced to stay put, some in flooded facilities that lacked electricity and running water, and had sustained intense […]
