This story is from Floodlight, a nonprofit newsroom that investigates the powers stalling climate action, in partnership with The Guardian and with contributions from The Louisiana Illuminator. Sign up for Floodlight’s newsletter here. Kimbrelle Kyereh lives just a few hundred feet from the massive chemical storage tanks in St. Rose, in southeastern Louisiana. Oily fumes […]
Air Pollution
Posted inAir Pollution, Environmental Justice
As Wildfire Smoke Chokes the Northeast Again, Black Communities Are at Risk
The skies over New York City turned a hazy orange and grey again this week. Reminiscent of when the skies turned a deep orange in 2023 — and then again in 2024 — this reality is quickly becoming a normal summer occurrence. More than 850 wildfires are actively burning across Canada, with more than 180 […]
Posted inAir Pollution, Environmental Justice, Land Pollution
The Hidden Climate Threat Making Black Communities’ Food Less Nutritious
If you’re lucky, your family is still using great‑grandma’s red beans and rice, black‑eyed peas, and potato salad recipes. And if you’re extremely fortunate, those meals might still taste like home, even without her hands. But climate pollution has quietly made sure that the food on your plates is not the same food she was […]
Posted inAir Pollution, Environmental Justice, Politics & Policy
An Oil Explosion in a Black Texas Town Traces Back to Trump’s Iran and Venezuela Crises
John Beard takes no pleasure in being right. In January, he told Capital B that he feared U.S. military action in Venezuela, which ultimately gave America preferential access to the South American nation’s vast oil reserves, would lead to disaster in southeast Texas. “The chickens have come home to roost,” Beard said over the phone, […]
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 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 inAir Pollution, Environmental Justice, Politics & Policy
Venezuelan Oil Brought to the U.S. Would Be Refined in Black Gulf Communities
On Saturday morning, John Beard woke up to news that he’d been dreading, but preparing for: A global oil crisis could hit closer to home in Texas. The southeastern part of the state is home to more than a dozen oil refineries, and he’d spent decades working at one of them. But after attending more […]
Posted inAir Pollution, Climate Change, Environmental Justice, Extreme Weather
Pollution is Driving Climate Disasters And The Government Plans to Stop Tracking it
Homes in Jefferson County, Texas, still bear the scars of Hurricane Harvey: black and blue tarps cling to rooftops. Families in historically Black neighborhoods navigate a slow, unequal recovery from the 2017 storm, and in 2022, the federal government found that the state discriminated against Black and Hispanic residents when doling out flood mitigation funds. […]
Posted inAir Pollution, Environmental Justice, Politics & Policy
Soot, Sickness, and Silence: A Black Louisiana Community Is Still Struggling After an Explosion
ROSELAND, La. — For 11 days after an oil and lubricant factory blew up less than a mile from her home, Millie Simmons could not stand outside for more than 10 minutes at a time. “I could hardly breathe,” the 58-year-old child care worker said outside her home on Sept. 4. Soot and an oily […]
Posted inAir Pollution, Environmental Justice
Explosion at Louisiana Oil Plant Leaves Black Community Coated in Toxic Fallout
ROSELAND, La. — Tyreik Taylor had barely wiped the oil from his hands when the sky behind him lit up. Fifteen minutes after the 26-year-old drove home, a roar thundered from the plant where he helped mix chemicals for motor oil and had just punched out. Fire consumed the air, the collapsing metal groaning and […]
