The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is investigating whether the Louisiana state departments of Environmental Quality and Health illegally discriminated against black residents in permitting decisions regarding two chemical plants and a grain export terminal. Petitions to the EPA seeking an investigation allege the state departments failed to provide proper notice and comment opportunities to […]
Climate-caused flooding will increase in the next 30 years, causing billions of dollars of losses that will disproportionately affect Black communities in the United States, according to a new study. Flood risk will increase by 26 percent, especially on the Gulf and Atlantic Coasts, where there is a greater threat of sea level rise and hurricanes are becoming more intense.
In another example of environmental racism, new research has found that people of color in the U.S. are more likely to breathe in six major types of air pollution. The research, published in Environmental Health Perspectives Wednesday, found that overall air pollution levels had decreased during the study period, but disparities in exposure persisted along […]
A new California mapping project reveals another example of how the climate crisis disproportionately impacts vulnerable and disadvantaged communities. The Toxic Tides project, unveiled during a virtual workshop Tuesday, maps more than 400 hazardous sites like power plants, refineries and toxic waste dumps that could flood if sea levels rise by more than three feet, […]
An extensive analysis by ProPublica reveals a detailed map of more than 1,000 American communities that are hotspots for carcinogenic air pollution. The worst three are in Louisiana’s “Cancer Alley,” five of the top 20 are in Texas, and predominantly Black areas experience double the cancer risk of white areas. “Go read this investigation on […]
By Derrick Z. Jackson I am the very accidental Black nature lover. I was a typical urban boy in Milwaukee and a rabid sports fan in the 1960s. The most significant eagles to me played football in Philadelphia. The first cardinal I ever paid attention to was Bob Gibson throwing fastballs for St. Louis. My […]
Los Angeles County supervisors on Wednesday voted to ban drilling in unincorporated areas and to phase out oil and gas drilling. There are currently 1,046 active wells, 637 idle wells, and 2,731 abandoned wells in unincorporated areas of the nation’s most populous county. according to a memo to the board dated June 3, 2021. County […]
A massive and controversial petrochemical plant in St. James Parish, Louisiana, must complete a rigorous environmental impact statement if it is to obtain a key permit, the Army Corps of Engineers announced Wednesday. The Formosa Plastics plant had been on hold since the fall of last year when the Army Corps suspended an earlier permit […]
On the Friday before the extended July 4 weekend, the developers seeking to build the Byhalia Connection oil pipeline through predominantly Black neighborhoods called it quits. The companies blamed the coronavirus pandemic in an SEC filing, but the pipeline, described as a “reckless, racist rip-off” by former Vice President Al Gore had been fiercely opposed […]