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Page Updated:
Sept. 11, 2024

• • The Rural Americans Too Poor for Federal Flood Protections

  A Data-Driven Disaster Tool Shows
  “Bias” Against Rural Communities
  
  

  Sep. 1, 2024 -Dozens of people died after more than a foot of rain fell from July 26 through July 30, 2022, flooding 13 rural counties in Eastern Kentucky. Yet as these communities attempt to rebuild, they’re being overlooked for federal spending that’s protecting wealthier and more urbanized Americans from such weather disasters.

• • Harris Stirs Hope for a New Chapter in Climate Action

  Her Record as a Prosecutoand Voice for Justice Has
  Environmentalists Looking to the Future
  
  

  Aug. 18, 2024 -Those who care about the climate are now considering new possibilities based on Harris’ past actions: What would she do to hold Big Oil accountable? How could she push climate policy further, especially to address historic injustice? Would she be able to advance international cooperation, building on the progress made in her travels to Africa and Asia as vice president?

• •  Toxic NYC Subway Air Puts Black,
  Hispanic Riders at Higher Health Risk

  It's the First State to Get Federal Funds For Hydrogen Energy
  
  

  Aug. 7, 2024 < Gothamist > -Toxic subway air disproportionately harms low-income commuters, especially Black and Hispanic riders, due to longer commutes and more station transfers, as stated by researchers at New York University on Wednesday.

  Recent research highlights the elevated health risks faced by millions of subway riders. Tiny particles suspended in subway air, known as particulate matter, can enter the lungs and bloodstream, causing respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, researchers said.

• • Tribes and Environmentalists Press
  Arizona and Federal Officials to Stop
  Uranium Mining Near the Grand Canyon

  Activists Hope to Shut Down an Existing Mine Within a New National Monument and to Prevent Transporting of Uranium on State and Federal Roads Across Navajo Nation Lands
  
  

  July 17, 2024 -Members of environmental groups stood together in the lobby of the Arizona State Capitol Executive Tower late last month to deliver a petition to Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, requesting that she stop uranium mining activities near the Grand Canyon National Park.

  The Sierra Club, Center for Biological Diversity, National Parks Conservation Association, Wild Arizona, Chispa Arizona and Haul No!, a group formed to fight the mining and transport of uranium, delivered a petition with more than 17,500 signatures to the governor.

• • An Historic African American Community
  Outside Charleston, S.C., Embraces Conservation

  Climate Gentrification Prompted It
  
  

  July 7, 2024 -After emancipation, freed slaves bought marshy land along the coast that white landowners weren’t interested in. Now, big developers covet such waterfront property, despite rising sea levels, threatening historic Black communities.

  At high tide, the marsh alongside Seafood Road disappears under an inscrutable mirror of water. Then, as it drains, reeds resurface and begin to trace hundreds of paths through the marsh, etched by generations of subsistence fishing.

• • Thousands Across Alabama Live
  Without Access to Public Water
  

  The Water is No Longer Flowing
  
  

  June 10, 2024 -Across Alabama, around 800,000 people—about 20 percent of the state’s population—rely on private water supplies, like wells, for drinking water, according to state estimates. That reality often has socioeconomic and racial implications, too.

  In some places, such as Athens, just under 100 miles north of Birmingham, and Prichard, just north of Mobile, most whites have reliable municipal water and sewer service while many Black residents suffer from deteriorated or nonexistent water infrastructure. In rural Marion County, where around 94 percent of residents are white, connections, money and power often determine where the water flows, according to residents.

  Click now for the story and a graphic image.

• • Battle to Prioritize Public Health
  over Oil Company Profits Heats Up
  

  Proposed California Bills Would Protect Residents in Mostly Low-Income Communities of Color by speeding cleanup of Dangerous Neighborhood Oil Wells
  
  

  May 3, 2024 -On a dreary afternoon in January, a geyser of oily water shot over the fence of an oil and gas company in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Wilmington, splattering the street, cars and a local coffee shop with petroleum just a block away from Ashley Hernandez’s house.

  The frightening spectacle was just the latest in a long line of blowouts, spills and explosions to contaminate a community long dominated, and sickened, by oil drilling in the neighborhood.