Environment

Black people stand in line outside gray building that reads "Rose ice and coal co." Black man in foreground holds bag of ice.
Alicia Bell, Collette Watson, Amy Kroin  Oct 18, 2018 10:28AM EDT

It's Time for a Narrative Shift in Post-Disaster Journalism [OP-ED]

Examining news coverage following Hurricane Florence illustrates how post-disaster narratives can compound and perpetuate deep histories of racial and economic oppression.
Jesse Jackson Leads National March In Flint To End Water Crisis
Ayana Byrd  Oct 17, 2018 2:16PM EDT

State and Federal Government Still Resisting Efforts to Save Flint

Government employees allege that higher ups do not want to prevent another water crisis.
A U.S. border wall tops a levee near Rio Grande at the U.S.-Mexico border on March 15, 2017, near La Grulla, Texas.
Ayana Byrd  Oct 15, 2018 12:29PM EDT

Trump Administration to Suspend Dozens Of Environmental and Health Laws to Build Border Wall

Activists says residents and wildlife along the wall’s proposed route are in danger.
A man waves down to rescue crew as he tries to leave the area after he was inundated with flooding from Hurricane Harvey on August 28, 2017 in Houston, Texas.
Ayana Byrd  Oct 11, 2018 11:36AM EDT

Flooded Coastal Communities No Safer After Being Rebuilt With FEMA Dollars

A failure to consider climate change guarantees that towns and residents stay vulnerable in post-hurricane recovery efforts.
The 1.35 million-acre Bears Ears National Monument in southeastern Utah protects one of most significant cultural landscapes in the United States, with thousands of archaeological sites and important areas of spiritual significance.
Ayana Byrd  Oct 2, 2018 2:17PM EDT

Indigenous Activists Win Two Legal Battles To Protect Their Land

Federal courts halted moves by the Trump administration that would have contaminated water sources and destroyed Native cultural artifacts.
A plume of exhaust extends from a coal-fired power plant built in New Eagle, Pennsylvania.
Ayana Byrd  Sep 27, 2018 10:47AM EDT

Black and Latinx Families Live, Go to School and Grocery Shop Near Chemical Facilities

New research shows that the health risks—including cancer—multiply for people living at or near the poverty level.
Tobacco Farmers Fear That Flu Threat Will Hinder Seasonal Labor Migration
Ayana Byrd  Sep 26, 2018 12:29PM EDT

Migrant Farmers Could Be Hardest Hit By Hurricane Florence

This group of workers—many of whom are of undocumented status—have to choose between asking for help from FEMA and being deported by ICE.
Flood Damage After Hurricane Florence
Ayana Byrd  Sep 24, 2018 2:59PM EDT

5 Ways To Donate Money, Time and Other Aid to Communities Hit By Florence

These organizations are working to keep people in the Carolinas safe in the aftermath of the storm.
Latinx man in navy shirt and yellow construction hat and yellow and orange vest stands in front of brown and grey and green building and brown electrical poles with black power lines
Sameer Rao  Sep 21, 2018 2:12AM EDT

Activists to FCC: Investigate Maria's Impact on Puerto Rico's Telecom Infrastructure

A coalition including Defend Puerto Rico, Free Press and the Center for Media Justice wants the FCC to account for how Hurricane Maria destroyed the island’s telecommunications and to map out how to fix it.
Carolinas Face Flooding After Hurricane Florence Lumbers Through States
Ayana Byrd  Sep 18, 2018 1:51PM EDT

READ: Black Homeowners in the Gullah-Geechee Islands Could Lose Land After Florence

A new Mother Jones article details how property laws could complicate post-storm recovery.
Satellite image of a storm landing on the United States Atlantic coast.
catherine lizette gonzalez  Sep 14, 2018 4:29PM EDT

South Carolina Refused to Evacuate Incarcerated People Ahead of Hurricane Florence

“If Governor McMaster truly does not want to ‘gamble with the lives of the people of South Carolina,’ he needs to make sure that the prison system is up to par, or evacuate the inmates just as he has ordered the rest of us to do.”
DHS documents show FEMA diverted money to ICE to deport immigrants, just as 2018 hurricane season began
Alfonso Serrano  Sep 12, 2018 11:58AM EDT

Trump Administration Funneled $10 Million from FEMA to ICE Detention Program

Newly released DHS documents show that, at the start of hurricane season, the money was diverted to buttress the federal government’s detention and deportation efforts.
Hurricane Florence Likely To Strike East Coast With Damaging Effect
Ayana Byrd  Sep 11, 2018 3:35PM EDT

How Climate Change Could Make Hurricane Florence More Dangerous For Communities of Color

Global warming not only impacts the strength of the storm, but it can also impact the mental health of those affected by it. 
A man waves down to rescue crew as he tries to leave the area after he was inundated with flooding from Hurricane Harvey on August 28, 2017 in Houston, Texas.
Ayana Byrd  Sep 4, 2018 1:40PM EDT

Race, Class Impact Houston Resisdents' Recovery From Hurricane Harvey

A year after the storm, many Black and Latinx Houstonians are still unable to safely live in their homes.
A child walks in his flooded neighborhood on May 4, 2017, in Arnold, Missouri. Towns along the Meramec River braced for the river to crest after days of rainfall in the region.
Ayana Byrd  Aug 22, 2018 2:36PM EDT

STUDY: After Natural Disasters, Whites Accumulate Wealth While People of Color Lose It

There are marked racial differences in the cost of disasters.
Puerto Rico Faces Extensive Damage After Hurricane Maria
Ayana Byrd  Aug 15, 2018 12:34PM EDT

All of Puerto Rico's Residents Have Electricity Again, But Grid Is Still Fragile

Nearly one year after a full blackout, the electrical utility’s executive director acknowledges the situation remains “a mess.”
Pipelines in Williston, North Dakota, on June 15, 2011.
Ayana Byrd  Aug 14, 2018 2:50PM EDT

Racial Justice Groups Enjoy Tenuous Victory in Halting Atlantic Coast Pipeline Construction

The completed pipeline would expose Black communities along its path to dangerous levels of pollution, says the NAACP.
Work Begins In Flint To Replace Lead Water Pipes
Ayana Byrd  Aug 13, 2018 2:38PM EDT

Dangerously High Lead Levels Found In Suburban Chicago Homes

Researchers who helped in Flint, Michigan, are now intervening in Illinois.
Several incarcerated firefighters in orange jumpsuits look on as a plane passes over a burned down field.
catherine lizette gonzalez  Aug 9, 2018 5:34PM EDT

California Uses Prison Labor to Battle Dangerous Wildfires

Some 2,000 incarcerated firefighters from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation are earning just $2 a day to contain the largest wildfire ever recorded in the state’s history.
Ayana Byrd  Aug 9, 2018 1:41PM EDT

Puerto Rico Officials Finally Admit Hurricane Maria Killed More Than 64 People

In a report to Congress, they placed the number at approximately 1,427 people. Meanwhile, a May study said the death toll was at least 4,645.