News & Commentary

Even One More Oil and Gas Lease Sale in the Gulf of Mexico Is Too Many

November 17, 2023 ExplainerUnited States, LouisianaCourtney Lindwall

An expansion of offshore drilling would lock the region into decades of fossil fuel extraction at the expense of the climate, coastal communities, and marine life.

Advocates Are Sparking a Revolution in Louisiana's “Cancer Alley”

November 10, 2022 DispatchSt. James Parish, LouisianaNicole Greenfield

Residents of St. James Parish are fighting to boot harmful petrochemical plants from this majority-Black community—and hoping to usher in more sustainable industries like solar.

Mutual Aid and Disaster Justice: “We Keep Us Safe”

October 6, 2022 ExplainerUnited States, Puerto Rico, Louisiana, Mississippi, FloridaNicole Greenfield

As climate-fueled disasters become more frequent—from Mississippi to Puerto Rico and beyond—relief efforts by communities, for communities, could become increasingly critical.

“Chemical Recycling” Isn’t Actually Recycling.

May 16, 2022 ExplainerGeorgia, United StatesNicole Greenfield

Companies are trying to sell communities on a toxic solution to the plastic pollution crisis. The people of Macon, Georgia, saw through it. Will others?

Sharing the Road: Safer Streets Means Safe for Everyone

June 25, 2021 ExplainerUnited States, California, Missouri, Atlanta, San Jose (California), St. Louis, GeorgiaDan Reed

As they incorporate equity into transportation planning, a number of U.S. cities are making room for bicyclists, pedestrians, scooters, and wheelchairs in every part of town.

Connector of the Gulf South, 15 Years and Counting

August 24, 2020 DispatchNew Orleans, LouisianaKaren L. Smith-Janssen

Colette Pichon Battle is getting the conversation going—and the preparations moving—for Black and Indigenous communities of Louisiana who are still healing from Hurricane Katrina, even as they stand on the frontlines of climate change.

Expand the DAPL? Only Illinois Stands in the Way

May 5, 2020 DispatchIllinois, North Dakota, South DakotaSusan Cosier

Environmental advocates are fighting a proposal to double the amount of crude oil flowing through the pipeline.

As Sea Level Rise Threatens Their Ancestral Village, a Louisiana Tribe Fights to Stay Put

April 13, 2020 DispatchLouisianaBarry Yeoman

They survived the BP oil disaster, Hurricane Katrina, and decades of industry spoiling their wetlands. Whatever their future holds, the people of Grand Bayou want to decide it for themselves.

The Mother Who Became a Voice for the Gulf

April 6, 2020 DispatchLouisianaNicole Greenfield

After the Deepwater Horizon disaster, Kindra Arnesen went to the mat to help heal and protect her southeastern Louisiana community and the fishery it relies on. Ten years later, she’s still fighting.

Agrivoltaics: Sheep (and Soil Scientists) Juice Up the Solar Farm

February 20, 2020 DispatchGeorgia, North Carolina, EastRobynne Boyd

Solar farmers get a hand from regenerative agriculture experts to feed the soil under their arrays—another powerful tool to help fight climate change.

Needing Water, Georgia Stirs Up a 200-Year-Old Dispute With Its Northern Neighbor

October 29, 2019 DispatchGeorgiaAustyn Gaffney

As droughts parch the Southeast, interstate squabbles heat up over the Tennessee River (and the Chattahoochee . . . and the Flint . . . and the Apalachicola).

The People of the Isle de Jean Charles Are Louisiana’s First Climate Refugees—but They Won’t Be the Last

September 23, 2019 DispatchLouisianaRobynne Boyd

Whether and how to uproot communities are difficult and painful questions, and we need to get better at answering them.

The Natural Gas Industry Has a Methane Problem

June 7, 2019 ExplainerUnited States, LouisianaJeff Turrentine

Oil and gas operations leak this potent greenhouse gas far more than previously thought, and (par for the course) the Trump administration is making the situation worse.

These Farmers Are Sowing Seeds of Diversity in the U.S. Food System (and Have Been for Quite Some Time)

April 8, 2019 DispatchGeorgiaRobynne Boyd

A movement to preserve the cultural heritage and organic practices of African American farmers is growing in the Southeast.

Robby Astrove’s Vision for Atlanta Is Delicious

November 26, 2018 DispatchAtlantaRobynne Boyd

This visionary green thumb is bringing food justice, and heirloom fruit trees, to low-income communities in Atlanta where grocery stores are few and far between.

The Gulf of Mexico Is Sending Out an S.O.S.—a Message in a Plastic Bottle

June 4, 2018 DispatchKansas, Louisiana, MississippiRobynne Boyd

Thanks to the Mississippi River’s trash stream, the Gulf has some of the highest concentrations of plastic in the world.

Stopping a Dakota Access Pipeline Leak in Under 10 Minutes? A Fairy Tale, Say the Standing Rock Sioux

May 21, 2018 DispatchNorth Dakota, South DakotaSusan Cosier

In a recent report, the tribe picks apart the pipeline company’s emergency response plan.

The South Is Warming Up to Solar

May 11, 2018 DispatchGeorgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Florida, Tennessee, Alabama, MississippiRobynne Boyd

In the past five years, solar capacity in the South has increased nearly thirtyfold.

These Southern Cities Are Going 100 Percent Clean (Energy)

October 23, 2017 DispatchAtlanta, Georgia, Columbia, South Carolina, Orlando, St. Petersburg, FloridaRobynne Boyd

Here’s how they’re getting started.

The Effort to Replant the “Amazon of the South”

September 25, 2017 DispatchGeorgia, Florida, AlabamaRobynne Boyd

These Southerners are bringing the longleaf pine forest back—with some love, seeds, fire, and snakes.