"BORBA, Brazil — Brazilian police said Monday they burned 131 boats used by gold miners in the heart of the Amazon, raising tensions in an isolated region rife with poverty and crime.
Smoke has been wafting over the Madeira river since Saturday, with many locals complaining the swift action by authorities has left them stranded in the rainforest.
"Key players in the long-dormant effort to make companies pay for toxic site cleanups notched a big win in the recently enacted infrastructure bill. Now, they’re hoping for a similar payoff in the massive reconciliation package."
"A community program tracks air pollution in real time. Burdened by polluting facilities, 86 percent of Bayview’s children developed severe asthma before kindergarten."
"The EPA can shield some records regarding a former official’s role in pesticide policymaking from a conservation group, a divided Second Circuit ruled Monday. Messages between staff about how the agency should communicate its policies are protected by the deliberative process privilege, according to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit."
"ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST PARISH, La. — As white smoke wafted from a massive oil and gas refinery that sits near his backyard, Michael Coleman reminisced about the sweet days of his childhood, before sugar cane fields that stretched for miles were sold and replaced by chemical companies that wiped out the “nice little community we had here.”
"A $9 billion highway widening project being proposed in the Houston area could become an important test of the Biden administration’s commitment to addressing what it has said is a history of racial inequity with infrastructure projects in the U.S."
"The Tennessee Valley Authority received the final regulatory approval it needs to remove tons of coal ash from ponds in Southwest Memphis and transport them along Shelby Drive to a landfill in Southeast Memphis."
"The department recommended higher fees for oil and gas leases, but there was no sign the government planned to take global warming into account when weighing new applications."
Here's a list of top environmental justice stories from SEJournal.
The history of environmental racism is a long one in the United States, far longer than the efforts to address the problem. But reporting on environmental justice continues to tick upwards, and an analysis in the latest Backgrounder points to promising progress, explaining why for journalists the year ahead may yield important stories, whether about future footholds or new missteps.
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