1. Chester City Council member works for all residents
  2. Philly Thrive: people powered action
  3. Environmental impact on newly-approved Sixer’s arena
  4. Kensington’s community members works for revitalization and sustainability
  5. Philadelphia’s long dry-spell raises concerns
  6. Beautification in Philadelphia
  7. Local Legislative policies on affordable housing
  8. EV’s, public eco-friendly infrastructure and a refinery protesting: A conversation with Sophia Schmidt
  9. Elves on Wheels: Creating urban green spaces with Black farmers
  10. Environmental Impact and Immigration: A Conversation with Magybet Mendez
  11. Philadelphia Must Rethink Its Impact on Chester
  12. New Documentary Explores Philadelphia’s Struggle for Land Sovereignty and a Greener Future
  13. Capturing Hope: Power Circle Mentors Inspiring Youth Through Nature and Photography
  14. Roishetta Sibley Ozane and The Vessel Project: A Beacon of Hope in Sulphur, Louisiana
  15. ecoFEST 2023: A Celebration of Environmental Justice
  16. A is for asbestos: The environmental challenges facing Philly schools
  17. The Age of Preparedness: Securing Your Finances in the Face of the Climate Crisis
  18. A Former Sugar Plantation Up in Flames: The Lahaina Wildfires
  19. From Heatwaves to Hydration: Philadelphia’s Water Landscape Explored
  20. A Sizzling Summer: Philly Faces Extreme Temperatures
  21. Get to Know The New Host of ecoWURD: Tamara P.O.C. Russell
  22. Funding the Fight for Climate Justice: Local and Federal Grants Propel Environmental Initiatives
  23. Where There is Fire, There Will Be Smoke
  24. Lessons at Sea: Capitalism, Climate Change and a Path Forward
  25. Investing in Women, Investing in the Future: The Wise Fund’s Vision for a Greener World
  26. HOW DID “NIMBY” SUDDENLY BECOME THE NEW “N-WORD?”
  27. The Gentrification Problem: The Environmental Crisis of Unaffordable Housing
  28. The Roots Run Deep: The Environmental Crisis of Unaffordable Housing
  29. There Is No Cost to Live: The Environmental Crisis of Unaffordable Housing
  30. Fixing Up Philly’s Homes: Charles Ellison for WHYY
  31. Punishment Past Prison Walls: Environmental injustice in the Carceral State
  32. RACISM IN THE WATER
  33. THE “INFLATION REDUCTION ACT” IS NOW LAW. SO, HOW DOES IT HELP BLACK PHILLY?
  34. PHILADELPHIA HAS AN AIR TOXIN PROBLEM. WHAT IS THE CITY GOVERNMENT GOING TO DO TO FIX IT?
  35. Want to end gun violence now? Let’s save Philly block by block
  36. Here are steps Philly could take to cool urban heat islands
  37. The gas prices conversation we should be having
  38. Reclaiming Black land is challenging but not impossible
  39. Black clergy: Churches can sway views on climate crisis
  40. Can old Philadelphia refineries be cleaned up and restored?
  41. Here’s how Black Philadelphia can help in the environmental justice battle
  42. City Launches Environmental Justice Advisory Commission
  43. FIXING THE STRUGGLE SPACE
  44. SOLAR POLICIES ARE FALLING BEHIND – SO, HOW DO WE CATCH UP?
  45. IS PHILLY’S “TAP” WATER PROGRAM WORKING?
  46. Ian Harris
  47. Melissa Ostroff
  48. THE WATER BILLS ARE WAY TOO HIGH
  49. THE KEY TO APPROACHING FRONTLINE COMMUNITIES ON ALL THINGS GREEN
  50. ICYMI: Watch highlights, panels at ecoWURD’s 2021 Environmental Justice Summit
  51. BLACK MOTHERS NEED CLEANER & SAFER ENVIRONMENTS – IT’S A PUBLIC HEALTH IMPERATIVE
  52. USING DANCE TO SAVE A RIVER
  53. TRACKING PHILADELPHIA’S AIR QUALITY
  54. GETTING RELIGIOUS ON CLIMATE CRISIS
  55. WE NEED MORE BLACK PEOPLE IN AGRICULTURE
  56. WHEN THERE’S NO CLEAN ENVIRONMENT, WE HAVE NOTHING
  57. A PREMATURE END TO EVICTION MORATORIUMS
  58. THE LACK OF BELIEF IN CLIMATE CRISIS IS JUST AS MUCH A THREAT
  59. YOU CAN’T HAVE RACIAL JUSTICE WITHOUT FAIR HOUSING
  60. RUN OVER THE SYSTEMS: THE FUTURE OF ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVISM
  61. PENNSYLVANIA IS “WAY BEHIND” ON SOLAR. HOW DOES IT CATCH UP?
  62. Pandemic Relief For Black Farmers Still Is Not Enough
  63. A BLUEPRINT FOR THE NEXT URBANISM
  64. THAT ELECTRONIC & CLOTHING WASTE PILES UP. SO WHERE TO PUT IT?
  65. THE WOMB IS THE FIRST ENVIRONMENT
  66. WILL THERE BE ANY MASS TRANSIT LEFT AFTER PANDEMIC?
  67. A FRIDGE FOR EVERYONE WHO’S HUNGRY
  68. OLD SCHOOL FOSSIL FUEL ECONOMY VS. NEW SCHOOL CLEAN ENERGY ECONOMY
  69. ENVIRONMENTAL INJUSTICE IS THE TOP SOCIAL JUSTICE PRIORITY
  70. IN 2020, DID “BIG GREEN” BECOME LESS WHITE?
  71. CLIMATE ACTION CAN POWER OUR RECOVERY
  72. IN PANDEMIC, AN HBCU DOES IT BETTER
  73. A DANGEROUS LACK OF INFECTIOUS DISEASE PROTECTIONS
  74. HOW FAST CAN A BIDEN PRESIDENCY MOVE ON CLIMATE ISSUES?
  75. CRAFTING A BLACK-DRIVEN CORONAVIRUS AND CLIMATE “STIMULUS” AGENDA
  76. Penn to donate $100 million to Philadelphia school district to help public school children
  77. BLACK ECOLOGIES IN TIDEWATER VIRGINIA
  78. WHAT IS “FROM THE SOURCE REPORTING?”
  79. LEADERSHIP IN ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE
  80. THE ECOWURD SUMMIT LAUNCH
  81. National Geographic Virtual Photo Camp: Earth Stories Aimed to Elevate Indigenous Youth Voices
  82. ecoWURD Environmental Justice Summit 2020
  83. THE PLAN FOR A 100 PERCENT CLEAN FUTURE IS SAVING NATURE
  84. WHAT SHOULD A PRESIDENT’S ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE AGENDA LOOK LIKE?
  85. THE NEED FOR ABOLITIONIST TEACHING
  86. PUBLIC LANDS & SAVING NATURE
  87. TOO MANY NATURAL GAS SPILLS
  88. GREEN IS THE NEW BLACK
  89. BLACK VOTERS ARE THE ECO-VOTERS CLIMATE ACTIVISTS ARE LOOKING FOR
  90. CANNABIS PROFIT & BLACK ECONOMY
  91. THE NATURE GAP
  92. BLACK PEOPLE NEED NATURE
  93. WHAT IS TREEPHILLY?
  94. IS AN OBSCURE ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE IN HARRISBURG DOING ENOUGH?
  95. AMERICAN ENVIRONMENTALISM’S RACIST ROOTS
  96. “THERE’S REALLY A LOT OF QUIET SUFFERING OUT THERE
  97. “WE NEED TO GET INTO THE SUPPLY CHAIN”
  98. “AN ENVIRONMENTAL LAW THAT GIVES YOU A VOICE”
  99. URBAN PLANNING AS A TOOL FOR WHITE SUPREMACY
  100. HEAT WAVES REMIND US CLIMATE CHANGE IS STILL HERE
  101. Farming While Black: Soul Fire Farm’s Practical Guide to Liberation on the Land
  102. IN PANDEMIC, MAKING SURE PEOPLE EAT & HOW HBCUs HELP
  103. WE’RE NOT DONE, YET – MORE ACCOUNTABILITY IS NEEDED AT THE PES REFINERY SITE
  104. COVID-19 IS LAYING WASTE TO RECYCLING PROGRAMS
  105. THE PHILADELPHIA HEALTH EQUITY GAPS THAT COVID-19 EXPOSED
  106. THE POWER OF NEW HERBALISM
  107. THERE’S NO RECIPE FOR SUCCESS
  108. ecoWURD Earth Day Summit
  109. ecoWURD Earth Day Summit 2020 Press Release
  110. Too Much Food At Farms, Too Little Food At Stores
  111. THE LINK BETWEEN AIR POLLUTION & COVID-19
  112. CORONAVIRUS REVEALS WHY ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE IS STILL THE CRITICAL ISSUE OF OUR TIME
  113. FROM KATRINA TO CORONAVIRUS, WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?
  114. COVID-19 SHOWS A BIGGER IMPACT WHERE BLACK PEOPLE LIVE
  115. THE CORONAVIRUS CONVERSATION HAS GOT TO GET A LOT MORE INCLUSIVE THAN THIS
  116. MEDIA’S CLIMATE CHANGE COVERAGE KEEPS BLACK PEOPLE OUT OF IT
  117. “WE DON’T HAVE A CULTURE OF PREPAREDNESS”
  118. PHILADELPHIA HAS A FOOD ECONOMY
  119. HOW URBAN AGRICULTURE CAN IMPROVE FOOD SECURITY IN U.S. CITIES
  120. MAPPING THE LINK BETWEEN INCARCERATION & FOOD INSECURITY
  121. PHILLY’S JAILS ARE, LITERALLY, MAKING PEOPLE SICK
  122. ecoWURD Environmental Justice Summit 2019
  123. ecoWURD Environmental Justice Summit
  124. “We Can’t Breathe: Zulene Mayfield’s Lifelong War with Waste ‘Managers’”
  125. “Is The Black Press Reporting on Environmental Issues?” by David Love
  126. “The Dangerous Connection Between Climate Change & Food” an interview with Jacqueline Patterson and Adrienne Hollis
  127. “An Oil Refinery Explosion That Was Never Isolated” by Charles Ellison
  128. “Philly Should Be Going ‘Community Solar'” an interview w/ PA Rep. Donna Bullock
  129. “Is The Litter Index Enough?” an interview w/ Nic Esposito
  130. “How Sugarcane Fires in Florida Are Making Black People Sick” an interview w/ Frank Biden
  131. Philly Farm Social – Video and Pictures
  132. #PHILLYFARMSOCIAL GETS REAL IN THE FIELD
  133. THE LACK OF DIVERSE LEADERS IN THE GREEN SPACE Environmental Advocacy Organizations – especially the “Big Green” – Really Need More Black & Brown People in Senior Positions
  134. PLASTIC BAG BANS CAN BACKFIRE … WHEN YOU HAVE OTHER PLASTICS TO CHOOSE FROM
  135. WE REALLY NEED POLITICAL STRATEGISTS LEADING ON CLIMATE CHANGE – NOT ACADEMICS
  136. EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS IN A MUCH MORE CLIMATIC WORLD
  137. A SMALL GERMANTOWN NON-PROFIT “TRADES FOR A DIFFERENCE”
  138. IS PHILLY BLAMING ITS TRASH & RECYCLING CRISIS ON BLACK PEOPLE?
  139. BUT WHAT DOES THE GREEN NEW DEAL MEAN FOR BLACK PEOPLE?
  140. HOW GREEN IS PHILLY’S “GREENWORKS” PLAN?
  141. The Future of Work in Philly’s Green Economy event recap #ecoWURD #phillyisgreen
  142. Bike-friendly cities should be designed for everyone, not just for wealthy white cyclists
  143. RENAMING “GENTRIFICATION”
  144. FOUR GOVERNORS, ONE URBAN WATERSHED IN NEED OF ACTION
  145. JUST HOW BAD IS THE AIR HURTING PHILLY’S BLACK FAMILIES?
  146. EcoWURD Presents:The Future of Work in Philly’s Green Economy
  147. IF YOU ARE LOW-INCOME OR HOMELESS, THE POLAR VORTEX IS LIKE A FORM OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT
  148. NOT JUST FLINT: THE WATER CRISIS IN THE BLACK COMMUNITY
  149. DO THE TRAINS STOP RUNNING? THE SHUTDOWN’S IMPACT ON MASS TRANSIT
  150. BLACK WOMEN & THE TROUBLE WITH BABY POWDER
  151. A WHITE COLLAR CRIME VICTIMIZING NICETOWN
  152. IN NORTH CAROLINA, CLIMATE CHANGE & VOTER SUPPRESSION WORKED HAND-IN-HAND
  153. LOW-INCOME NEIGHBORHOODS WOULD GAIN THE MOST FROM GREEN ROOFS
  154. YOUR OWN HOOD: CLOSING THE GENERATIONAL GREEN DIVIDE IN BLACK PHILADELPHIA
  155. THE PRICE OF WATER: LITERAL & FIGURATIVE THIRST AT WORK
  156. THAT CLIMATE CHANGE REPORT TRUMP DIDN’T WANT YOU TO SEE? YEAH, WELL, IT’S THE LAW
  157. RACIAL & ETHNIC MINORITIES ARE MORE VULNERABLE TO WILDFIRES
  158. NO IFS, ANDS OR BUTTS Philly Has a Cigarette Butt Problem
  159. HOW SUSTAINABLE CAN PHILLY GET?
  160. USING AFROFUTURISM TO BUILD THE KIND OF WORLD YOU WANT
  161. UNCOVERING PHILLY’S HIDDEN TOXIC DANGERS …
  162. WILL THE ENVIRONMENT DRIVE VOTERS TO THE POLLS? (PART I)
  163. ARE PHILLY SCHOOLS READY FOR CLIMATE CHANGE?
  164. 🎧 SEPTA CREATES A GAS PROBLEM IN NORTH PHILLY
  165. 🎧 BREAKING THE GREEN RETAIL CEILING
  166. That’s Nasty: The Cost of Trash in Philly
  167. 🎧 How Can You Solarize Philly?
  168. 🎧 “The Environment Should Be an Active, Living Experience”
  169. Philly’s Lead Crisis Is Larger Than Flint’s
  170. Despite What You Heard, Black Millennials Do Care About the Environment
  171. Hurricanes Always Hurt Black Folks the Most
  172. Are You Going to Drink That?
  173. The Origins of ecoWURD
  174. We Seriously Need More Black Climate Disaster Films
  175. 🎧 Why Should Philly Care About a Pipeline?
  176. 🎧 Not Just Hotter Days Ahead… Costly Ones Too
  177. Philly’s Big and Dangerous Hot Mess
Saturday, February 15, 2025
  1. Chester City Council member works for all residents
  2. Philly Thrive: people powered action
  3. Environmental impact on newly-approved Sixer’s arena
  4. Kensington’s community members works for revitalization and sustainability
  5. Philadelphia’s long dry-spell raises concerns
  6. Beautification in Philadelphia
  7. Local Legislative policies on affordable housing
  8. EV’s, public eco-friendly infrastructure and a refinery protesting: A conversation with Sophia Schmidt
  9. Elves on Wheels: Creating urban green spaces with Black farmers
  10. Environmental Impact and Immigration: A Conversation with Magybet Mendez
  11. Philadelphia Must Rethink Its Impact on Chester
  12. New Documentary Explores Philadelphia’s Struggle for Land Sovereignty and a Greener Future
  13. Capturing Hope: Power Circle Mentors Inspiring Youth Through Nature and Photography
  14. Roishetta Sibley Ozane and The Vessel Project: A Beacon of Hope in Sulphur, Louisiana
  15. ecoFEST 2023: A Celebration of Environmental Justice
  16. A is for asbestos: The environmental challenges facing Philly schools
  17. The Age of Preparedness: Securing Your Finances in the Face of the Climate Crisis
  18. A Former Sugar Plantation Up in Flames: The Lahaina Wildfires
  19. From Heatwaves to Hydration: Philadelphia’s Water Landscape Explored
  20. A Sizzling Summer: Philly Faces Extreme Temperatures
  21. Get to Know The New Host of ecoWURD: Tamara P.O.C. Russell
  22. Funding the Fight for Climate Justice: Local and Federal Grants Propel Environmental Initiatives
  23. Where There is Fire, There Will Be Smoke
  24. Lessons at Sea: Capitalism, Climate Change and a Path Forward
  25. Investing in Women, Investing in the Future: The Wise Fund’s Vision for a Greener World
  26. HOW DID “NIMBY” SUDDENLY BECOME THE NEW “N-WORD?”
  27. The Gentrification Problem: The Environmental Crisis of Unaffordable Housing
  28. The Roots Run Deep: The Environmental Crisis of Unaffordable Housing
  29. There Is No Cost to Live: The Environmental Crisis of Unaffordable Housing
  30. Fixing Up Philly’s Homes: Charles Ellison for WHYY
  31. Punishment Past Prison Walls: Environmental injustice in the Carceral State
  32. RACISM IN THE WATER
  33. THE “INFLATION REDUCTION ACT” IS NOW LAW. SO, HOW DOES IT HELP BLACK PHILLY?
  34. PHILADELPHIA HAS AN AIR TOXIN PROBLEM. WHAT IS THE CITY GOVERNMENT GOING TO DO TO FIX IT?
  35. Want to end gun violence now? Let’s save Philly block by block
  36. Here are steps Philly could take to cool urban heat islands
  37. The gas prices conversation we should be having
  38. Reclaiming Black land is challenging but not impossible
  39. Black clergy: Churches can sway views on climate crisis
  40. Can old Philadelphia refineries be cleaned up and restored?
  41. Here’s how Black Philadelphia can help in the environmental justice battle
  42. City Launches Environmental Justice Advisory Commission
  43. FIXING THE STRUGGLE SPACE
  44. SOLAR POLICIES ARE FALLING BEHIND – SO, HOW DO WE CATCH UP?
  45. IS PHILLY’S “TAP” WATER PROGRAM WORKING?
  46. Ian Harris
  47. Melissa Ostroff
  48. THE WATER BILLS ARE WAY TOO HIGH
  49. THE KEY TO APPROACHING FRONTLINE COMMUNITIES ON ALL THINGS GREEN
  50. ICYMI: Watch highlights, panels at ecoWURD’s 2021 Environmental Justice Summit
  51. BLACK MOTHERS NEED CLEANER & SAFER ENVIRONMENTS – IT’S A PUBLIC HEALTH IMPERATIVE
  52. USING DANCE TO SAVE A RIVER
  53. TRACKING PHILADELPHIA’S AIR QUALITY
  54. GETTING RELIGIOUS ON CLIMATE CRISIS
  55. WE NEED MORE BLACK PEOPLE IN AGRICULTURE
  56. WHEN THERE’S NO CLEAN ENVIRONMENT, WE HAVE NOTHING
  57. A PREMATURE END TO EVICTION MORATORIUMS
  58. THE LACK OF BELIEF IN CLIMATE CRISIS IS JUST AS MUCH A THREAT
  59. YOU CAN’T HAVE RACIAL JUSTICE WITHOUT FAIR HOUSING
  60. RUN OVER THE SYSTEMS: THE FUTURE OF ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVISM
  61. PENNSYLVANIA IS “WAY BEHIND” ON SOLAR. HOW DOES IT CATCH UP?
  62. Pandemic Relief For Black Farmers Still Is Not Enough
  63. A BLUEPRINT FOR THE NEXT URBANISM
  64. THAT ELECTRONIC & CLOTHING WASTE PILES UP. SO WHERE TO PUT IT?
  65. THE WOMB IS THE FIRST ENVIRONMENT
  66. WILL THERE BE ANY MASS TRANSIT LEFT AFTER PANDEMIC?
  67. A FRIDGE FOR EVERYONE WHO’S HUNGRY
  68. OLD SCHOOL FOSSIL FUEL ECONOMY VS. NEW SCHOOL CLEAN ENERGY ECONOMY
  69. ENVIRONMENTAL INJUSTICE IS THE TOP SOCIAL JUSTICE PRIORITY
  70. IN 2020, DID “BIG GREEN” BECOME LESS WHITE?
  71. CLIMATE ACTION CAN POWER OUR RECOVERY
  72. IN PANDEMIC, AN HBCU DOES IT BETTER
  73. A DANGEROUS LACK OF INFECTIOUS DISEASE PROTECTIONS
  74. HOW FAST CAN A BIDEN PRESIDENCY MOVE ON CLIMATE ISSUES?
  75. CRAFTING A BLACK-DRIVEN CORONAVIRUS AND CLIMATE “STIMULUS” AGENDA
  76. Penn to donate $100 million to Philadelphia school district to help public school children
  77. BLACK ECOLOGIES IN TIDEWATER VIRGINIA
  78. WHAT IS “FROM THE SOURCE REPORTING?”
  79. LEADERSHIP IN ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE
  80. THE ECOWURD SUMMIT LAUNCH
  81. National Geographic Virtual Photo Camp: Earth Stories Aimed to Elevate Indigenous Youth Voices
  82. ecoWURD Environmental Justice Summit 2020
  83. THE PLAN FOR A 100 PERCENT CLEAN FUTURE IS SAVING NATURE
  84. WHAT SHOULD A PRESIDENT’S ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE AGENDA LOOK LIKE?
  85. THE NEED FOR ABOLITIONIST TEACHING
  86. PUBLIC LANDS & SAVING NATURE
  87. TOO MANY NATURAL GAS SPILLS
  88. GREEN IS THE NEW BLACK
  89. BLACK VOTERS ARE THE ECO-VOTERS CLIMATE ACTIVISTS ARE LOOKING FOR
  90. CANNABIS PROFIT & BLACK ECONOMY
  91. THE NATURE GAP
  92. BLACK PEOPLE NEED NATURE
  93. WHAT IS TREEPHILLY?
  94. IS AN OBSCURE ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE IN HARRISBURG DOING ENOUGH?
  95. AMERICAN ENVIRONMENTALISM’S RACIST ROOTS
  96. “THERE’S REALLY A LOT OF QUIET SUFFERING OUT THERE
  97. “WE NEED TO GET INTO THE SUPPLY CHAIN”
  98. “AN ENVIRONMENTAL LAW THAT GIVES YOU A VOICE”
  99. URBAN PLANNING AS A TOOL FOR WHITE SUPREMACY
  100. HEAT WAVES REMIND US CLIMATE CHANGE IS STILL HERE
  101. Farming While Black: Soul Fire Farm’s Practical Guide to Liberation on the Land
  102. IN PANDEMIC, MAKING SURE PEOPLE EAT & HOW HBCUs HELP
  103. WE’RE NOT DONE, YET – MORE ACCOUNTABILITY IS NEEDED AT THE PES REFINERY SITE
  104. COVID-19 IS LAYING WASTE TO RECYCLING PROGRAMS
  105. THE PHILADELPHIA HEALTH EQUITY GAPS THAT COVID-19 EXPOSED
  106. THE POWER OF NEW HERBALISM
  107. THERE’S NO RECIPE FOR SUCCESS
  108. ecoWURD Earth Day Summit
  109. ecoWURD Earth Day Summit 2020 Press Release
  110. Too Much Food At Farms, Too Little Food At Stores
  111. THE LINK BETWEEN AIR POLLUTION & COVID-19
  112. CORONAVIRUS REVEALS WHY ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE IS STILL THE CRITICAL ISSUE OF OUR TIME
  113. FROM KATRINA TO CORONAVIRUS, WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?
  114. COVID-19 SHOWS A BIGGER IMPACT WHERE BLACK PEOPLE LIVE
  115. THE CORONAVIRUS CONVERSATION HAS GOT TO GET A LOT MORE INCLUSIVE THAN THIS
  116. MEDIA’S CLIMATE CHANGE COVERAGE KEEPS BLACK PEOPLE OUT OF IT
  117. “WE DON’T HAVE A CULTURE OF PREPAREDNESS”
  118. PHILADELPHIA HAS A FOOD ECONOMY
  119. HOW URBAN AGRICULTURE CAN IMPROVE FOOD SECURITY IN U.S. CITIES
  120. MAPPING THE LINK BETWEEN INCARCERATION & FOOD INSECURITY
  121. PHILLY’S JAILS ARE, LITERALLY, MAKING PEOPLE SICK
  122. ecoWURD Environmental Justice Summit 2019
  123. ecoWURD Environmental Justice Summit
  124. “We Can’t Breathe: Zulene Mayfield’s Lifelong War with Waste ‘Managers’”
  125. “Is The Black Press Reporting on Environmental Issues?” by David Love
  126. “The Dangerous Connection Between Climate Change & Food” an interview with Jacqueline Patterson and Adrienne Hollis
  127. “An Oil Refinery Explosion That Was Never Isolated” by Charles Ellison
  128. “Philly Should Be Going ‘Community Solar'” an interview w/ PA Rep. Donna Bullock
  129. “Is The Litter Index Enough?” an interview w/ Nic Esposito
  130. “How Sugarcane Fires in Florida Are Making Black People Sick” an interview w/ Frank Biden
  131. Philly Farm Social – Video and Pictures
  132. #PHILLYFARMSOCIAL GETS REAL IN THE FIELD
  133. THE LACK OF DIVERSE LEADERS IN THE GREEN SPACE Environmental Advocacy Organizations – especially the “Big Green” – Really Need More Black & Brown People in Senior Positions
  134. PLASTIC BAG BANS CAN BACKFIRE … WHEN YOU HAVE OTHER PLASTICS TO CHOOSE FROM
  135. WE REALLY NEED POLITICAL STRATEGISTS LEADING ON CLIMATE CHANGE – NOT ACADEMICS
  136. EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS IN A MUCH MORE CLIMATIC WORLD
  137. A SMALL GERMANTOWN NON-PROFIT “TRADES FOR A DIFFERENCE”
  138. IS PHILLY BLAMING ITS TRASH & RECYCLING CRISIS ON BLACK PEOPLE?
  139. BUT WHAT DOES THE GREEN NEW DEAL MEAN FOR BLACK PEOPLE?
  140. HOW GREEN IS PHILLY’S “GREENWORKS” PLAN?
  141. The Future of Work in Philly’s Green Economy event recap #ecoWURD #phillyisgreen
  142. Bike-friendly cities should be designed for everyone, not just for wealthy white cyclists
  143. RENAMING “GENTRIFICATION”
  144. FOUR GOVERNORS, ONE URBAN WATERSHED IN NEED OF ACTION
  145. JUST HOW BAD IS THE AIR HURTING PHILLY’S BLACK FAMILIES?
  146. EcoWURD Presents:The Future of Work in Philly’s Green Economy
  147. IF YOU ARE LOW-INCOME OR HOMELESS, THE POLAR VORTEX IS LIKE A FORM OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT
  148. NOT JUST FLINT: THE WATER CRISIS IN THE BLACK COMMUNITY
  149. DO THE TRAINS STOP RUNNING? THE SHUTDOWN’S IMPACT ON MASS TRANSIT
  150. BLACK WOMEN & THE TROUBLE WITH BABY POWDER
  151. A WHITE COLLAR CRIME VICTIMIZING NICETOWN
  152. IN NORTH CAROLINA, CLIMATE CHANGE & VOTER SUPPRESSION WORKED HAND-IN-HAND
  153. LOW-INCOME NEIGHBORHOODS WOULD GAIN THE MOST FROM GREEN ROOFS
  154. YOUR OWN HOOD: CLOSING THE GENERATIONAL GREEN DIVIDE IN BLACK PHILADELPHIA
  155. THE PRICE OF WATER: LITERAL & FIGURATIVE THIRST AT WORK
  156. THAT CLIMATE CHANGE REPORT TRUMP DIDN’T WANT YOU TO SEE? YEAH, WELL, IT’S THE LAW
  157. RACIAL & ETHNIC MINORITIES ARE MORE VULNERABLE TO WILDFIRES
  158. NO IFS, ANDS OR BUTTS Philly Has a Cigarette Butt Problem
  159. HOW SUSTAINABLE CAN PHILLY GET?
  160. USING AFROFUTURISM TO BUILD THE KIND OF WORLD YOU WANT
  161. UNCOVERING PHILLY’S HIDDEN TOXIC DANGERS …
  162. WILL THE ENVIRONMENT DRIVE VOTERS TO THE POLLS? (PART I)
  163. ARE PHILLY SCHOOLS READY FOR CLIMATE CHANGE?
  164. 🎧 SEPTA CREATES A GAS PROBLEM IN NORTH PHILLY
  165. 🎧 BREAKING THE GREEN RETAIL CEILING
  166. That’s Nasty: The Cost of Trash in Philly
  167. 🎧 How Can You Solarize Philly?
  168. 🎧 “The Environment Should Be an Active, Living Experience”
  169. Philly’s Lead Crisis Is Larger Than Flint’s
  170. Despite What You Heard, Black Millennials Do Care About the Environment
  171. Hurricanes Always Hurt Black Folks the Most
  172. Are You Going to Drink That?
  173. The Origins of ecoWURD
  174. We Seriously Need More Black Climate Disaster Films
  175. 🎧 Why Should Philly Care About a Pipeline?
  176. 🎧 Not Just Hotter Days Ahead… Costly Ones Too
  177. Philly’s Big and Dangerous Hot Mess

But you won’t see that story from all the beachfront property news coverage

Carrying countless tons of rain and high winds with it, Hurricane Florence – downgraded to tropical storm status –  hit the Carolinas with a ferocity that made sisters Maria and Irma nervous. It was the Category 3 to 4 hurricane that the National Weather Service was calling “the storm of a lifetime.”

Yet, even though it hit areas with some of the highest concentrations of Black residents in the United States, mainstream news coverage will give the impression that only White people owning tony beachfront property and businesses are the ones suffering most.  

But in the Carolinas where the Black population is more than 3 million and in Virginia where it’s more than 1 million, these are the communities that are likely to be hit the hardest.

The slow moving storm wreaked havoc with life threatening storm surge, catastrophic flash flooding and major river flooding to the coasts of the Carolinas and Virginia.

The news caused the mandatory evacuation of more than 1 million residents. Businesses have been temporarily shut down and homes are boarded up. Neighborhoods have become ghost towns.

But, sometimes unseen, underappreciated and under-reported, is the suffering of populations already struggling under the weight of longtime social and economic pressures. Those pressures expand when natural disasters hit.

These populations can’t just pack up and run. History proves it.  According to a Yale study, due to years of redlining, people of color have also been historically relegated to lower, flood-prone areas in Atlantic coastal states. 

The Brookings Institution found that the natural disaster isn’t the “great equalizer” everyone thinks it is. Instead “severe weather shocks exacerbates inequality.” Writes Brookings’ Richard Reeves: “[L]ower income Americans are more likely to live in neighborhoods or buildings more susceptible to storm shocks. Substandard infrastructure in affordable housing units and low-income communities place residents at greater risk to the effects of a severe storm. In the wake of Hurricane Harvey, low-income neighborhoods were more affected than wealthier ones, as poor families were more concentrated in flood-prone parts of Houston. Low-income and minority families are also more likely to live closer to noxious industrial facilities and are thus more at-risk to chemical spills and toxic leaks resulting from storm damage.

“Second, poorer families are less well insulated against the economic shock that often accompanies the physical one. In the eight counties most severely-affected by Hurricane Harvey, only 17 percent of homeowners held flood insurance policies, which are more commonly held by wealthier households.”

And in a recent report that assessed the impact of hurricanes on Black communities, Hurricane Harvey impacted some communities more than others. The study showed that Black and Hispanic residents were more likely to report damage to their homes and vehicles.

The disparities continue post-hurricane. Today, there are dozens of Black families displaced from Hurricane Harvey, in addition to still countless Black families spread across a “Katrina Diaspora” throughout the Southeast U.S. – since 2005.   

Going back to Harvey: Only 13 percent of Black residents who applied for FEMA assistance were approved in comparison to 34 percent of white residents and 28 percent of Hispanic residents.

Now that it’s being reported that President Trump transferred almost $10 million from FEMA to ICE, it seems that gap in governmental assistance will only widen.

In line with income, Black residents are less likely to report having flood insurance, renters’ insurance or homeowners’ insurance (indeed, only 12 percent of American homeowners nationwide have some sort of flood insurance). For Black residents who don’t have many resources, this makes it harder to bounce back from the already devastating impact of a major flood or hurricane.

It’s why Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), who’s also Ranking Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, has made the National Flood Insurance Program a major agenda item – even if the topic seemed obscure. She was thrilled when FEMA – the Federal Emergency Management Agency – finally delivered a report that admitted the need for an “affordability framework” for the troubled program. “The framework confirms what I have long known,” said Waters earlier this summer. “The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is not just a program for wealthy beachfront homeowners. In fact, with this framework, FEMA confirms that low-income homeowners and renters tend to live in the highest flood hazard areas.

“We now have evidence to show many of the low-income families in special flood hazard areas actually inherited their homes or are retirees who are particularly vulnerable to unaffordable flood insurance premiums.”

And while 1 million people have been ordered to evacuate in preparation for Hurricane Florence, the process is costly. When you factor in the the cost of gas, flights and lodging, evacuation isn’t always an option for many. Especially for low-income communities of color that won’t have the type of discretionary or emergency funding to cover the unexpected and dire expense.

When Hurricane Katrina barrelled through Louisiana leaving 1,833 dead, the Congressional Research Service found that 73 percent of the people displaced were Black. After the hurricane, 70 percent of the White residents were able to get back into their homes within a year, less than half of the city’s Black residents were able to do the same.

There was also widespread controversy over how the media covered the effects of the disaster. Or as [old] Kanye put it, Black people were reported as looters while White people were “looking for food.”

As Florence approached, the South Carolina Department of Corrections announced that it wouldn’t evacuate inmates at the Ridgeland Correctional Institution.  More than 1,000 people will be left behind in the facility, including prison staff. A 2017 profile of the demographics of the SC Department of Corrections shows that a majority of the inmates are Black.

The decision was met with swift backlash from protestors and the ACLU.

Unfortunately, these numbers are only a few examples of the disparity  in treatment and long-term impact a hurricane can have on Black communities. As Florida A&M researchers Tanveer ul Islam, Elijah Johnson and Ariana Marshall found in their report titled Assessing Socio-economic Vulnerability of African Americans to Hurricanes in the Gulf States

“The more socially vulnerable a community is, the less coping capacity it will have facing a disaster.”  Examining that report, Al Jazeera US correspondent Michelle Klug offered vivid illustrations in her quick analysis

Hundreds of years of systemic racism, discrimination  and neglect have made these communities socially vulnerable. Stripped away of the necessary infrastructure or resources needed to prepare, they are also placed in the eye of the storm.

As residents and governments assess the wreckage from Florence, vigilance from the public is key to ensure the past is not repeated. Yet, there is lingering doubt the current administration will even care to address or acknowledge the unique challenges of diverse and distressed populations.  The memory of Maria and Irma in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands is still fresh in the national mind, and those territories’ majority Brown and Black populations have not fully recovered. While the expectation is that government is held accountable to its duty to protect all citizens, the future of federal response is uncertain as the Trump administration continues rejecting climate change as a problem.

In the meantime, the Black communities on of the Carolinas and Virginia are weathering a storm (and many after it) that has been centuries in the making. It will more than likely take decades for them to ever rebuild.