1. Environmental Impact and Immigration: A Conversation with Magybet Mendez
  2. Philadelphia Must Rethink Its Impact on Chester
  3. New Documentary Explores Philadelphia’s Struggle for Land Sovereignty and a Greener Future
  4. Capturing Hope: Power Circle Mentors Inspiring Youth Through Nature and Photography
  5. Roishetta Sibley Ozane and The Vessel Project: A Beacon of Hope in Sulphur, Louisiana
  6. ecoFEST 2023: A Celebration of Environmental Justice
  7. A is for asbestos: The environmental challenges facing Philly schools
  8. The Age of Preparedness: Securing Your Finances in the Face of the Climate Crisis
  9. A Former Sugar Plantation Up in Flames: The Lahaina Wildfires
  10. From Heatwaves to Hydration: Philadelphia’s Water Landscape Explored
  11. A Sizzling Summer: Philly Faces Extreme Temperatures
  12. Get to Know The New Host of ecoWURD: Tamara P.O.C. Russell
  13. Funding the Fight for Climate Justice: Local and Federal Grants Propel Environmental Initiatives
  14. Where There is Fire, There Will Be Smoke
  15. Lessons at Sea: Capitalism, Climate Change and a Path Forward
  16. Investing in Women, Investing in the Future: The Wise Fund’s Vision for a Greener World
  17. HOW DID “NIMBY” SUDDENLY BECOME THE NEW “N-WORD?”
  18. The Gentrification Problem: The Environmental Crisis of Unaffordable Housing
  19. The Roots Run Deep: The Environmental Crisis of Unaffordable Housing
  20. There Is No Cost to Live: The Environmental Crisis of Unaffordable Housing
  21. Fixing Up Philly’s Homes: Charles Ellison for WHYY
  22. Punishment Past Prison Walls: Environmental injustice in the Carceral State
  23. RACISM IN THE WATER
  24. THE “INFLATION REDUCTION ACT” IS NOW LAW. SO, HOW DOES IT HELP BLACK PHILLY?
  25. PHILADELPHIA HAS AN AIR TOXIN PROBLEM. WHAT IS THE CITY GOVERNMENT GOING TO DO TO FIX IT?
  26. Want to end gun violence now? Let’s save Philly block by block
  27. Here are steps Philly could take to cool urban heat islands
  28. The gas prices conversation we should be having
  29. Reclaiming Black land is challenging but not impossible
  30. Black clergy: Churches can sway views on climate crisis
  31. Can old Philadelphia refineries be cleaned up and restored?
  32. Here’s how Black Philadelphia can help in the environmental justice battle
  33. City Launches Environmental Justice Advisory Commission
  34. FIXING THE STRUGGLE SPACE
  35. SOLAR POLICIES ARE FALLING BEHIND – SO, HOW DO WE CATCH UP?
  36. IS PHILLY’S “TAP” WATER PROGRAM WORKING?
  37. Ian Harris
  38. Melissa Ostroff
  39. THE WATER BILLS ARE WAY TOO HIGH
  40. THE KEY TO APPROACHING FRONTLINE COMMUNITIES ON ALL THINGS GREEN
  41. ICYMI: Watch highlights, panels at ecoWURD’s 2021 Environmental Justice Summit
  42. BLACK MOTHERS NEED CLEANER & SAFER ENVIRONMENTS – IT’S A PUBLIC HEALTH IMPERATIVE
  43. USING DANCE TO SAVE A RIVER
  44. TRACKING PHILADELPHIA’S AIR QUALITY
  45. GETTING RELIGIOUS ON CLIMATE CRISIS
  46. WE NEED MORE BLACK PEOPLE IN AGRICULTURE
  47. WHEN THERE’S NO CLEAN ENVIRONMENT, WE HAVE NOTHING
  48. A PREMATURE END TO EVICTION MORATORIUMS
  49. THE LACK OF BELIEF IN CLIMATE CRISIS IS JUST AS MUCH A THREAT
  50. YOU CAN’T HAVE RACIAL JUSTICE WITHOUT FAIR HOUSING
  51. RUN OVER THE SYSTEMS: THE FUTURE OF ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVISM
  52. PENNSYLVANIA IS “WAY BEHIND” ON SOLAR. HOW DOES IT CATCH UP?
  53. Pandemic Relief For Black Farmers Still Is Not Enough
  54. A BLUEPRINT FOR THE NEXT URBANISM
  55. THAT ELECTRONIC & CLOTHING WASTE PILES UP. SO WHERE TO PUT IT?
  56. THE WOMB IS THE FIRST ENVIRONMENT
  57. WILL THERE BE ANY MASS TRANSIT LEFT AFTER PANDEMIC?
  58. A FRIDGE FOR EVERYONE WHO’S HUNGRY
  59. OLD SCHOOL FOSSIL FUEL ECONOMY VS. NEW SCHOOL CLEAN ENERGY ECONOMY
  60. ENVIRONMENTAL INJUSTICE IS THE TOP SOCIAL JUSTICE PRIORITY
  61. IN 2020, DID “BIG GREEN” BECOME LESS WHITE?
  62. CLIMATE ACTION CAN POWER OUR RECOVERY
  63. IN PANDEMIC, AN HBCU DOES IT BETTER
  64. A DANGEROUS LACK OF INFECTIOUS DISEASE PROTECTIONS
  65. HOW FAST CAN A BIDEN PRESIDENCY MOVE ON CLIMATE ISSUES?
  66. CRAFTING A BLACK-DRIVEN CORONAVIRUS AND CLIMATE “STIMULUS” AGENDA
  67. Penn to donate $100 million to Philadelphia school district to help public school children
  68. BLACK ECOLOGIES IN TIDEWATER VIRGINIA
  69. WHAT IS “FROM THE SOURCE REPORTING?”
  70. LEADERSHIP IN ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE
  71. THE ECOWURD SUMMIT LAUNCH
  72. National Geographic Virtual Photo Camp: Earth Stories Aimed to Elevate Indigenous Youth Voices
  73. ecoWURD Environmental Justice Summit 2020
  74. THE PLAN FOR A 100 PERCENT CLEAN FUTURE IS SAVING NATURE
  75. WHAT SHOULD A PRESIDENT’S ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE AGENDA LOOK LIKE?
  76. THE NEED FOR ABOLITIONIST TEACHING
  77. PUBLIC LANDS & SAVING NATURE
  78. TOO MANY NATURAL GAS SPILLS
  79. GREEN IS THE NEW BLACK
  80. BLACK VOTERS ARE THE ECO-VOTERS CLIMATE ACTIVISTS ARE LOOKING FOR
  81. CANNABIS PROFIT & BLACK ECONOMY
  82. THE NATURE GAP
  83. BLACK PEOPLE NEED NATURE
  84. WHAT IS TREEPHILLY?
  85. IS AN OBSCURE ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE IN HARRISBURG DOING ENOUGH?
  86. AMERICAN ENVIRONMENTALISM’S RACIST ROOTS
  87. “THERE’S REALLY A LOT OF QUIET SUFFERING OUT THERE
  88. “WE NEED TO GET INTO THE SUPPLY CHAIN”
  89. “AN ENVIRONMENTAL LAW THAT GIVES YOU A VOICE”
  90. URBAN PLANNING AS A TOOL FOR WHITE SUPREMACY
  91. HEAT WAVES REMIND US CLIMATE CHANGE IS STILL HERE
  92. Farming While Black: Soul Fire Farm’s Practical Guide to Liberation on the Land
  93. IN PANDEMIC, MAKING SURE PEOPLE EAT & HOW HBCUs HELP
  94. WE’RE NOT DONE, YET – MORE ACCOUNTABILITY IS NEEDED AT THE PES REFINERY SITE
  95. COVID-19 IS LAYING WASTE TO RECYCLING PROGRAMS
  96. THE PHILADELPHIA HEALTH EQUITY GAPS THAT COVID-19 EXPOSED
  97. THE POWER OF NEW HERBALISM
  98. THERE’S NO RECIPE FOR SUCCESS
  99. ecoWURD Earth Day Summit
  100. ecoWURD Earth Day Summit 2020 Press Release
  101. Too Much Food At Farms, Too Little Food At Stores
  102. THE LINK BETWEEN AIR POLLUTION & COVID-19
  103. CORONAVIRUS REVEALS WHY ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE IS STILL THE CRITICAL ISSUE OF OUR TIME
  104. FROM KATRINA TO CORONAVIRUS, WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?
  105. COVID-19 SHOWS A BIGGER IMPACT WHERE BLACK PEOPLE LIVE
  106. THE CORONAVIRUS CONVERSATION HAS GOT TO GET A LOT MORE INCLUSIVE THAN THIS
  107. MEDIA’S CLIMATE CHANGE COVERAGE KEEPS BLACK PEOPLE OUT OF IT
  108. “WE DON’T HAVE A CULTURE OF PREPAREDNESS”
  109. PHILADELPHIA HAS A FOOD ECONOMY
  110. HOW URBAN AGRICULTURE CAN IMPROVE FOOD SECURITY IN U.S. CITIES
  111. MAPPING THE LINK BETWEEN INCARCERATION & FOOD INSECURITY
  112. PHILLY’S JAILS ARE, LITERALLY, MAKING PEOPLE SICK
  113. ecoWURD Environmental Justice Summit 2019
  114. ecoWURD Environmental Justice Summit
  115. “We Can’t Breathe: Zulene Mayfield’s Lifelong War with Waste ‘Managers’”
  116. “Is The Black Press Reporting on Environmental Issues?” by David Love
  117. “The Dangerous Connection Between Climate Change & Food” an interview with Jacqueline Patterson and Adrienne Hollis
  118. “An Oil Refinery Explosion That Was Never Isolated” by Charles Ellison
  119. “Philly Should Be Going ‘Community Solar'” an interview w/ PA Rep. Donna Bullock
  120. “Is The Litter Index Enough?” an interview w/ Nic Esposito
  121. “How Sugarcane Fires in Florida Are Making Black People Sick” an interview w/ Frank Biden
  122. Philly Farm Social – Video and Pictures
  123. #PHILLYFARMSOCIAL GETS REAL IN THE FIELD
  124. 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
  125. PLASTIC BAG BANS CAN BACKFIRE … WHEN YOU HAVE OTHER PLASTICS TO CHOOSE FROM
  126. WE REALLY NEED POLITICAL STRATEGISTS LEADING ON CLIMATE CHANGE – NOT ACADEMICS
  127. EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS IN A MUCH MORE CLIMATIC WORLD
  128. A SMALL GERMANTOWN NON-PROFIT “TRADES FOR A DIFFERENCE”
  129. IS PHILLY BLAMING ITS TRASH & RECYCLING CRISIS ON BLACK PEOPLE?
  130. BUT WHAT DOES THE GREEN NEW DEAL MEAN FOR BLACK PEOPLE?
  131. HOW GREEN IS PHILLY’S “GREENWORKS” PLAN?
  132. The Future of Work in Philly’s Green Economy event recap #ecoWURD #phillyisgreen
  133. Bike-friendly cities should be designed for everyone, not just for wealthy white cyclists
  134. RENAMING “GENTRIFICATION”
  135. FOUR GOVERNORS, ONE URBAN WATERSHED IN NEED OF ACTION
  136. JUST HOW BAD IS THE AIR HURTING PHILLY’S BLACK FAMILIES?
  137. EcoWURD Presents:The Future of Work in Philly’s Green Economy
  138. IF YOU ARE LOW-INCOME OR HOMELESS, THE POLAR VORTEX IS LIKE A FORM OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT
  139. NOT JUST FLINT: THE WATER CRISIS IN THE BLACK COMMUNITY
  140. DO THE TRAINS STOP RUNNING? THE SHUTDOWN’S IMPACT ON MASS TRANSIT
  141. BLACK WOMEN & THE TROUBLE WITH BABY POWDER
  142. A WHITE COLLAR CRIME VICTIMIZING NICETOWN
  143. IN NORTH CAROLINA, CLIMATE CHANGE & VOTER SUPPRESSION WORKED HAND-IN-HAND
  144. LOW-INCOME NEIGHBORHOODS WOULD GAIN THE MOST FROM GREEN ROOFS
  145. YOUR OWN HOOD: CLOSING THE GENERATIONAL GREEN DIVIDE IN BLACK PHILADELPHIA
  146. THE PRICE OF WATER: LITERAL & FIGURATIVE THIRST AT WORK
  147. THAT CLIMATE CHANGE REPORT TRUMP DIDN’T WANT YOU TO SEE? YEAH, WELL, IT’S THE LAW
  148. RACIAL & ETHNIC MINORITIES ARE MORE VULNERABLE TO WILDFIRES
  149. NO IFS, ANDS OR BUTTS Philly Has a Cigarette Butt Problem
  150. HOW SUSTAINABLE CAN PHILLY GET?
  151. USING AFROFUTURISM TO BUILD THE KIND OF WORLD YOU WANT
  152. UNCOVERING PHILLY’S HIDDEN TOXIC DANGERS …
  153. WILL THE ENVIRONMENT DRIVE VOTERS TO THE POLLS? (PART I)
  154. ARE PHILLY SCHOOLS READY FOR CLIMATE CHANGE?
  155. 🎧 SEPTA CREATES A GAS PROBLEM IN NORTH PHILLY
  156. 🎧 BREAKING THE GREEN RETAIL CEILING
  157. That’s Nasty: The Cost of Trash in Philly
  158. 🎧 How Can You Solarize Philly?
  159. 🎧 “The Environment Should Be an Active, Living Experience”
  160. Philly’s Lead Crisis Is Larger Than Flint’s
  161. Despite What You Heard, Black Millennials Do Care About the Environment
  162. Hurricanes Always Hurt Black Folks the Most
  163. Are You Going to Drink That?
  164. The Origins of ecoWURD
  165. We Seriously Need More Black Climate Disaster Films
  166. 🎧 Why Should Philly Care About a Pipeline?
  167. 🎧 Not Just Hotter Days Ahead… Costly Ones Too
  168. Philly’s Big and Dangerous Hot Mess
Monday, March 18, 2024
  1. Environmental Impact and Immigration: A Conversation with Magybet Mendez
  2. Philadelphia Must Rethink Its Impact on Chester
  3. New Documentary Explores Philadelphia’s Struggle for Land Sovereignty and a Greener Future
  4. Capturing Hope: Power Circle Mentors Inspiring Youth Through Nature and Photography
  5. Roishetta Sibley Ozane and The Vessel Project: A Beacon of Hope in Sulphur, Louisiana
  6. ecoFEST 2023: A Celebration of Environmental Justice
  7. A is for asbestos: The environmental challenges facing Philly schools
  8. The Age of Preparedness: Securing Your Finances in the Face of the Climate Crisis
  9. A Former Sugar Plantation Up in Flames: The Lahaina Wildfires
  10. From Heatwaves to Hydration: Philadelphia’s Water Landscape Explored
  11. A Sizzling Summer: Philly Faces Extreme Temperatures
  12. Get to Know The New Host of ecoWURD: Tamara P.O.C. Russell
  13. Funding the Fight for Climate Justice: Local and Federal Grants Propel Environmental Initiatives
  14. Where There is Fire, There Will Be Smoke
  15. Lessons at Sea: Capitalism, Climate Change and a Path Forward
  16. Investing in Women, Investing in the Future: The Wise Fund’s Vision for a Greener World
  17. HOW DID “NIMBY” SUDDENLY BECOME THE NEW “N-WORD?”
  18. The Gentrification Problem: The Environmental Crisis of Unaffordable Housing
  19. The Roots Run Deep: The Environmental Crisis of Unaffordable Housing
  20. There Is No Cost to Live: The Environmental Crisis of Unaffordable Housing
  21. Fixing Up Philly’s Homes: Charles Ellison for WHYY
  22. Punishment Past Prison Walls: Environmental injustice in the Carceral State
  23. RACISM IN THE WATER
  24. THE “INFLATION REDUCTION ACT” IS NOW LAW. SO, HOW DOES IT HELP BLACK PHILLY?
  25. PHILADELPHIA HAS AN AIR TOXIN PROBLEM. WHAT IS THE CITY GOVERNMENT GOING TO DO TO FIX IT?
  26. Want to end gun violence now? Let’s save Philly block by block
  27. Here are steps Philly could take to cool urban heat islands
  28. The gas prices conversation we should be having
  29. Reclaiming Black land is challenging but not impossible
  30. Black clergy: Churches can sway views on climate crisis
  31. Can old Philadelphia refineries be cleaned up and restored?
  32. Here’s how Black Philadelphia can help in the environmental justice battle
  33. City Launches Environmental Justice Advisory Commission
  34. FIXING THE STRUGGLE SPACE
  35. SOLAR POLICIES ARE FALLING BEHIND – SO, HOW DO WE CATCH UP?
  36. IS PHILLY’S “TAP” WATER PROGRAM WORKING?
  37. Ian Harris
  38. Melissa Ostroff
  39. THE WATER BILLS ARE WAY TOO HIGH
  40. THE KEY TO APPROACHING FRONTLINE COMMUNITIES ON ALL THINGS GREEN
  41. ICYMI: Watch highlights, panels at ecoWURD’s 2021 Environmental Justice Summit
  42. BLACK MOTHERS NEED CLEANER & SAFER ENVIRONMENTS – IT’S A PUBLIC HEALTH IMPERATIVE
  43. USING DANCE TO SAVE A RIVER
  44. TRACKING PHILADELPHIA’S AIR QUALITY
  45. GETTING RELIGIOUS ON CLIMATE CRISIS
  46. WE NEED MORE BLACK PEOPLE IN AGRICULTURE
  47. WHEN THERE’S NO CLEAN ENVIRONMENT, WE HAVE NOTHING
  48. A PREMATURE END TO EVICTION MORATORIUMS
  49. THE LACK OF BELIEF IN CLIMATE CRISIS IS JUST AS MUCH A THREAT
  50. YOU CAN’T HAVE RACIAL JUSTICE WITHOUT FAIR HOUSING
  51. RUN OVER THE SYSTEMS: THE FUTURE OF ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVISM
  52. PENNSYLVANIA IS “WAY BEHIND” ON SOLAR. HOW DOES IT CATCH UP?
  53. Pandemic Relief For Black Farmers Still Is Not Enough
  54. A BLUEPRINT FOR THE NEXT URBANISM
  55. THAT ELECTRONIC & CLOTHING WASTE PILES UP. SO WHERE TO PUT IT?
  56. THE WOMB IS THE FIRST ENVIRONMENT
  57. WILL THERE BE ANY MASS TRANSIT LEFT AFTER PANDEMIC?
  58. A FRIDGE FOR EVERYONE WHO’S HUNGRY
  59. OLD SCHOOL FOSSIL FUEL ECONOMY VS. NEW SCHOOL CLEAN ENERGY ECONOMY
  60. ENVIRONMENTAL INJUSTICE IS THE TOP SOCIAL JUSTICE PRIORITY
  61. IN 2020, DID “BIG GREEN” BECOME LESS WHITE?
  62. CLIMATE ACTION CAN POWER OUR RECOVERY
  63. IN PANDEMIC, AN HBCU DOES IT BETTER
  64. A DANGEROUS LACK OF INFECTIOUS DISEASE PROTECTIONS
  65. HOW FAST CAN A BIDEN PRESIDENCY MOVE ON CLIMATE ISSUES?
  66. CRAFTING A BLACK-DRIVEN CORONAVIRUS AND CLIMATE “STIMULUS” AGENDA
  67. Penn to donate $100 million to Philadelphia school district to help public school children
  68. BLACK ECOLOGIES IN TIDEWATER VIRGINIA
  69. WHAT IS “FROM THE SOURCE REPORTING?”
  70. LEADERSHIP IN ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE
  71. THE ECOWURD SUMMIT LAUNCH
  72. National Geographic Virtual Photo Camp: Earth Stories Aimed to Elevate Indigenous Youth Voices
  73. ecoWURD Environmental Justice Summit 2020
  74. THE PLAN FOR A 100 PERCENT CLEAN FUTURE IS SAVING NATURE
  75. WHAT SHOULD A PRESIDENT’S ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE AGENDA LOOK LIKE?
  76. THE NEED FOR ABOLITIONIST TEACHING
  77. PUBLIC LANDS & SAVING NATURE
  78. TOO MANY NATURAL GAS SPILLS
  79. GREEN IS THE NEW BLACK
  80. BLACK VOTERS ARE THE ECO-VOTERS CLIMATE ACTIVISTS ARE LOOKING FOR
  81. CANNABIS PROFIT & BLACK ECONOMY
  82. THE NATURE GAP
  83. BLACK PEOPLE NEED NATURE
  84. WHAT IS TREEPHILLY?
  85. IS AN OBSCURE ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE IN HARRISBURG DOING ENOUGH?
  86. AMERICAN ENVIRONMENTALISM’S RACIST ROOTS
  87. “THERE’S REALLY A LOT OF QUIET SUFFERING OUT THERE
  88. “WE NEED TO GET INTO THE SUPPLY CHAIN”
  89. “AN ENVIRONMENTAL LAW THAT GIVES YOU A VOICE”
  90. URBAN PLANNING AS A TOOL FOR WHITE SUPREMACY
  91. HEAT WAVES REMIND US CLIMATE CHANGE IS STILL HERE
  92. Farming While Black: Soul Fire Farm’s Practical Guide to Liberation on the Land
  93. IN PANDEMIC, MAKING SURE PEOPLE EAT & HOW HBCUs HELP
  94. WE’RE NOT DONE, YET – MORE ACCOUNTABILITY IS NEEDED AT THE PES REFINERY SITE
  95. COVID-19 IS LAYING WASTE TO RECYCLING PROGRAMS
  96. THE PHILADELPHIA HEALTH EQUITY GAPS THAT COVID-19 EXPOSED
  97. THE POWER OF NEW HERBALISM
  98. THERE’S NO RECIPE FOR SUCCESS
  99. ecoWURD Earth Day Summit
  100. ecoWURD Earth Day Summit 2020 Press Release
  101. Too Much Food At Farms, Too Little Food At Stores
  102. THE LINK BETWEEN AIR POLLUTION & COVID-19
  103. CORONAVIRUS REVEALS WHY ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE IS STILL THE CRITICAL ISSUE OF OUR TIME
  104. FROM KATRINA TO CORONAVIRUS, WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?
  105. COVID-19 SHOWS A BIGGER IMPACT WHERE BLACK PEOPLE LIVE
  106. THE CORONAVIRUS CONVERSATION HAS GOT TO GET A LOT MORE INCLUSIVE THAN THIS
  107. MEDIA’S CLIMATE CHANGE COVERAGE KEEPS BLACK PEOPLE OUT OF IT
  108. “WE DON’T HAVE A CULTURE OF PREPAREDNESS”
  109. PHILADELPHIA HAS A FOOD ECONOMY
  110. HOW URBAN AGRICULTURE CAN IMPROVE FOOD SECURITY IN U.S. CITIES
  111. MAPPING THE LINK BETWEEN INCARCERATION & FOOD INSECURITY
  112. PHILLY’S JAILS ARE, LITERALLY, MAKING PEOPLE SICK
  113. ecoWURD Environmental Justice Summit 2019
  114. ecoWURD Environmental Justice Summit
  115. “We Can’t Breathe: Zulene Mayfield’s Lifelong War with Waste ‘Managers’”
  116. “Is The Black Press Reporting on Environmental Issues?” by David Love
  117. “The Dangerous Connection Between Climate Change & Food” an interview with Jacqueline Patterson and Adrienne Hollis
  118. “An Oil Refinery Explosion That Was Never Isolated” by Charles Ellison
  119. “Philly Should Be Going ‘Community Solar'” an interview w/ PA Rep. Donna Bullock
  120. “Is The Litter Index Enough?” an interview w/ Nic Esposito
  121. “How Sugarcane Fires in Florida Are Making Black People Sick” an interview w/ Frank Biden
  122. Philly Farm Social – Video and Pictures
  123. #PHILLYFARMSOCIAL GETS REAL IN THE FIELD
  124. 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
  125. PLASTIC BAG BANS CAN BACKFIRE … WHEN YOU HAVE OTHER PLASTICS TO CHOOSE FROM
  126. WE REALLY NEED POLITICAL STRATEGISTS LEADING ON CLIMATE CHANGE – NOT ACADEMICS
  127. EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS IN A MUCH MORE CLIMATIC WORLD
  128. A SMALL GERMANTOWN NON-PROFIT “TRADES FOR A DIFFERENCE”
  129. IS PHILLY BLAMING ITS TRASH & RECYCLING CRISIS ON BLACK PEOPLE?
  130. BUT WHAT DOES THE GREEN NEW DEAL MEAN FOR BLACK PEOPLE?
  131. HOW GREEN IS PHILLY’S “GREENWORKS” PLAN?
  132. The Future of Work in Philly’s Green Economy event recap #ecoWURD #phillyisgreen
  133. Bike-friendly cities should be designed for everyone, not just for wealthy white cyclists
  134. RENAMING “GENTRIFICATION”
  135. FOUR GOVERNORS, ONE URBAN WATERSHED IN NEED OF ACTION
  136. JUST HOW BAD IS THE AIR HURTING PHILLY’S BLACK FAMILIES?
  137. EcoWURD Presents:The Future of Work in Philly’s Green Economy
  138. IF YOU ARE LOW-INCOME OR HOMELESS, THE POLAR VORTEX IS LIKE A FORM OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT
  139. NOT JUST FLINT: THE WATER CRISIS IN THE BLACK COMMUNITY
  140. DO THE TRAINS STOP RUNNING? THE SHUTDOWN’S IMPACT ON MASS TRANSIT
  141. BLACK WOMEN & THE TROUBLE WITH BABY POWDER
  142. A WHITE COLLAR CRIME VICTIMIZING NICETOWN
  143. IN NORTH CAROLINA, CLIMATE CHANGE & VOTER SUPPRESSION WORKED HAND-IN-HAND
  144. LOW-INCOME NEIGHBORHOODS WOULD GAIN THE MOST FROM GREEN ROOFS
  145. YOUR OWN HOOD: CLOSING THE GENERATIONAL GREEN DIVIDE IN BLACK PHILADELPHIA
  146. THE PRICE OF WATER: LITERAL & FIGURATIVE THIRST AT WORK
  147. THAT CLIMATE CHANGE REPORT TRUMP DIDN’T WANT YOU TO SEE? YEAH, WELL, IT’S THE LAW
  148. RACIAL & ETHNIC MINORITIES ARE MORE VULNERABLE TO WILDFIRES
  149. NO IFS, ANDS OR BUTTS Philly Has a Cigarette Butt Problem
  150. HOW SUSTAINABLE CAN PHILLY GET?
  151. USING AFROFUTURISM TO BUILD THE KIND OF WORLD YOU WANT
  152. UNCOVERING PHILLY’S HIDDEN TOXIC DANGERS …
  153. WILL THE ENVIRONMENT DRIVE VOTERS TO THE POLLS? (PART I)
  154. ARE PHILLY SCHOOLS READY FOR CLIMATE CHANGE?
  155. 🎧 SEPTA CREATES A GAS PROBLEM IN NORTH PHILLY
  156. 🎧 BREAKING THE GREEN RETAIL CEILING
  157. That’s Nasty: The Cost of Trash in Philly
  158. 🎧 How Can You Solarize Philly?
  159. 🎧 “The Environment Should Be an Active, Living Experience”
  160. Philly’s Lead Crisis Is Larger Than Flint’s
  161. Despite What You Heard, Black Millennials Do Care About the Environment
  162. Hurricanes Always Hurt Black Folks the Most
  163. Are You Going to Drink That?
  164. The Origins of ecoWURD
  165. We Seriously Need More Black Climate Disaster Films
  166. 🎧 Why Should Philly Care About a Pipeline?
  167. 🎧 Not Just Hotter Days Ahead… Costly Ones Too
  168. Philly’s Big and Dangerous Hot Mess

… & The Effects On Its Most Powerless Residents

By D.L. Chandler | ecoWURD Correspondent

Philadelphia is a city battling with several environmental issues all at once.

One day it’s drinking lead in the water, the next day and every day thereafter it’s breathing poor air. These add to a mountain of issues already affecting the city’s most powerless: Black and Brown communities of color.

And in recent studies, published this year, newly uncovered dangers give Philly the unwelcome distinction of being one of the most toxic towns in America.


At least that’s according to University of Texas-El Paso Associate Professor of Sociology Dr. Sara Grineski and University of Utah Department of Geography Professor Dr. Timothy Collins in their seminal February 2018 study “Geographic and social disparities in exposure to air neurotoxicants at U.S. public schools” in the journal Environmental Research.

Grineski and Collins examined air neurotoxicant exposure data from the Environmental Protection Agency and compared it with 85,000 public schools nationwide.

Across racial lines, five of the 10 worst-polluted school counties listed non-White populations over 20 percent. And yes, Philadelphia is counted among this number. Sitting at number five in the study findings, per The Guardian, Allegheny County in the Commonwealth sits at number one, with Camden County, N.J. sitting at number three.

The Commonwealth’s most populous cities of Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, where many communities of color are attempting to thrive, have issues with lasting effects on the developing minds and bodies of children in each jurisdiction. The suspected culprit: legacy pollutants.

DECADES OF DESTRUCTIONPollution is one thing. But what are legacy pollutants?

In short, these are industrial chemicals or products that remain ingrained in the environment well after they were outlawed or no longer produced. At the time of their usage, they were considered the standard, even when safety testing was an afterthought.

While lead and mercury are among the typical heavy contaminant metals known to plague the environment, the main grouping of legacy pollutants is PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls.  These are a group of over 200 chemicals manufactured in labs and used throughout the country from the late 1920s until the late 1970s when they were officially banned.

One of the hidden impacts of PCBs is that they build up in animal tissue – in particular, river fish that feed near the bottom of waterways, places where much of the chemicals settle. Individuals fishing in the Schuylkill and Delaware rivers “are often unaware of the dangers present in consuming their catch,” veteran environmentalist Maya K. von Rossum, Executive Direction of the Delaware Riverkeeper Network tells ecoWURD. And, alarmingly enough, there many fisher folks who aren’t doing it just as a sport – some are eating their catch for basic survival.

“For years, nutrient pollution made [each] river so contaminated that you could smell it from a plane and dockworkers became ill from coming into contact with the water,” Rossum describes. “Over time the nutrient pollution was cleaned up, but serious contaminants like PCBs, PFCs, DDT, and heavy metals like mercury remained, contaminating the water column but also the fish.”

“As a result, there are many species of fish that are the subject of fish advisories,” she adds. “But you can’t eat them or should limit how much you eat because they contain these dangerous contaminants that can have serious health consequences.”

For example, PCBs are a known carcinogen. PCBs can affect child development – both their motor skills and mental development. They are associated with an array of disorders and disruptions: from immune, reproductive, nervous and endocrine system damage to depression and fatigue.

When asked about PCBs’ effects and impact on communities of color, Rossum agrees Philly’s large Black population possibly faces the worst of it. To fight those conditions, residents could exercise a state constitutional right to pure water, clean air, and a healthy environment.

But many within city limits don’t enjoy these protections. Either they don’t know about them or they don’t understand how to tilt them in their favor.

The Green Amendment is a right that belongs to all Pennsylvanians, and belongs to them equally,” Rossum argues. “Government has an obligation to treat all people in Pennsylvania equitably, and not heap the pollution on one community, turning them into a sacrifice zone so the richer and Whiter parts of the state don’t have to be so impacted.” That provision in the state constitution was actually “ignored for over 40 years” until Rossum’s Network revived interest through a series of citizen-driven lawsuits in 2013.

To date, only Pennsylvania and Montana have this constitutional right. However, according to Rossum, the Network is inching New Jersey closer to passing one, too.


TOXIC TRAP

This summer, Dr. Scott Frickel, professor of sociology and environment and society at Brown University, and Dr. James Elliott, professor of sociology at Rice University, published their findings in a paperback release titled Sites Unseen: Uncovering Hidden Hazards in American Cities. The sociologists studied data from four major cities: New Orleans, LA; Minneapolis, MN; Portland, OR; and, yes, Philly.

Examining thousands of locations, such as plastic factories and machine shops from the 1950s and onward, Frickel and Elliot discovered 90 percent of these locations have been converted into parks, homes, and storefronts without any local governments testing whether or not their environmentally safe.


In a city like Philadelphia, where gentrification’s tendrils slowly spread into neighborhoods that retained a charming rustic veneer, constant building on top of sites with hidden hazards not only impacted the poor but also younger middle-class Whites.

But make no mistake: Frickel and Elliot reveal that Black neighborhoods and working-class neighborhoods have higher rates of attracting hazardous manufacturers. They also suggest that state and local agencies would put polluted sites high on their lists of priorities if the issue is visible enough.

Or in the words of the professors: “politically expedient.”

Frickel and Elliot call for new municipal databases that cover “previously undocumented manufacturing sites as potential environmental hazards” while also proposing new policies that will limit the reach of urban sprawl. The hope is to dramatically reduce hazardous materials traveling outside boundaries.

They also found that the current databases City Hall usually touts as evidence of progress don’t exactly underscore the true nature of things. In one instance, the EPA’s official Toxic Release Inventory for 2008 listed just 19 active manufactures in Philadelphia operating in major hazardous sectors – but the professors discovered, using the same available data, that it was actually 364 manufacturers operating in these sectors in 2008 and almost 4,000 total since the 1950s.

A sobering reality is this disproportionately hits Black low income Philly residents the hardest. Many are living in neighborhoods that could be killing them slowly. These are individuals and families who won’t have the financial means or political clout to either move away from it or have those concerns addressed.

Given that much of Philly sits in a potential dead zone of environmental despair, the toxic town could feel like a trap.

TOXIC BLACK LIVES

It might be difficult for some to see environmental racism as an actual thing because it’s still a developing concept in the national lexicon.

But the evidence clearly points to state and government neglect in addressing crucial environmental issues. At the least, there is limited effort to illuminate the issues Black residents in Philly and other cities with large people-of-color populations face on a daily basis.

Adding to this, economically vulnerable districts have cheap rent, which invites industries to set up shop and pump out hazardous environmental waste. Meanwhile, residents toil in the background unable to fight back … and with the city doing little about it.

Philadelphia’s River Wards, neighborhoods straddled east of the Market-Frankford subway “El” line, were once homes to several large factories and industries that have since moved on. Of the three neighborhoods – Kensington, Port Richmond, and Fishtown – Kensington has traditionally been known as a working-class Black section of the city. As reported by the Legal Intelligencer, these neighborhoods were home to lead production plants known as “lead smelters,” and the soil upon which these places once stood has been contaminated for some time.

Children in Philadelphia remain the most vulnerable targets of the clandestine toxicity that stews and oozes through the city, as evidenced in the Philly Inquirer/Daily News joint investigative series “Toxic City.” Responding to that series, a $15.6 million state government emergency fund plan was announced to support lead, mold, and asbestos remediation efforts across 57 city schools, with $7.6 million of those funds specifically earmarked for lead paint removal in 40 of those locations. It’s the first time state money has been used in this fashion.

What the Inquirer/Daily News investigation revealed was that School Superintendent William R. Hite Jr. only rushed to action to remediate lead issues after a 6-year-old boy fell severely ill in November 2017 from eating lead paint chips. Hite then hired a company to service 18 schools to cover lead paint and plaster at a cost of $350,000.

Instead of remediation, however, crews reportedly ended up making matters worse. Toxic debris was left behind while parents and teachers were never informed of the school district’s plans. The district then spent $288,182 on eight schools, seven of which had to be repainted. ecoWURD contacted School District Spokesperson Lee Whack, but there was no response by the filing of this piece. The question still remains: How do you repair all 339 schools and where do you get the $5 billion in estimated costs to do just that?

IS THERE HOPE FOR A TURNAROUND?

The city has constructed the framework, through existing services, for an environmental health response system as seen here.

Yet, there’s no sense that engagement is any better than it’s been: information and data may be plentiful, but it’s not streamlined. How coordinated agencies really are is somewhat of a mystery. The city’s Office of Sustainability, which hadn’t responded to ecoWURD by filing time, has put in place a Greenworks initiative, but it doesn’t appear to have much traction. And the city’s streamlined Clean PHL site is viewed by some activists as not effective enough in spotlighting attention on potential home and soil dangers

Going beyond the city and learning more about the EPA’s Corrective Action Facilities, spaces designed to address the impact hazardous materials have on the environment, it’s an even murkier portrait of how the state plans to remedy its toxic legacy. Through its Corrective Action programs, the EPA and states work with facilities that house and treat hazardous materials to follow state and federal safety requirements. If the EPA determines a state program is equivalent to the federal program, they are authorized to “lead” the program. The EPA then spearheads those cleanup efforts if it is determined necessary at the federal level or at the state’s request.

If all of that seems confusing, that’s because it probably is. There is really no unified or direct response to toxic materials in the soil, water, or air, especially during a period of great political uncertainty and the fate of a federal EPA that’s lost its way under the current Trump administration. Meanwhile, Philadelphians might suffer in perpetuity. Wordy missives and government data sets won’t be near enough to clear this problem up.