The mid-South is an informally defined region consisting of west Tennessee, northern Mississippi, western Kentucky, Arkansas, and northwest Alabama.
How a Tennessee housing policy concentrates poverty, denies opportunity
A little-known but powerful board steers affordable housing into segregated, poor neighborhoods where Black children have little chance to reach the middle class
‘Communities shouldn’t have to rely on miracles’: A conversation with Samantha Montano
We sat down with the disaster researcher to discuss her forthcoming book, Disasterology: Dispatches from the Frontlines of the Climate Crisis.
‘They gave people kibbles and bits’: Black Memphis residents are fighting oil pipeline land grab
The legal battle over the proposed pipeline has become a flashpoint in a national conversation about environmental justice and land grabs by fossil fuel companies.…
The multibillion dollar question: What will it take to fix the South’s broken water systems?
The winter storm revealed the fragility of rural and urban water systems. Biden’s new infrastructure plan could help improve them — but it’s only a…
Mississippi biomass facility fined for emitting three times more air pollution than permitted
Wood pellet manufacturing plants have underreported emissions at plants throughout the South, which are most often in Black and low-income communities.
Alabama deems execution an ‘essential function’ while leading in COVID-19 deaths per capita
The state plans to execute Willie B. Smith III on Feb. 11 in a prison on the coast. Experts worry it will only lead to…
‘It’s not something you have to do alone’: Rural Alabama churches address food insecurity
Southern communities have some of the highest levels of food insecurity, and it’s been worsening during the pandemic. Churches often fill in the gaps.
The key environmental policy priorities for the South, according to experts
Community leaders, lawyers, and advocates throughout the region discuss what they see as the most urgent economic, environmental, and racial justice issues to tackle in…
Election 2020: The stakes are high for climate, environmental justice, and energy in the South
A state-by-state rundown of major races and ballot measures, plus resources to check out before heading to the polls.
From arms to renewables: How workers in this Southern military industrial hub are converting the economy
Huntsville, Alabama is teeming with engineers and STEM talent. Some are leaving the defense economy for the clean energy one.
Frustrated Memphis residents to put pressure on pipeline developers at Saturday meeting
Byhalia Connection developers claim eminent domain, try to buy Shelby County Schools property for pipeline planned to run through a Black Memphis neighborhood.
This Black Memphis neighborhood is trying to stop an oil pipeline. They’re running out of time.
Boxtown residents have had little say in the Byhalia Connection pipeline project, which could erase their properties’ value and threaten Memphis’ water supply.
Rural Resilience: What communities are learning from the fight against oil and gas pipelines
Do you have questions about challenging pipeline projects? Ask us!
How Tennessee fails to regulate high-hazard, private dams
As the climate in the Southeast gets warmer and wetter, dam inspectors and experts say changes in regulations are necessary.
This Tennessee community is keeping a federal utility under pressure to clean up coal ash
Southern states and utilities are finally starting to reach agreements to clean up coal ash sites — but experts say the TVA lags far behind.…
The longleaf pine was nearly wiped out 100 years ago. Can Southern landowners help it make a comeback?
The future of longleaf pine forests, which are critical to biodiversity, depends on landowners protecting and maintaining them through prescribed burning.
Nuclear waste in Paducah, Kentucky poses extra threat to region facing historic flooding
Residents say federal agencies and contractors have left them in the dark about public health risks related to a Superfund site.
How an illegal dump in rural Arkansas burned for a year
It was one of the worst “stump dump” fires in modern U.S. history — but local agencies and companies skirted responsibility to put it out.…
Microplastics are changing this major Southern river
With state lawmakers stymying legislative action on pollution, scientists and environmental advocates try to figure out how to reduce plastic waste.